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MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis city council members will again debate moving forward with a proposed police and fire training center, that critics have dubbed a "cop city," at a committee meeting on Tuesday.
Police training center
Local perspective:
The Committee of the Whole is set to hear plans for a new police and fire training center. The council previously weighed the training center at meetings earlier this year. The council ultimately voted against moving forward with the project over concerns about the cost of the proposal in a tight budget year.
The committee is looking to move forward on Tuesday on a motion to approve a $6 million purchase agreement for the land to build the training center.
Dig deeper:
It's worth noting the police department already has a building where it conducts training: the Hamilton Special Operations Center on Dupont Avenue North. But, officials say the aging building doesn't have enough space for all the department's needs.
But with training, the building is home to multiple different units, including the Health and Wellness Unit, which makes it difficult to maintain privacy for officers. City staff say officers have to fight for parking space to conduct vehicle-based training.
On top of that, city officials say the city has put $20 million into a building that the city doesn't even own over the past 20 years (the city only leases the Hamilton building).
Separately, firefighters are also strapped for space for their training, forced to train at different locations across the city, including in the basement at one fire station.
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Soren Stevenson weighs in on proposed training center
Minneapolis City Council Member Soren Stevenson shared his concerns about the costs of a proposed $38 million police training center amid a dire fiscal situation for the city.
What you can do:
FOX 9 will stream the committee meeting in the player above and on our YouTube channel.
The other side:
Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, Council Members Robin Wonsley and Soren Stevenson held a news conference on the police training center along with community activists.
Activists again raised concerns about the price tag of the project and the fact that little notice has been provided to neighbors and plans for the training center.
"We are here today because city council is about to vote once again on whether or not to spend $6 million of taxpayers' funds to buy land or a parcel of land to build, essentially, what is a cop city, which would cost at least $40 million, to complete this project," Council Member Robin Wonsley said.
"I will not be supporting this project again because even yet again, just mere months later, it is still not a priority when we still have to be investing in housing, in education, in filling potholes and in safety across the city," Stevenson said.
Community members also raised concerns about the unknown costs of the project, with one member pointing out a similar project with a budget of $30 million in Atlanta ended up costing $112 million.
Minneapolis police budget report
What's next:
Committee members will also hear a report from the police department on spending in 2025. The report follows a legislative directive issued by the council inquiring on the police department going way overbudget in 2025.
By the numbers:
The memo shows the police department finished 2025 at $21.1 million overbudget. The overage was driven primarily by massive overtime spending, which totaled $32.9 million in 2025. The city had only budgeted for $5 million of overtime, meaning the department was $27 million over budget in 2025.
2026 likely won't get any better. The ICE surge alone cost the department $5.2 million in police overtime between January 7 and February 1.
The backstory:
These numbers are really new. Chief Brian O'Hara disclosed at a meeting in December that the department over bet about $20 million overbudget for 2025. The overspending was part of the justification behind the city council choosing to deny the nomination of Minneapolis Public Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette – who still remains acting commissioner while his nomination is up in the air.
The memo also shows the department was overbudget nearly across the board. In 2025, the department had $0 budgeted for medical services and spent more than $239,000. They had $16,000 budgeted for equipment and ended up spending more than $1.2 million.
The one area where they saw significant savings was base salary, where the department was $10 million underbudget.