The Minneapolis Police Department’s 2nd Precinct’s new commander, Inspector Sean McGinty, has come aboard at a critical time for the department, and for the city as well. He succeeds Inspector Todd Loining, who retired Jan. 29. Inspector McGinty’s unit faces rising crime rates and serious shortages in the number of available officers to deal with them.
McGinty is a Minneapolis native who began his career with the MPD in 1996, after getting a degree in law enforcement from Minnesota State University, Mankato. He began working in the 4th Precinct, and was promoted to sergeant in 2006. In 2013 he became a patrol lieutenant, serving in both the 3rd and 4th Precincts, later transferring to the Robbery Unit where he supervised robbery investigations. In 2015, he served in the Strategic Information Center, and was promoted to Inspector of the 3rd Precinct in 2019.
The Second Precinct covers all of Minneapolis east of the Mississippi River, and includes all of Ward 1, most of Ward 3, and half of Ward 2. McGinty has met with the City Council members for those wards, as well as University of Minnesota Police Chief Matt Clark, Moose Bar & Grill owner Larry Ranallo, and Northeast Chamber Executive Chamber Director Joanne Kaufman, among others. Third Ward Council Member Mike Rainville, who ran on a platform of improving public safety, said he was optimistic about McGinty’s promise to rebuild trust as the public face of the department, and added, “I’m going to hold him to that.”
The First Ward Council Member Elliot Payne said the inspector seemed “open and cooperative” about a proposal for a Department of Public Safety that would work alongside the Police Department as “an additional tool in a holistic approach that would have more points of contact with citizens.”
In an interview, McGinty said precinct staffing is currently at 50 officers, down from 100 two years ago. There’s no one for the community response team, only two people working on property crime, and one crime prevention specialist. He noted, “Each shift has only 15 persons, so there are around seven officers to patrol the whole precinct. We can’t cover people on sick leave or in training.”
A study last year by the Police Executive Research Forum found a 45% increase in officer retirements nationwide in 2020, compared with the previous year. The report also highlighted an 18% jump in resignations and a 5% decrease in new hires.
That the dip in police recruitment is nationwide is of no comfort to him. There is currently a court order to add 190 new officers to the force, a number that would still fall well short of the roughly 850 officers who were working this time two years ago. McGinty said it’s been difficult to get a group of 40 applicants to make up a single trainee class, and there would need to be more than four classes a year to get citywide staffing back to near 2020 levels.
There’s been no dip in reported crime in the precinct, as McGinty announced at the 2nd Precinct Advisory Council (2PAC) February meeting. He said the 2nd Precinct had 13.47% of all city crime, but, “that percent is about 60% higher than our normal numbers.” He suggested that the numbers could come down, “If we stop giving people opportunities to commit crimes.” Taking keys out of cars and putting locks or alarms on catalytic converters were among the suggestions.
McGinty stressed that he’s happy to attend meetings for any neighborhood group that requests one, and wants to hear residents’ ideas and concerns. “We know that in the post-George Floyd world, we have to build back trust and repair relationships. It will take time, but we want to be visible and we want people to help us solve these problems. We know that a lot of people feel the city is dangerous, and we will do our best to make it safe. We will do everything we can with what we have.”
Below: Inspector Sean McGinty now leads the 2nd Precinct. (Provided photo)
