Minneapolis City Council Approves Arradondo As Police Chief

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The city of Minneapolis has a new police chief.

Friday morning, the Minneapolis City Council approved Medaria Arradondo to take over the position full time.

He took over as the interim chief on July 21 after Mayor Betsy Hodges asked Chief Janeé Harteau to step down.

That followed the shooting death of Justine Damond by an officer after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault.

Arradondo has been with MPD since 1989.

This wasn't a surprise. His nomination made it through two city council meetings already.

He has extensive experience -- 28 years with the department. For the last three years he served as Harteau's chief of staff.

Arradando was greeted by family and civil rights activist Josie Johnson as he arrived ahead of the meeting this morning.

He was approved as police chief in a unanimous vote by all 12 city council members present. Chief Arradondo makes history as he is the first African-American chief.

He also comes into this job after controversy. The shooting of Justine Damond in July and the aftermath led the mayor to say she had lost confidence in then-Chief Harteau.

Harteau ultimately stepped down from her position.

Friday, Chief Arradondo said he recognizes the city is in pain but he's up for the challenge to begin healing.

"You cannot truly believe in service without love. And I love this city, continue to love this city and all the communities that we serve," Arradondo said. "I will continue to treat the men and women of this department with the respect and dignity that I would want to have and that I expect our community members to be treated with."

In addition to the police chief agenda, there was also a heated debate about the plastic bag fee ordinance.

They were supposed to vote on if they would go forward with it Friday, but instead voted 10-2 to send it back to staff.

Council President Barb Johnson said she felt it needed more input from small businesses and low income families.