After the George Floyd riots, Minneapolis lost hundreds of police officers due to resignations and even disability. The department went from over 900 officers to as few as 560.
According to the city charter and a court order based on it, the absolute minimum staffing level of the department is 731, but the department has been struggling to fill the slots despite a significant increase in pay in order to attract more officers.
You don't have to wonder why.
Even worse, about a third of the force is nearing retirement in the next few years, which is likely why so many officers stayed, in fact. Who wants to leave a cushy pension when you just have to stick it out for a year or three?
Now, reports indicate that more officers are leaving due to the department's horrific morale. The fact that morale is in the toilet is not in dispute; the number of officers leaving or claiming family leave is only rumored, although the source of the rumors is good. Consider the numbers unverified but realistic.
ONLY on Crime Watch. We've obtained a copy of a new email sent to members (officers) by the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, acknowledging that MPD "morale is at an all-time low."
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) January 11, 2026
The email also discusses the "dangerously low staffing," difficult working conditions,… pic.twitter.com/Oe9XcbJxQL
Minnesota just implemented a 12-week, few-question-asked paid leave program that apparently a lot of officers are taking advantage of. As in, perhaps, as many as 100 of the 600 or so officers on staff.
A number of reports cite that #Minneapolis police officers are quitting, retiring early and are going on the new 12 week paid leave program in droves.
— Dayton Jenks 🇺🇸 (@C_Dayton_Jenks) January 16, 2026
Good luck with crime prevention now.
It's hard to know the exact figures, but Liz Collin of Alpha News has EXCELLENT sources within the department, as her husband used to be the president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, which implies that his contacts are, shall we say, very good indeed. He basically knows everyone in the department.
UPDATE: Multiple sources confirming now this number has climbed to more than 100 Minneapolis police officers who have applied for the new paid leave program. https://t.co/qE1C10Kzsv
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) January 16, 2026
If true, it seems that about 17% of the Police Department wants to opt out of the whole Frey strategy.
There are even rumors, wholly unverified, that at least a few officers are moving to ICE or trying to. We shall see.
None of this should surprise anyone. The entire Democratic establishment is engaged in a campaign of slander against law enforcement and forcing officers to abandon fellow law enforcement officers to mob violence. Jacob Frey even mused about using the Minneapolis Police to stop ICE, which even shocked his very liberal anti-ICE police chief.
Fry fires on Fort Sumpter https://t.co/ZOsPpbZSlO
— South of 5 and 20 🇺🇸 (@Southof5and20) January 15, 2026
What law enforcement officer would want to stay in the department when his boss talks about sending him out to fight the federal government? Not that this would happen, but it betrays an absolutely insane state of mind.
If it is true, and I suspect that the numbers may be fuzzy, but not the trend, Minneapolis could effectively lose nearly 20% of its already understaffed department for the next three months.
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