Minneapolis Expecting Wave of Police Retirements After Super Bowl

The Minneapolis Police Department is bracing for a wave of officers retiring next spring following Super Bowl LII, prompting concern that the city won’t have enough officers on the streets with crime rates edging up in certain neighborhoods.

Dozens of department veterans are waiting to “put in their papers” so they can work the big game, part of a weeklong spectacle expected to draw tens of thousands to the Twin Cities for parties, concerts and drinks, said police union President Lt. Bob Kroll. Some veterans nearing retirement are sticking around with the expectation that there’ll be plenty of overtime work to go around, he said.

Roughly 50 of the department’s 856 sworn officers are over age 55 and eligible to retire now with full benefits, Kroll estimated, although officers can and do work past retirement age. Another 50 or so could elect to depart early and take a reduced pension. The department loses about 20 officers to retirement in any given year, but Kroll told the Star-Tribune he anticipates that number to double after the Super Bowl.