Former Newark Public Safety Director Named Minneapolis Chief

Mayor Jacob Frey has nominated Brian O'Hara, deputy mayor of Newark, N.J. and former Newark director of public safety, to serve as the next police chief of Minneapolis. O’Hara served 20 years on the Newark police force before becoming public safety director.

O’Hara beat out two other national finalists for the Minneapolis job. In a Thursday morning news conference, Frey touted O'Hara's deep knowledge of community safety and his experience managing a federal consent decree in Newark, the Star-Tribune reports.

In his first public introduction, O'Hara pledged to help "build an MPD that is so good, so respected, that people of all races and backgrounds will want to be a part of this positive change."

"It should be clear by now to all that the idea that policing can simply go away, will be abolished, is just unrealistic," he said. "The problem of serious street crime is urgent, and our communities demand and deserve good police to deal with that urgently. At the same time, I commit to hold all police officers accountable to the values of our community and I invite the community to hold us all accountable as well," O'Hara said.