Next Minneapolis police boss has deep community roots
Arradondo could improve relations between police and black community
People who have worked closely with the man tapped to lead Minneapolis’ embattled police department say he has qualities that will fit well with the role: He’s friendly, forthright, has deep city roots and is African-American, which could help improve sour relations between police and the city’s black community.
But Medaria Arradondo’s rise from school resource officer and patrolman to assistant chief during 28 years on the force has some wondering whether an outsider would be better suited to changing the culture of a department accused of being too quick to use force.
Facing public anger over an officer’s fatal shooting last weekend of an unarmed, white 40-year-old Australian woman who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault near her home, Mayor Betsy Hodges asked police Chief Janee Harteau to resign, which she did Friday. Hodges nominated Arradondo as Harteau’s replacement and dismissed protesters’ calls for her to resign, too.
“Inside the department, outside the department, fans, critics, everybody — he builds relationships with people, which is going to be crucial as the department moves forward,” Hodges told The Associated Press Saturday. “What’s needed at this time is someone who is good at making change and helping usher people through change, which Arradondo has done and is doing,”
The police department has stepped up training in recent years, focusing on community policing, Hodges said. She said Arradondo will work to cement those changes.
Needing approval
Arradondo, nicknamed “Rondo,” needs the city council’s approval before he can begin the job. He served as the department’s public face for most of a week after the July 15 police shooting of Justine Damond, until Harteau returned from vacation on Thursday.
Linea Palmisano, a city councilwoman who represents the ward where the shooting happened, said she’s impressed with Arradondo, but wonders if someone from outside the department would be better able to make changes and enforce procedures such as turning on body cameras.
Neither the Somali-American officer who shot Damond, Mohamed Noor, nor the officer with him, Matthew Harrity, turned on their body cameras.
Others say an insider is exactly what the department needs: Someone who was brought up in the Twin Cities and can spot the dysfunction beneath “Minnesota nice.”