For Dolan, it's lonely at the top

Even without recent hip surgery, Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan might be walking with a limp. ¶ His department is stinging after five high-ranking black police officers filed a federal lawsuit against Dolan and the city last week, claiming a longtime pattern of racial discrimination. Dolan considers several of the officers friends, which makes the suit's personal shots at him a little harder to swallow. ¶ The suit intensifies the attention to the city's new chief and casts a shadow over the department's accomplishments as Dolan's first year in charge winds down. Violent crime is down significantly and officer diversity is at a historic high. Dolan received praise for his behind-the-scenes leadership during the Interstate 35W bridge collapse and gained national attention for innovative initiatives to fight juvenile crime. Like every chief sued before him, Dolan will be judged on how he manages the department under a new layer of scrutiny and the unpredictable ripple effect such hot-button legal action can cause. His record on diversity already was being challenged after he removed three black officers from his command staff.

"I'm now dealing with the smoke," Dolan said. "I'm not saying where there's smoke there's fire, but I don't want this suit to create a big rift."

Dolan, 52, had served as interim chief for six months when Mayor R.T. Rybak decided to forgo a national search and nominate him for chief in September 2006. Many on the council wanted an insider, something Dolan's 23 years with the department easily satisfied.

They wanted him to reduce violent crime that had increased 17 percent in 2006, mostly fueled by juvenile thugs. Supporters pointed to the excellent relationship he built with minority communities when he was inspector of the Fourth Precinct, which covers the city's North Side.

In her eight years as a council member, Lisa Goodman said Dolan was the only chief she's ever supported. Ralph Remington cast the lone "no" vote when Dolan was confirmed.

Dolan achieved each of the mayor's top priorities for 2007. As of early December violent crime has dropped 12 percent, which includes a dozen fewer homicides than last year. Eighteen percent of the department is made up of officers of color, although some community activists dispute those numbers. Dolan spent hours making hard choices for a budget that was $7 million in the red in 2006.

His first year also included the I-35W bridge disaster.

Dolan created a new juvenile unit and truancy center that includes a team focused on finding the most violent offenders with outstanding warrants. City leaders view violence among kids as a public-health issue as well as a police problem, and the department now has a center where low-level offenders can get immediate access to community agencies, Dolan said.

"Our working relationship is about as good as a cop and prosecutor can have," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said. "As far as the lawsuit goes, I don't believe Tim Dolan has a racist bone in his body."

What his critics say

Dolan isn't without critics. He has struggled to develop a trusting relationship with the Police Community Relations Council, a group that has spent the past four years working to complete a mediation agreement to improve how the police department handles its daily business.

At an emotional meeting last week, relations council members voted to seek federal receivership of the department because they no longer believe Dolan is committed to the process. His predecessor as chief, Bill McManus, had rough dealings as well with the group, which he once called dysfunctional.

Dolan's diversity goals were questioned after he demoted three black officers from his command staff. He said race didn't play a role, and one decision involved an officer who drove a department vehicle while intoxicated and made offensive comments around subordinates. When you make personnel and disciplinary choices, "you are going to create enemies," Dolan said.

"My biggest gut check is looking in the mirror each morning and know I did what's right," he said.

The lawsuit has been stressful for what Dolan called a proud department.

The plaintiffs are Lt. Medaria Arradondo, Lt. Lee Edwards, Lt. Don Harris, Sgt. Charlie Adams and Sgt. Dennis Hamilton. They allege that black officers were passed over for promotion and denied overtime and educational opportunities.

"The positive is that violent crime is down," said Remington, the City Council member. "But the fact remains that there's an atmosphere of racial hostility that is perceived by a great many officers of color, and that doesn't bode well for the department or the city."

Duane Reed, head of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, said his opinion of Dolan goes back and forth like a yo-yo. Its difficult to look objectively at the job he's done in the past 11 months because the current dilemma is tragic, Reed said.

"The lawsuit won't close the door on our relationship, but he has to recognize there is a problem," Reed said.

Not the first chief sued

In the past 15 years, every Minneapolis police chief has faced legal action that made headlines. In the early 1990s, John Laux was asked to impose discipline and decentralize a department that had been described by a federal court as exhibiting "deliberate indifference" to complaints about excessive force. The Police Community Relations Council was created under Robert Olson's tenure because of concerns raised by minority citizens.

McManus was sued by high-ranking female officers when he worked in Minneapolis and Dayton, Ohio. This week, a commander with the St. Paul Police Department filed a complaint against that department's chief with the city's human resources department, alleging a hostile work environment.