UMRA’s own Greg Hestness gave a thoughtful and riveting reflection on the past and future of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) for the UMRA A.M. webinar via Zoom on February 9. 

Greg served for 12 years as the head of public safety and chief of police for the University of Minnesota. Before that, from 1975 to 2003, he served on the MPD in numerous roles, from patrol officer to deputy chief for nine years. He grew up in Minneapolis, graduated from Central High School, and still lives in the city. He was articulate, genuine, and spoke from his own experience.

He began with the consequences of the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, which spawned protests eclipsing the rioting in Minneapolis in 1967. Widespread violence erupted in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and some first-ring suburbs. The governor activated the Minnesota National Guard; the State Patrol and other law enforcement agencies also responded.  

Then on June 7, at a rally in Powderhorn Park, 9 of 13 members of the Minneapolis City Council pledged their support to defund and dismantle the MPD. 

In his presentation, Greg noted that the misconduct of the officers involved in the killing of George Floyd led to a public shunning of the MPD and a demoralized police force. Many officers resigned, retired, or filed disability claims. The MPD dropped from 877 officers to 638, a loss of 27 percent of the workforce. 

This was followed by an increase in crime not seen in the city for 25 years. There were 82 homicides in 2020 and hundreds of car jackings, a spiral of lawlessness that has continued into 2021.

At one time, School Patrol Officer Clarence Pedersen (pictured left) was the face of MPD to school children. The iconic 1958 Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph "Faith and Confidence" by William Beale (center) was a national image for police officers. Were those universally accurate images? Of course not. Police could be kind and courageous; some officers could be corrupt, brutal, and racist. - Greg Hestness

Greg then turned to the question of how we reached this level of estrangement between the police and the community. He noted that the city has become much more diverse. Similarly, he said, the MPD is also far more diverse now. However, officers today typically are not residents of the city and are not familiar with the communities they serve. He also called attention to the “devastating” impact the crack cocaine epidemic has had on the community, beginning in the late 1980s.

Greg commented at some length on the so-called “warrior training” that causes officers to think of themselves in military terms rather than as peace officers. It makes them less empathetic to citizens by emphasizing military-like tactics for dealing with people, he said.

Recommendations for change

Greg offered numerous recommendations for change in the MPD. He called for community involvement in the selection and onboarding of officers, routine psychological evaluations of officers (“The job often changes people.”), and a training program for “peer intervention” known as Ethical Policing is Courageous or EPIC . 

In concluding, he expressed optimism about the police force because he believes it has a credible and well-respected leader in Chief Medaria Arradondo. 

Following his presentation, Greg responded to questions from UMRA A.M. attendees for more than 20 minutes. He spoke from the heart and his own life experience. It was a sobering yet hopeful discussion about policing in Minnesota’s largest city. 

—Bill Donohue, UMRA past president (2019–20)