MINNEAPOLIS _ A former Minneapolis police officer who was fired for decorating a Christmas tree with racially insensitive items two years ago has won his job back through arbitration, department officials confirmed this week.
An arbitrator ruled that Mark Bohnsack was wrongly terminated by the department in connection with the November 2018 incident, in which he and another former officer, Brandy Steberg, decorated the tree in the lobby of the Fourth Precinct station with a pack of menthol cigarettes, a can of Steel Reserve malt liquor, police tape, a bag of Takis and a cup from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.
Bohnsack was ordered to serve a 320-hour suspension without pay, or about two months, officials said.
MPD spokesman John Elder on Wednesday confirmed that Bohnsack was back with the department, and Steberg was not, but declined to give further details, saying he couldn't discuss personnel matters.
Details of the arbitration proceedings weren't immediately available, including whether Bohnsack will receive back pay and benefits from the day he was fired.
Department officials at the time described the incident as a prank, but MPD Chief Medaria Arradondo placed the two officers on leave after a public outcry, and fired them the following fall. Critics, including Mayor Jacob Frey said the "ornaments" played to racist stereotypes, made all the more disturbing by the fact they appeared in a precinct tasked with patrolling the mostly-Black neighborhoods that make up the North Side.
While on leave, Bohnsack and Steberg continued to collect pay for months while internal affairs investigators looked into the matter.
Arradondo has since apologized publicly for the episode, saying he recognized how a singular act that erodes public trust can directly reflect on the entire department.
Bohnsack had been the subject of at least 12 complaints over the past seven years, including one open case from 2018, according to records maintained by the Office of Police Conduct Review. Though the files aren't public, none of the complaints resulted in disciplinary action. But, in 2010, former Chief Tim Dolan reprimanded Bohnsack and another officer for requiring a couple in their 40s to hike up a freeway ramp after their car was impounded, although it's unclear whether either officer was disciplined.
Bohnsack has also received several commendations for outstanding police work, but details of them were not available.
In still more fallout from the incident, then precinct inspector Aaron Biard was demoted and transferred to the traffic unit, and one of his top lieutenants, Chris House, was replaced. Then, last month _ a year and a half after his demotion _ Arradondo suspended Biard and House for 800 hours and 500 hours, respectively, the equivalent of five months and just over three months.
It's unclear whether either officer intends to appeal the suspensions, which were part of a wave of disciplinary actions handed down by Arradondo in the wake of Floyd's death.
The decision comes amid renewed scrutiny of the arbitration process in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, with critics arguing that the current system sets the bar too high for firing problem officers. The Legislature has been considering new arbitration rules for officers facing dismissal, among other police accountability items, though a special session in June failed to produce any agreement. A recent Star Tribune analysis showed that half of the 80 officers who were fired and went to arbitration over a 20-year period got their jobs back.
St. Paul's police chief Todd Axtell said that he would like to see a new arbitration process that would allow the department to appeal overturned firings in court.
