Minneapolis Police Face Mass Exodus As New Paid Leave Program Hits Amid Riots

Minneapolis faces a compounding crisis, as dozens of police officers are expected to tap into a new state paid leave program while the city grapples with anti-ICE riots and a staffing shortage that has stretched the department to its breaking point. 

Between 60 and 100 officers from the Minneapolis Police Department have applied for or plan to apply for the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, which took effect on January 1, according to multiple sources who spoke with Alpha News senior reporter Liz Collin and Crime Watch Minneapolis. The timing could hardly be worse for a city already reeling from violent protests following the shooting death of Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE agent after she attempted to run over a federal officer with her vehicle.

The PFML program was signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz in 2023, which he promoted as a way to give workers time off for family or medical reasons, including up to 20 weeks of paid leave funded with public money. Many had lined up to use the 20-week paid leave window as soon as it opened on January 1. 

“The PFML program allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of medical leave or family leave per year. If someone decides to use a combination of family and medical leave, they can receive benefits for up to 20 weeks,” explains Alpha News. “During that leave, program recipients are paid between 55% and 90% of their regular wages. At present, weekly benefits cannot exceed $1,423 per week. The funding for the program comes from payroll taxes on employers and employees.”

The program also explicitly allows illegal immigrants to access the benefits that police officers use. 

The news of MPD officers applying for the program also comes following the acknowledgement in an email last week to officers from the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis that MPD morale is at an all-time low. The email detailed the “dangerously low” staffing levels causing stress and burnout, as well as political rhetoric and “inflammatory statements” from elected officials, which is emboldening hostility toward officers.

The department is already struggling daily to fill shifts, as was revealed this week in copies of emails obtained by Crime Watch showing shift sergeants desperately asking for officers to sign up for overtime to fill shifts.

Applications for the program surged quickly, with about 18,000 filed in the first week of the month and roughly 25,000 by last Monday. Initial projections estimated around 130,000 participants over the entire first year. Minneapolis declined to respond directly to Alpha News. Still, it acknowledged on social media that employees, including MPD officers, have requested leave, claiming most applicants were already on leave at the end of 2025 for reasons such as pregnancy, newborn bonding, or caring for a family member, while declining to dispute the reported number of officers involved.

A big problem with the program Walz created is that the statute sets no limit on how many employees from a single department, office, or employer can take leave at the same time, leaving entire units vulnerable to being depleted all at once with no built-in safeguard. Alpha News reports that officers planning to use PFML are required to give 30 days’ notice before going on leave, yet the clustering of applications from Minneapolis police as the program goes live raises serious questions about the timing. The department is now operating with roughly 600 officers, down about 300 from nearly 900 before the pandemic lockdowns and the death of George Floyd. Many officers retired or left the force after that disaster. This time, officers have effectively checked out by applying for paid leave under Walz’s program rather than resigning outright.

Between ongoing rioting, chronic understaffing, and a paid leave program with no guardrails against mass absences, Minneapolis is facing a perfect storm, and its political leaders are the ones to blame.