A Minneapolis police officer who worked on the streets for decades spoke with Liz Collin on her podcast.
Due to anti-law enforcement hostility and retaliation, he asked to remain anonymous, so Alpha News will call him “Sam.” But he spoke candidly about a wide range of topics, including the shocking problems with police staffing, Somali fraud, cars that have been stolen more than a few times, and more.
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But Sam says, it was the politics of city hall—preventing cooperation with federal law enforcement and compromising public safety during Operation Metro Surge—that was the final straw for him.
“It got to the point where all these years we’ve worked well with outside agencies and all of sudden we’re being told not to because of a political narrative,” he said.
Sam believes that if ICE and other federal agencies had help from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti would not have happened.
However, he did point out how the political rhetoric did not help: “I don’t think there would have been any issues because when you have the mayor and the chief going on and on and saying, ‘Let us know if you see ICE and interrupt their operations’ … when they say that stuff publicly, it gets the entire population of Minneapolis in an uproar.”
“We could have assisted. We could have held protesters at bay just peacefully because we’ve learned very well on how to peacefully manage protests and people that are trying to amp up a situation, where there doesn’t need to be,” Sam added.
MPD staffing concerns
In talking about MPD staffing with Collin, Sam said he expects the problem with the number of officers on patrol will only get worse.
He pointed to problems with retirements, recruiting, and now the state’s new paid-leave program. Sources have confirmed that dozens of current MPD officers have applied for the program, which allows up to 20 weeks of paid leave.
NEW: We’re hearing from multiple sources that dozens of Minneapolis police officers (60-70 so far) have turned in paperwork for Minnesota’s new paid leave program.
It allows up to 20 weeks of paid leave for personal or family reasons and comes at a time when morale is said to… https://t.co/PQUBfkjl7I
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) January 14, 2026
“They’re at numbers I’ve never seen in my entire career. And it’s extremely shocking to see the product that’s being put out there every day … maybe four, five officers at most on a shift, sometimes two,” he said.
Noncitizen joins Minneapolis police force
MPD has a non-citizen among its ranks, as Alpha News has previously reported. There also seems to be a growing number of officers who do not speak English as their first language.
Along with the obvious safety concerns, Sam spoke openly about the limited number of officers and their ability to serve the public in such challenging circumstances.
“When you’re training in a new officer, there’s always going to be some criticism of that new officer, which is understandable because that’s how they learn,” Sam explained.
“However, when these new officers are getting criticized, they’re complaining. They’re going to the supervisor who is in charge of new officers and that supervisor is calling the individual training officers and saying, ‘Hey, can you speak nicer to this candidate? Can you speak nicer to the recruit?’ And you’re seeing a lot of the training officers, just deciding that it’s not worth it to train another officer because they feel like … if you’re being forced to pass somebody, where’s the liability going to come to? A lot of officers feel like it’s going to come on their shoulders. That’s a little scary proposition because we’ve seen what administrations, politicians have done to demonize law enforcement, especially Minneapolis police officers,” Sam said.
Sam spoke bluntly about the situation: “People that are doing background investigations that are being told to push people through. And there’s officers that are going through training and failing miserably but being pushed through. Let’s be honest here. If you wanted to be a cop in this state and you went through the schooling, why would you come to Minneapolis when we’ve been demonized for so long?”
A telling sign of fraud?
Sam worked in the Cedar Riverside area for decades. The area has been recognized for having the highest concentration of Somali residents in Minneapolis. More than a few first responders have reported to Alpha News that they cannot remember a call that involved the death of a Somali.
Even with decades of experience, Sam said, “I’ve never been to a DOA involving a Somali, never in my career. And I spent many, many years on the street … And I find it very strange that something that happens routinely in the department on a daily basis that you do not see any Somali DOAs. It’s very odd. I would love to know the reason why.”
Public safety and stolen cars: a sign that crime is not down
Collin asked Sam whether Minneapolis is safe and about recent crime statistics.
“I would not say Minneapolis is safe at all. I would say that there’s probably certain areas that are safe. I’ve talked to people, victims, that have had their same vehicle stolen two and three times. And eventually their insurance company said, ‘we’re not gonna cover you anymore,’” Sam said.
Every dot here represents a stolen car in Minneapolis in just two months! And @CrimeWatchMpls is the only Minnesota media to be tracking it. https://t.co/F5EDhUYUte pic.twitter.com/REKdhFjgCW
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) March 5, 2026
“I think it’s disingenuous to say that crime is down. Numbers are easy to fudge and they do it all the time,” he added.
“I tell everybody I know, don’t come to Minneapolis. I’ve had family that lived in the city and they’ve all moved out because of the way the crime is and just how they see their taxes going to absolutely ridiculous things,” Sam said.
Sam also spoke frankly about group of people who are also suffering from the situation: Minneapolis police officers themselves.
“My heart goes out to these cops because a lot of the cops that I’ve met and known over the years, they did it because it was a calling. And now they’re hiring people just because it’s a paycheck. They’ve lost hundreds and hundreds of years of knowledge of veteran officers leaving because they’re so fed up with it,” he explained.
“It just breaks my heart that they have to work under these circumstances because some can’t leave,” Sam said. “Because once you’re into a career and you’re making good money and you’re building your pension and you want to retire. It’s the stress that is involved in all that. If you had a city council and an actual chief of police that actually had your best interests at heart, things would change.”
Alpha News reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department for comment on some of the points raised by Sam but did not receive a response by publication.
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis” and “Minnesota v We the People.”
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