MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Police Department is asking for about $20 million more in the city's 2027 budget, with roughly $13 million of that earmarked for overtime, as City Council members scrutinize years of ballooning police overtime spending.
The department spent $33 million on overtime in 2025, according to CBS News Minnesota. So far in 2026, it has already logged about $17 million in overtime costs — far above the $2.3 million budgeted for the entire year.
Police leaders say understaffing is driving the costs. MPD currently has 643 sworn officers, well short of the 731 minimum required by the city charter, according to CBS News Minnesota. With fewer officers to cover patrols, the department leans on extra shifts, making overtime all but unavoidable.
Mayor Jacob Frey has described the proposed increase as "rightsizing" the overtime budget to match what the department actually spends. The remaining $4 million-plus would go toward recruitment, cadets and community service officers — an effort aimed at closing the staffing gap so the department relies less on overtime in the first place.
Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson has pledged tighter controls going forward. "Our commitment is that we are going to do everything possible under my leadership to ensure that we do not go over budget in 2027," he said, according to CBS News Minnesota and KSTP.
Assistant Chief Mark Klukow was more blunt about past mismanagement. "If overtime were a paint bucket, we gave out too many brushes," he said. "There was an excessive use of overtime in 2025. In my view, it wasn't appropriate," he told KSTP.
In response to the overspending, MPD has built a new dashboard and app to track overtime hours, and overtime now requires approval from the department's executive team. Budget Chair Aisha Chughtai called the new tracking tools a good sign, per KSTP. But Council Vice President Jamal Osman said he remains unconvinced. "I am hopeful that what they told me today is true and it will happen, but I'm not confident," he told KSTP.
At a Sept. 15 council committee meeting on the spending, no police representative appeared to answer questions in person; the administration provided written responses instead, drawing criticism from council members, according to Power 104.7 FM.
The police budget debate is unfolding inside a broader budget squeeze. Frey's 2027 budget proposal raises property taxes 11.3% — about $400 a year on a median-value home — and cuts 100 city positions to close a $60 million gap, according to the Associated Press via MinnPost.
At the same time, the budget would cut $2.7 million from violence interrupter programs, leaving them with $800,000 in total funding. City data shows interrupters conducted 217 mediations over the past year, and shootings in Minneapolis are down 53% since 2021, according to the AP. "You see the police department, they're getting like, overtime unlimited, right? Yet we're getting cut," outreach worker Kenny Prada told the AP. Council Member Jason Chavez said he was "shocked to hear" about the interrupter cuts.
Council Member Soren Stevenson tied the scrutiny directly to taxpayers. "You're facing heightened scrutiny because residents are facing more than an 11% tax increase," he said, according to CBS News Minnesota.
The council has not yet voted on the $20 million increase, and it is not clear whether members will approve it as proposed or push for amendments. No date has been set for the council's next meeting with police leadership.
- National Correspondent Network
