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Mayor Rybak, Chief Dolan Announce Re-hiring of 15 police officers

Federal grant allows MPD to put officers back to work Jan. 1

December 22, 2009 (MINNEAPOLIS) — Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Police Chief Tim Dolan announced today that 15 Minneapolis police officers who recently received lay-off notices will be back on the street in January.

The United States Department of Justice today approved the City’s application to modify a previously awarded COPS Hiring Recovery Program grant of federal stimulus dollars. The modification of this grant will allow the MPD to re-hire 13 officers as of January 1, 2010. Six of those officers had previously been serving in the Patrol Division of the MPD; the other seven graduated from the Police Academy last week.

Additionally, the City of Minneapolis Department of Regulatory Services has agreed to provide funding to allow the MPD to rehire two more officers from the pool of 25 officers who are working their last day today.  This funding is slotted to cover one officer who will work in conjunction with Regulatory Services personnel on problem properties and one officer who will work with Animal Control on enforcement issues.

In total, 15 of the 25 officers that received lay-off notices are being re-hired.

“Winning this grant shows that even in challenging budget times and despite ongoing budget crises at the State, we are doing everything in Minneapolis we can to put cops on the street and keep them there,” said Mayor R.T. Rybak. “We’re grateful to the Obama administration and their economic-recovery plan for lending a hand.”

“Over the past several years, our top priority has been to make Minneapolis a safe place to call home, and we’ve had some remarkable success, a piece of which the FBI recognized just yesterday. Under Chief Dolan’s leadership, and in partnership with neighbors and businesses across Minneapolis, the men and women of the Police Department have made Minneapolis safer by nearly every measure and safer than many other cities,” Mayor Rybak continued.

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said, “The Minneapolis Police Department has been awaiting this decision and I am pleased that we can alleviate the stress of this difficult time for the families of these officers. The department will continue to look for other funding with the goal of rehiring the other officers as well.  Our collective thoughts go out to the employees in all City departments who have lost their jobs during this difficult time.” 

City Council Member Don Samuels, chair of the Public Safety Committee, said, “For a city whose primary function is public safety, this is the best Christmas gift we could receive. This grant allows us to keep our commitment to the citizens of Minneapolis by retaining police officers.”