Minneapolis mayor defends $3 million police overtime spending

In January 2026, it was reported that Minneapolis police officers exceeded their budget by at least $3 million during Operation Metro Surge. This operation was part of a response to various crisis events that occurred throughout the year. Mayor Jacob Frey held a news conference to address what he described as misinformation regarding the police department's overtime spending. He emphasized that the elevated overtime costs were unavoidable due to the circumstances faced by the department. The city had previously conducted an analysis of the Minneapolis Police Department's budget, which indicated that despite spending nearly $23 million on overtime, they were still approximately $2 million under the cost required to restore staffing levels to those of 2020, when the department had 888 officers. Since then, the department has lost about 40% of its officers, leading to significant challenges in maintaining adequate staffing levels. Mayor Frey pointed out that the city had historically managed overtime costs by utilizing savings from vacancies caused by attrition within the police department. However, the current situation has made it difficult to accommodate these overtime hours without exceeding the budget. Frey is expected to present a new budget proposal next week, which will likely address these ongoing issues and the need for increased funding to support the police department's operations.