The Upper Midwest Law Center filed a petition for a writ of mandamus on behalf of Minneapolis residents and taxpayers Ronald Peterson and Laverne Turner, along with Hennepin County taxpayers and Minneapolis property owners John Tschohl and Mary Holmberg, seeking to compel Mayor Jacob Frey to comply with the Minneapolis City Charter’s minimum police staffing requirement.
The petition asks the Hennepin County District Court to order the Mayor to fulfill what the Minnesota Supreme Court has already recognized as a clear legal duty: to employ at least 731 sworn police officers under Section 7.3 of the Minneapolis City Charter.
In Spann v. Minneapolis City Council, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that the Mayor has a clear legal duty to “actually employ 731 officers.” Yet, according to the petition, the Minneapolis Police Department currently employs approximately 630 licensed peace officers, which is more than 100 officers below the charter minimum.
“This case is about enforcing the law as written and as already interpreted by the Minnesota Supreme Court,” said Doug Seaton, President of the UMLC. “The Mayor does not have discretion to ignore the City Charter. Minneapolis residents are entitled to the police protection the law requires, and after years of noncompliance, the court must now enforce that duty.”
The petition details the City’s continued failure to comply with the charter requirement more than four years after an alternative writ of mandamus was issued in the prior Spann litigation. It also alleges that the staffing shortage has had real consequences for Minneapolis residents and property owners, including increased crime, slower response times, reduced investigative capacity, justified fear of crime, property damage, and declining public safety.
The shortage has particularly affected neighborhoods and property owners who have experienced repeated assaults, shootings, thefts, break-ins, vandalism, and delayed police response. The petition argues that these ongoing harms entitle the petitioners to expedited relief.
UMLC is asking the court to issue a peremptory writ of mandamus ordering the Mayor to immediately comply with the Charter and staff the Minneapolis Police Department at the required level. In the alternative, the petition asks the court to issue an expedited order requiring the Mayor to show cause why he has not fulfilled that obligation.
The case was filed in Hennepin County District Court. Click here to view the petition.