The Minneapolis Police Department announced a policy change banning off-duty officers from wearing their uniforms at political rallies or when publicly endorsing candidates.
The rule was reportedly enacted without going through the normal policy change processes and a week before President Donald Trump’s arrival to hold a reelection campaign rally in Minneapolis, some locals said, according to a Fox News report.
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo spoke at a news conference on Oct. 1 saying that the change was to ensure that the police department is not “showing favor or bias toward a particular political party or a candidate.” He added that the change had been under consideration for a year after protests from local constituents about officers in uniform endorsing local and state politicians.
“I don’t want the Minneapolis Police Department to be politicized, at all,” Arradondo said. “It is very important for me as chief to ensure that our policies are in line with our mission and our values.”
But the head of the city’s police union questioned the timing and the process of the policy change.
“We’ve always been allowed to wear our uniform,” Minneapolis Police Department Lt. Bob Kroll told NBC affiliate KARE. “The timing of it is very conspicuous and then [there’s] the fact that they didn’t go through the normal policy change process with this,” Kroll said. “It was kept completely secret from us. We believe it infringes upon the federation’s rights to have influence in the political process, and let them know where our federation stands and who our federation endorses.”
The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis told Fox News it sees the timing of the new policy’s implementation as a direct insult to Trump.
“If you look back in the past, when Bill Clinton appeared here, he was lined with blue because they directed our officers, against their will to be behind him in the backdrop,” Kroll told Fox News. “They made sure they had a diverse looking crew of uniformed officers behind Bill Clinton when he was here and this one, it’s exactly the opposite with President Trump coming.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey defended the department’s decision, saying the decision takes politics out of policing.
“The Minneapolis Police Department is neither an ideological or political entity. It’s not Democrat. It’s not Republican. And we want people to understand that this is a neutral department” Frey said. “Politics and the work of the Minneapolis Police Department are separate.”
Despite the policy change, Arradondo said it does not apply to officers who are working in their “normal capacity” at a political event and said there will be “numerous” uniformed officers at Trump’s rally.
Kroll told the news that his union will be at the rally in full support of President Trump.
“We’re going to be there in full force, in T-shirts, letting people know that off-duty officers do have support for our president,” Kroll said.
