City Council approves $5 million in Minneapolis Police overtime funding
The Minneapolis police logo on a squad vehicle. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis City Council approved a resolution Thursday providing the Minneapolis Police Department $5 million to cover rising overtime costs in 2021.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and other MPD officials spoke before the city’s Public Health and Safety Committee last week asking for the overtime help. The funds would come from the public safety staffing reserve.
Thursday, the city council unanimously approved the resolution without discussion.
With staffing down, MPD says overtime demands are high. The department said overtime costs could reach more than $9 million this year.
"The overtime costs to fill 387,000 hours is approximately $30 million," Arradondo said. "And so $5 million will fill approximately 16.6% of the capacity loss."
With 60% of Minneapolis Police officers on disability leave, there is a total of 692 sworn personnel in the MPD as of May 31. That’s down about 25% compared to a year ago.