Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey will nominate interim police chief Bill Peterson to lead the city's gutted police department permanently, the latest leadership shuffle in a city that ran off its cops and is still paying the price — while an Alabama town now faces a brand-new property tax just to keep deputies on the street.
Two American cities, two policing crises, one theme: ordinary people bear the cost when politicians and bureaucrats play games with public safety. Minneapolis chose progressive posturing after the 2020 riots, and it has been cycling through chiefs ever since. Chelsea, Alabama never had those politics — but a county commission decision just killed a 22-year law enforcement contract, and now residents will pay for it.
Frey plans to nominate Peterson, a 30-year veteran of the force, according to FOX 9. Peterson has served in the Special Operations Division, Violent Crimes Investigations Division, and as a robbery investigator. He was named interim chief after former Chief Brian O'Hara resigned abruptly in May. Frey said an investigation uncovered O'Hara likely interfered with an investigation into his own conduct — a detail FOX 9 reported but that received little attention elsewhere.
Peterson helped lead the department's response during the 2020 riots, the I-35W bridge collapse, and the northside tornado, according to the city. His appointment now requires approval from the Minneapolis City Council — the same body that voted to disband the department in 2020.
Down in Chelsea, Alabama, the crisis is different but the pattern rhymes. Mayor Cody Sumners told residents the Shelby County manager informed him in January that the county commission would no longer contract law enforcement with cities over a certain population, citing the rising cost of deputies, AL.com reported. Chelsea, with roughly 18,000 residents, is the largest city in the state without its own police department.
The city's current contract provides 12 deputies at a cost of about $1.7 million. A new department would run approximately $4 million annually. To close the gap, Chelsea is weighing its first-ever city property tax — a 5-mill increase costing the average single-family homeowner about $207 per year and generating roughly $1.5 million total.
Sumners made the stakes clear: "After 22 years and millions of dollars invested in the contract, ultimately our city could be left with nothing at the helm of another government entity." He said establishing Chelsea's own department would give the city authority over its public safety priorities and direct accountability for how they are carried out.
Some residents voiced opposition at a public hearing; others supported the move. The council has not yet voted.
In Minneapolis, the council that nearly dissolved the police department now holds the keys to confirming its next chief. In Chelsea, residents who never had a city property tax will decide whether to impose one to replace a county partnership that collapsed overnight. The question in both places is the same: who really pays when the people in charge fail to keep the peace?
