The Minneapolis Police Department expects to add as many as 72 new officers in 2015, bringing the force back up to full strength while adding to its diversity — a two-pronged goal it struggled to reach last year.
Mayor Betsy Hodges and Chief Janeé Harteau pledged last year to boost the number of officers on the force by nearly 100 after its ranks dipped to its lowest totals in nearly 30 years amid an unusually large wave of retirements. The hires eventually would get the department past that threshold.
"We continue to get closer to our budgeted staffing levels as we work to keep Minneapolis as safe as it's been in a generation," Hodges said Friday through a spokeswoman. "Violent crime is at some of the lowest levels in decades, and the department continues to focus on Chief Harteau's strategy of getting officers out of squads ... to engage with our residents and business owners."
In late November, the latest crop of officers to hit Minneapolis streets, 24 in all (half of them hires from other departments) brought the total number of rank-and-file officers to 823, police officials said.
Now, with a total of 860 officers approved in the budget, the more difficult and time-consuming threshold to reach has been attracting more minority candidates. The department has said it wants to improve its relations with some of the city's more ethnically diverse neighborhoods.
"Our work must focus on growing our talented force and ensuring that it reflects the neighborhoods that it serves," Hodges said.
The department must weigh the need to replenish its ranks quickly with the desire to diversify, police spokesman John Elder said in an e-mail.
The latter goal can take longer to carry out. Minority candidates are in short supply, and those who are interested in law enforcement careers are competed for by many departments eager to diversify their forces, Elder said.