Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Thursday that he is nominating a former public safety director from Newark, New Jersey, as his top pick for the city's next police chief, at a time when the department is struggling with depleted staffing and the uncertainty of an ongoing federal investigation following the killing of George Floyd.
If confirmed by the City Council, Brian O’Hara, deputy mayor of Newark, would be taking over a department that some city leaders and community members had sought to abolish in recent years, and he would lead the agency through court-ordered changes that are expected as the result of the Department of Justice's ongoing probe into policing practices.
