By an 8-4 vote, the Minneapolis City Council approved a collective bargaining agreement Thursday, July 18, with the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis (POFM). The agreement gives Minneapolis police officers a historic pay increase and important reforms. Today’s vote marks the successful conclusion of a nearly 10-month negotiation between the City and POFM.  

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, City leaders, labor relations representatives and members of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) gathered to celebrate the milestone following the City Council vote.

“This contract provides the path forward we need. After more than nine months of tireless negotiations, we have a police contract that will properly compensate our officers for the hard work they do while paving the way to implement long-awaited reforms,” said Mayor Frey. “This is a good contract, and it was the result of impressive collaboration—incorporating input from community members, police officers and MPD leadership alike.”

The contract, which applies to the period January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2025, includes a 21.7 percent pay increase over three years. The salary bump means MPD officers will be among the highest paid in Minnesota by 2025.

“Recruiting and retaining top talent at the City of Minneapolis is at the heart of our work,” said COO Margaret Anderson Kelliher. “This contract will help advance that mission by ensuring competitive pay for police officers and empowering MPD leadership to continue making critical changes and reforms within the department. Today’s vote marks a major step forward for our shared community safety work, and I’m grateful to Labor Relations Director Rasheda Deloney and the entire negotiations team who skillfully laid the groundwork for this outcome over many months.” 

MPD Chief Brian O’Hara praised the City Council’s vote to strengthen and support the police force.

“I am pleased with the City Council’s approval of the contract. It sends a strong message to our officers that city leadership supports good policing and the veteran officers who have been loyal in their service to our residents,” said MPD Chief O’Hara. “Despite their dedication, many of our officers have not felt supported in recent years, and I’m confident the historic pay increase will help us recruit and retain the best in our ranks as we continue to rebuild the Minneapolis Police Department into one of the premier law enforcement agencies in our country.”

Key reforms and contractual changes

• A zipper clause: A common term in collective bargaining agreements which eliminates any prior side agreements (LOAs) that are not attached to the contract. This gives the City, the POFM and the public the full scope of what has been agreed to in writing at the start of the term of the contract. 
• Increased staffing flexibilities: the agreement gives management more discretion over job assignments and staffing ratios, so that Chief O’Hara and his leadership team can assign officers to areas of the greatest need and make promotions based on candidate readiness, not based on a mandated percentage.
• Employing civilian investigators: the MPD has identified opportunities to assign civilians clerical and investigative work so officers are deployed where they’re needed most.
• Public data requests: Officers will no longer receive automatic notification of the identity of the person requesting public personnel data about them. 
• Extending investigation leave time: If there are allegations of severe misconduct, Chief O’Hara will have complete discretion to place the officer on paid investigatory leave and continue the leave for up to 180 days, instead of 30 days. This keeps the officer off the street while an investigation continues.  

“We are pleased that both sides have come to an agreement that makes real change for the Minneapolis Police Department and the City,” said Rasheda Deloney, Director of Labor Relations for the City of Minneapolis. “So much work was done throughout this process to make it as transparent as possible for the residents, our police officers and our city. I applaud our team’s efforts to come to a resolution that satisfies all sides and gets back to the work of keeping our city safe.”

“This was the right thing to do, and I am glad that the City Council approved this contract. The “Minneapolis Safe and Thriving Communities Report” is very clear about the need for a police force, as it is a vital part of the response component of the community safety ecosystem we are working hard to develop,” said Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette. “For this ecosystem to be successful, we need a proper combination of both quality and quantity of officers. This contract helps us ensure that MPD, the largest police department in the state, is competitive and well-positioned to retain current officers and attract new ones.”

See more information about the City’s contract negotiations with the POFM. The full, clean version of the contract will be made public in the coming days after final review by both parties.