Interim Police Chief Dolan

Last Wednesday at the Executive Committee we approved designating Assistant Chief Tim Dolan as Interim Police Chief. He is set to take over as head of the police department April 15th and serve for 90 days. We can also decide to extend that time if needed.

It is unclear if this means that Dolan is a likely candidate for the permanent appointment. What is clear is that it is the Mayor’s appointment to make. His office is still in the process of looking at options for how to go about making this important decision.

I am advocating an open and more extensive search. While I know we have outstanding candidates within the department, I think it would be a mistake to limit ourselves to an internal search. This is a critically important decision. We should make using the most careful, open and complete process possible. I do not want to overlook excellent candidates from outside the city, though I do want to give those qualified officers within the city a fair chance at the position.

I will also work hard to make sure that any candidate I support will be committed to supporting the role of civilian oversight and the Civil Review Authority process as well as continuing our efforts to create a more comprehensive state of the art model of community oriented policing in Minneapolis.

If you have views on this I encourage you to contact your Minneapolis elected officials.