Minneapolis Internal Affairs reports staff turnover, new manual and shrinking backlog

The Minneapolis Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau told the Community Commission on Police Oversight on Oct. 15 that it is rebuilding staff after recent turnover, training new investigators on a recently approved Internal Affairs (IA) manual, and making progress on a long backlog of cases.

Lily Hastings, Senior Project Manager for the Internal Affairs Bureau, said the bureau has filled an administrative support specialist position effective Oct. 20 and described a series of recent promotions and staffing changes. She said five sworn IA staff recently transitioned into the unit and several are still completing training required to do administrative investigations.

"We will also note that we have made several requests for additional personnel, including supervisory staff and data staff that have all been declined," Hastings said, and added that the department's 2026 budget proposal did not include new IA positions sought by the bureau.

Internal Affairs Commander Paul Albers, who described himself as new to the position, said the bureau was "rebuilding the team" and highlighted training and policy steps underway. Hastings reported that the IA manual was approved by ALIFA on Sept. 24 and that it closely mirrors OPCR procedures; she said the manual exceeds 200 pages and the bureau has issued an RFP for a vendor to help develop training on the new procedures.

Staffing and training updates accompanied case statistics. As of Oct. 14, Internal Affairs reported 11 open intakes with an average age of 29 days and 42 administrative investigations with an average age of about 239 days. The bureau reported 7 expedited-disposition cases and a combined backlog and noncompliance queue of 185 cases across admin investigations and expedited dispositions (64 backlog, 103 non-compliant, 18 current).

Hastings also said backlog counts have fallen: the bureau began a recent reporting period with 112 backlog cases and, she reported, "as of 10/14/2025, we are down to 2 admin investigation cases." She cautioned that "cleared" cases are not necessarily fully completed through grievance and arbitration; clearance means cases have moved through later stages.

Commander Albers and Hastings described the supervisory-review process as multi-step: direct supervisor review, city attorney office review and IA commander review. Hastings provided a workload example: between April 1 and Sept. 30 direct supervisors reviewed 76 investigative summaries that totaled 753 pages in just one internal-review stage.

Commissioners asked whether the staffing shortfall is a department- or city-level budget decision; Hastings said department leadership has raised staffing requests to the city. The commissioners received and filed the Internal Affairs report.

Clarifying details: IA manual approval date (ALIFA approval Sept. 24); open intakes 11 (avg age 29 days); admin investigations 42 (avg age 239 days); backlog queue 185 (64 backlog, 103 non-compliant, 18 current); backlog reduced from 112 to 2 admin backlog cases as of Oct. 14.