Metropolitan Council leadership has narrowed the field of candidates to two finalists in the run-up to Thursday’s public event as part of the interview process to hire for the position of Metro Transit Police chief.
Finalists are Minneapolis Police Inspector Eddie Frizell and Metro Transit Acting Chief of Police AJ Olson.
Frizell has served as a Minneapolis police officer since 1993 and is currently the inspector of the First Precinct downtown. He also has an extensive, nearly 30-year military career and currently holds the rank of colonel in the U. S. Army. Frizell has been deployed overseas several times, including to Bosnia, Iraq, and Kuwait between 2003 and 2012. A native of Iowa and graduate of the University of Iowa and the U.S. Army War College, Frizell is married with two adult daughters and a teenage son.
Olson has served as the acting chief of the Metro Transit Police since former Chief John Harrington resigned to lead the Minnesota Department of Public Safety earlier this year. He has nearly 38 years of law enforcement experience, having worked for Metro Transit since 2005, with 12 of those years as deputy chief of the department. A native of Montana, Olson holds degrees from the University of Mary (Bismarck, N.D.) and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, as well as a graduate certificate from the University of Virginia. Olson is married with two adult children and one granddaughter.
An opportunity for the public to hear from finalists is planned for Thursday, June 13, in the Pohlad Hall of the downtown Minneapolis Public Library at 300 Nicollet Avenue, beginning at 7 p.m. Candidates have already completed two in-person interviews with internal and external stakeholders, which has narrowed the field of candidates. The session will be open to the public and facilitated by community healer and activist Dr. Joi Lewis.
The public is invited to submit questions for the candidates, prior to the event.
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By phone: 651-602-1500 (record a message)
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By email: [email protected]
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By mail: 390 North Robert St., St. Paul, MN 55101
More information about the June 13 public interviews