Three outsiders are finalists for Minneapolis police chief

It appears the next Minneapolis police chief will come from outside the department.

Driving the news: A search committee has narrowed down a pool of 18 candidates to three finalists, according to a press release from Mayor Jacob Frey's office.

The finalists:

• Southfield, Mich. Police Chief Elvin Barren, who is also a former deputy chief of police in Detroit
• RaShall Brackney, former chief of Charlottesville, Va. She was fired a year ago and is suing the city, alleging racial and gender discrimination and claiming her firing was retaliation for her efforts to root out problematic policing, per the Washington Post.
• Brian O'Hara, deputy mayor of Newark, N.J. and previously that city's director of public safety. He told the Star Tribune he's led a federally mandated consent decree placed on Newark since 2017.

Of note: Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman is not one of the finalists.

Why it matters: The next police chief will be tasked with improving community-police relations in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of MPD, tackling a rise in crime, and reforming public safety.

• The chief will also need to recruit more officers, as the department is down more than 300 officers compared to 2019.

What's ahead: The three candidates will travel to Minneapolis this week for interviews with Frey and his new public safety commissioner, Cedric Alexander.

• Frey will announce his nomination to the City Council "in the coming weeks."