Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned Tuesday after the city alleged he interfered with an investigation into whether he had sexually intimate relationships with city employees.
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Mayor Jacob Frey gave the chief a written reprimand, saying that his conduct “as substantiated by a neutral investigation, constitutes serious misconduct.” Frey announced at a Tuesday evening news conference that O’Hara had resigned.
In a message to police department employees, Frey said O’Hara resigned after being informed he would be disciplined “up to and including discharge.”
“I have accepted his resignation,” Frey wrote to department employees.
The investigative document obtained by the Pioneer Press shows that city officials believe O’Hara interfered with the investigation by the law firm Forsgren Fisher by deleting from his cell phone the personal contact of one of the employees he was alleged to have had relations with.
The law firm determined that the allegations of the chief engaging in sexually intimate relationships with employees “are not substantiated” but that there is evidence that he interfered with the investigation and that he discussed it with at least one city employee even though he’d been directed to keep it confidential.
Frey’s letter called the chief’s actions a significant breach of trust.
The police department is “working diligently to re-establish trust with the community, and the (chief) is held to a high standard,” Frey wrote. “As Chief of Police of this police department, trust matters immensely. It is not secondary to the job — it is the job. Your behavior, as substantiated by the investigation, demonstrates poor judgment, is inconsistent with the level of integrity this role requires, and has made it extraordinarily difficult for you to continue effectively in your role.”
Frey went on to write that O’Hara’s behavior “is unacceptable and merits this disciplinary action.”
Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell will serve as interim chief.
The investigative document, much of which is redacted, said the investigation was prompted by a 2024 anonymous complaint.
The chief was told about the investigation on May 1, 2025, during a meeting with Frey and Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette. He was not told the name of any of the employees he was alleged to have had relations with.
Barnette told investigators that the “only time Chief O’Hara became upset during the May 1, 2025, meeting was when it was communicated to him that his phone needed to be imaged immediately.”
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Investigators arranged to have state investigators image O’Hara’s city-issued phone but, because of security issues, the imaging process was incomplete and a second round was done May 7, 2025.
A witness later came forward and said he’d recorded a conversation with a city employee in which it was discussed that the chief’s phone had been taken. They talked about the chief sending a particular female employee a text message.
Investigators say the recording proves that O’Hara had disclosed details about the investigation to a city employee even though he’d been told not to do so.
Upon further questioning, O’Hara said he hadn’t texted the employee. But then he reversed that claim and said he had sent her a text to connect her with another city employee.
During the conversation, he checked his personal phone in front of investigators and said he did have her number saved but couldn’t explain why he used his personal cellphone to do so instead of his work phone. He then checked his work phone when asked and said her number was not saved there, according to the investigative document.
Investigators found that the woman’s contact card showed on O’Hara’s work phone during the first round of imaging by the BCA but did not appear on the second round. Investigators believe the contact card was evidence that the chief and the employee had a connection.
Out of 600 contacts on the chief’s phone, the woman’s information was the only one deleted when the two imagings were compared, the document said.
The woman told investigators O’Hara had texted her personal phone at least twice in 2024: One time with a group photo at city hall and once to put her in touch with another employee. She said she didn’t know how he got her personal number.
She denied a sexual relationship.
The sexual relationship allegations were not confirmed and no evidence was found to support them, according to the investigative document.
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Mara Gottfried contributed to this report.