14 officers signed sworn declarations saying new Minneapolis chief committed perjury during Chauvin trial
Alpha News asked the Minnesota POST Board — whose members are appointed by Gov. Tim Walz — why it hasn't taken any action against Katie Blackwell but received no response.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned Tuesday after Mayor Jacob Frey said an investigation found he interfered with a probe into allegations involving sexually intimate relationships with city employees — a leadership collapse that now leaves Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell in charge of the department on an interim basis.
“Today, I received an investigative report with concerning substantiated findings regarding Chief O’Hara’s leadership,” Frey wrote in a letter obtained by Alpha News and Crime Watch Minneapolis.
According to Frey, investigators determined O’Hara interfered with a prior investigation involving allegations that he engaged in “sexually intimate relationships with city employees.”
“Although the investigators have concluded that the underlying allegations from the original investigation remain not substantiated, your interference with the investigation risked the integrity of the investigation and constitutes a significant breach of trust,” Frey wrote in a formal reprimand letter.
Frey said O’Hara was informed he would face discipline, up to and including termination, before resigning.
The resignation comes just weeks after Frey renominated O’Hara for another term as chief.