OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Minneapolis Audit Committee Meeting – February 23, 2026: Audit Reports and Strategic Plan

City Council — Monday, February 23, 2026
BodyMinneapolis, Minnesota
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, February 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:44:49
Transcript — Verbatim
0:10

Welcome to the regular meeting of the audit committee for February 23rd, 2026.

0:15

I am Elliot Payne and I am the chair of this committee.

0:17

I want to offer a friendly reminder to all members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation.

0:25

These broadcasts include real-time captioning as a further method to increase the accessibility of our proceedings to the community.

0:32

Therefore, all speakers need to be mindful of the rate of their speech so that our captioners can fully capture and transcribe all comments for the broadcast.

0:40

We ask all speakers to moderate the speed and clarity of their comments.

0:44

At this time, I will ask the clerk to call the roll so that we can verify a quorum for this meeting.

0:50

Committee member Chungtai.

0:52

Present.

0:53

Engelhardt is absent.

0:57

Host Bine.

0:58

Present.

0:59

Omar is absent.

1:02

Williams, present.

1:04

Vice Chair Singleton.

1:05

Present.

1:06

Chair Payne.

1:07

Present.

1:08

There are five members present.

1:09

Let the record reflect that we have a quorum.

1:12

Colleagues, our agenda is before us may have a motion to adopt the agenda.

1:18

So moved.

1:19

Second.

1:20

All those in favor say aye.

1:22

Aye.

1:22

Opposed say nay.

1:24

The ayes have it, and the agenda is adopted.

1:26

Next we have the acceptance of minutes from our when was our last meeting, Mr.

1:33

Clerk?

1:36

We are accepting two pairs of minutes from our December 8th, 2025, and our organizational meeting of January 26th, 2026.

1:44

Excellent.

1:45

May have may have that motion.

1:47

So moved.

1:48

Second.

1:49

All those in favor say aye.

1:51

Aye.

1:52

Opposed say nay.

1:53

Ayes have it.

1:54

And the minutes are accepted.

1:57

We have.

1:59

One, two, three, four.

2:02

Five items in new business today.

2:06

And we will begin with item number three, which has to do with our biannual body one camera audit report.

2:13

And I will welcome up Mr.

2:14

Puja.

2:16

Welcome.

2:18

Thank you.

2:21

Good morning, Chair Payne and the members of the audit committee.

2:24

My name is Darthapoodel, and I'm the director of internal audit.

2:28

Our office recently completed the state mandated binary audit of the MPD's body warning camera program.

2:35

This audit ensures MPD follows state requirement on how BWC data are collected, stored, used, and deleted.

2:46

This is the overview of the presentation.

2:49

I'm going to present about the background, audit and objectives, scope and methodology, conclusion and results, observations, recommendations, and the management action plans.

3:05

Minnesota statute requires law enforcement agencies that use body one cameras to arrange for an independent biennial audit to determine whether state statute requirements are met.

3:18

The MPD engaged the independent office of city auditor to perform this audit, which was designed to ensure MPD maintains the highest standards of transparency and data integrity.

3:30

In the past, we contracted an external uh vendor to perform this audit.

3:35

However, now with the auditors who have expertise in reviewing the body one cameras as well as the IT audit, we decided to brought this audit in-house.

3:50

So the objective of this audit was to assess compliance with regulations and review relevant policies, procedures, and secure routine controls as required by Minnesota Statute 13.825 sub nine.

4:12

So the review focused on BWC requirements to verify if the BWC data are collected and classified appropriately.

4:20

Data are retained according to the state statute requirements.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Personnel Matters█████████████████████████████████33%
Miscellaneous██████████████████████████26%
Procedural█████████████████████████25%
Public Safety███████████11%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Economic Development█1%
Pending Litigation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Minneapolis Audit Committee Meeting – February 23, 2026

The regular meeting of the Minneapolis Audit Committee convened on February 23, 2026, at approximately 4:11 PM. Chair Elliot Payne presided. The committee adopted the agenda and accepted minutes from December 8, 2025, and January 26, 2026. The main business included receiving and filing reports on the Minneapolis Police Department's (MPD) biannual body‑worn camera (BWC) audit and automated license plate reader (ALPR) audit, receiving the 2026 citywide risk assessment, and approving the 2026 audit plan and strategic plan.

Consent Calendar

  • Agenda adopted unanimously.
  • Minutes from December 8, 2025, and January 26, 2026, accepted unanimously.

Discussion Items

1. MPD Biannual Body‑Worn Camera Audit Report

Presented by Mr. Puja, Director of Internal Audit.

  • The audit covered MPD's compliance with Minnesota Statute 13.825, subd. 9 for the period January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2024.
  • Conclusion: MPD complied with state regulations.
  • Three recommendations: (1) establish a process for independent third‑party review of SOC 2/SOC 3 reports from the vendor (Axon); (2) further develop and formally approve existing BWC standard operating procedures (SOPs); (3) update password configuration requirements to at least eight characters (currently six).
  • Management has agreed to work on these issues.

2. MPD Biannual Automated License Plate Reader Audit Report

Presented by Mr. Puja.

  • Audit assessed compliance with Minnesota Statute 13.824, subd. 6 for the same two‑year period.
  • Conclusion: MPD complied with state regulations.
  • Two recommendations: (1) establish a process for periodic third‑party review of vendor assessment reports; (2) further develop and formally approve SOPs related to system access, data retention, and deletion.
  • Vice Chair Singleton asked about data sharing with other agencies and retention schedules. Mr. Puja confirmed MPD does not use Flock system, data is deleted after 60 days absent an investigation, and no concerns were found regarding sharing with federal agencies.

3. 2026 Enterprise‑Wide Risk Assessment

Presented by Mr. Timmerman, City Auditor.

  • The assessment was based on surveys of about 120 city leaders, nearly 30 meetings, review of budgets and prior risk assessments, and industry best practices.
  • Progress on 2025 risks: four audit reports and five advisory memos completed; 28 audit issues closed; Office of City Auditor staffing increased from 8 to 14 FTEs; initial steps toward enterprise risk management (ERM) taken.
  • Four risks needing special attention in 2026:
    • Budgetary risks: Significant financial impacts from Operation Metro Surge; estimated $5 million in unbudgeted overtime, projected $1.5 million per week in overtime and expenses, $203 million community impact. Recommendations include regular risk reviews, updated forecasts, prioritizing core services, and communicating potential tax increases.
    • Federal operations and safety: Uncertainty from federal actions, compliance challenges, litigation exposure. Community impact includes $203 million in costs. Recommendations include exploring funding for the City Attorney's Office to handle litigation.
    • Contract oversight: Decentralized management creates risk of fraud, waste, abuse. Recommendations include creating standard policies and a cross‑departmental oversight team.
    • Culture and trust: Communication gaps between council and administration, unclear roles, silos. Recommendations include defining roles, standardizing communications, joint training for elected officials and staff, and establishing a standing governance oversight committee.
  • The overarching recommendation is to bolster ERM posture.

4. 2026 Audit and Strategic Plan

Presented by Mr. Timmerman.

  • The audit plan was approved by the committee (motion carried).
  • It separates the risk assessment from the audit plan for the first time.
  • Planned audits (2026):
    • In progress: BWC audits (MPD and Parks Police), after‑action reviews of the deaths of Alison Lucher and Davis Maturi (expected April), NSD contract management, behavioral crisis response program, Meet Minneapolis, ShotSpotter, data governance, continuity of operations, citywide fleet management, IT inventory/access audits.
    • Program evaluations: misconduct complaints intake in MPD, ethics board policies, CPED permitting process.
    • Ad‑hoc fraud/waste/abuse and advisory services (1,200 hours reserved).
  • Strategic plan highlights: right‑sizing the office (14 FTEs), strengthening resources (audit manual, templates, quality review), upholding professional standards (peer review by ELGA), enhancing independence (code revisions, subpoena authority), advancing non‑audit projects (workforce benchmarking study due April, auditable universe, software inventory).

5. City Auditor Update

Presented by Mr. Timmerman and Mr. Puja.

  • Completed work: BWC and ALPR audits, risk assessment, audit plan.
  • In‑progress: NSD contract management (field work, report due April), Parks BWC (kickoff sent), after‑action reviews (target April), ShotSpotter, Meet Minneapolis, workforce optimization study (due April).
  • Open investigations: two active.
  • Open audit issues: 24 overdue items; since last meeting, two issues closed (2022 hiring/promotion and 2023 revenue/collection). Details provided on status of reports from 2019–2024. Some closures delayed due to MPD/NCR priorities during the federal presence.
  • Personnel: Welcomed new auditors Myra Hagley and Stephen Kolfa; Jessica Peterson as Quality Assurance and Training Manager.
  • Budget: 2026 budget funds 14 FTEs; two vacancies remain (director of special review/advisory services and auditor III lead worker). Additional funding needed for after‑action review contractor, to be requested from council.

Key Outcomes

  • Received and filed the BWC audit report, ALPR audit report, and 2026 enterprise‑wide risk assessment.
  • Approved the 2026 audit and strategic plan (motion carried unanimously).
  • Received and filed the city auditor's update.
  • Directives: Staff to publish the three reports and transmit them to appropriate agencies; clerk to file the auditor's update.
  • Next regular audit committee meeting anticipated in April 2026, which will include after‑action reviews and the workforce optimization study.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the regular meeting of the audit committee for February 23rd, 2026. I am Elliot Payne and I am the chair of this committee. I want to offer a friendly reminder to all members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation. These broadcasts include real-time captioning as a further method to increase the accessibility of our proceedings to the community. Therefore, all speakers need to be mindful of the rate of their speech so that our captioners can fully capture and transcribe all comments for the broadcast. We ask all speakers to moderate the speed and clarity of their comments. At this time, I will ask the clerk to call the roll so that we can verify a quorum for this meeting. Committee member Chungtai. Present. Engelhardt is absent. Host Bine. Present. Omar is absent. Williams, present. Vice Chair Singleton. Present. Chair Payne. Present. There are five members present. Let the record reflect that we have a quorum. Colleagues, our agenda is before us may have a motion to adopt the agenda. So moved. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. The ayes have it, and the agenda is adopted. Next we have the acceptance of minutes from our when was our last meeting, Mr. Clerk? We are accepting two pairs of minutes from our December 8th, 2025, and our organizational meeting of January 26th, 2026. Excellent. May have may have that motion. So moved. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Ayes have it. And the minutes are accepted. We have. One, two, three, four. Five items in new business today. And we will begin with item number three, which has to do with our biannual body one camera audit report. And I will welcome up Mr. Puja. Welcome. Thank you. Good morning, Chair Payne and the members of the audit committee. My name is Darthapoodel, and I'm the director of internal audit. Our office recently completed the state mandated binary audit of the MPD's body warning camera program.

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