Police Pay and the Budget: The Double-Overtime Question

Since fall 2022, the Minneapolis Police Department has paid officers double their hourly rate — rather than the usual time-and-a-half — for "critical staffing overtime" to cover shifts during a manpower shortage. The agreement with the police federation that allows it expires at the end of 2025, and Frey chose not to renew it, keeping standard time-and-a-half overtime in place. Ending the premium saves roughly $3.64 million annually.

"Double overtime was a response to a staffing crisis at MPD," Frey said. "Now that the department is growing... we can afford to return to normal overtime." Police Chief Brian O'Hara framed the same point around recruiting: "We are finally seeing positive momentum as we rebuild the ranks of our depleted force," he said, adding that the double-time agreement "will not be renewed in 2026".

The change rides on staffing recovery. The department fell from about 900 sworn officers before 2020 to a low of 560 in 2024 and has since rebounded to 614 sworn personnel and recruits, a 17% increase since the end of 2023. The overtime savings were one piece of a budget Frey built to trim a levy increase that would otherwise have topped 13%; he proposed a 7.8% increase in his Aug. 13, 2025 budget address.

The City Council approved the roughly $2 billion 2026 budget in December on a 12-1 vote after nearly 40 amendments. The police changes landed against a backdrop of friction over MPD spending: the department overran its budget by $19.6 million, and council members pressed O'Hara on back pay, settlements and a wave of new hires.

For Lowry Hill and the lakes neighborhoods, the math connects directly to two things residents track: property taxes and police service. A dollar saved on overtime is a dollar not raised through the levy, weighed against questions of recruitment, retention and coverage in a department still rebuilding.