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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey will soon decide on a nomination for permanent chief of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). The choice is clear to me — interim Chief Amelia Huffman.
Chief Huffman has three qualities that no other potential nominee is likely to have: a personal commitment to Minneapolis, 28 years of experience in the MPD, and a clear, bold vision for the future of policing in our city.
Huffman has a proven commitment to Minneapolis. She moved here from Ohio in 1993 specifically to join MPD and be part of our vibrant city, and she never left. She knew MPD was looking for people in its cadet program from different backgrounds, fields of study and experiences. MPD was growing and looking for ways to expand its reach into various communities, and she joined a force that was about 90% male. She raised a family in Minneapolis, is a proud parent of a Southwest graduate, and was always engaged in her community.
I venture to say that no other potential candidate has dedicated themselves to our city as Chief Huffman has.
Huffman has a wealth of substantive experience. She joined MPD in November 1994 as part of the "Clinton Cops" — the over 100,000 police officers that then-President Bill Clinton successfully funded to help end the extremely high crime rates of the '80s and early '90s. She started out as a patrol officer and quickly worked her way up through the ranks, becoming a captain in less than 20 years, and eventually deputy chief under then-Chief Medaria Arradondo in 2021.
She always lived in the city and concentrated much of her career on improving the lives of its residents. She was an integral part of the Family Violence Unit, where she dedicated herself to helping the victims of domestic abuse and child protection; she supervised the homicide and cold case investigators, where she immersed herself in trying to help families and loved ones of homicide victims achieve justice. And she managed the Criminal Investigations and Support Services Division, which investigated murders, sex crimes, robberies, assaults and major weapons offenses.
She also managed the FBI's Violent Crimes and Safer Streets Task Force whose work led to the successful prosecution and incarceration of numerous extremely violent offenders in our community. Her experience is deep, expansive and significant.
Chief Huffman's vision for the future is exemplified in her recent statements concerning the rollout of her current MPD initiatives when she said, "Community safety and a culture of policing professionalism are inextricably linked." Her vision is to make MPD the most professional and community-oriented police department in the country.
Just within the six months that she has been the interim chief, Huffman developed groundbreaking policies including: MPD's new Discipline Matrix, a transparent and understandable method for officer accountability; duty-to-intervene training; new systems concerning the oversight for use of force incidents; improved de-escalation training; an updated and enhanced Field Training Officer Program; and state-of-the-art software programming to further manage employee training and accountability.
Her vision also includes improving morale and recognizing accomplishments within MPD. Recently, she focused on highlighting and honoring the exemplary work of MPD officers, something that often gets overlooked by the press. She recognized many officers for their skill, commitment and bravery in protecting Minneapolis residents. She honored officers in the First and Fourth Precincts for providing first aid to victims during a scene of automatic gunfire, officers in the Third Precinct for rescuing a man during a mental health crisis where he tried to hang himself, and officers who made 34 arrests related to carjackings and shootings during which they confiscated 27 firearms.
The mayor engaged a large firm to do a nationwide search for candidates. They are interviewing candidates from all over the country, looking for that person with the experience, strength, and vision to reform policing and provide public safety to our city. But as the saying goes, sometimes what you're searching for has been right in front of you the entire time.
Here, it is Chief Amelia Huffman, whose proven record of excellence and vision for the future is exactly what we need right now.
Joseph Tamburino is a Minneapolis attorney, a downtown resident and business owner, board member and former president of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association, and a member of the Downtown Council and Hennepin Avenue Safety Committee.
