It’s not too often Kearny is in the national spotlight. But many times over the last five+ years, Kearny’s Brian O’Hara has been right there in the middle of it all. And it’s possible you may have even realized it.
O’Hara is a graduate of Kearny High School’s Class of 1997. His law-enforcement career began in 2001 in the Newark Police Department, where he would go on to become the city’s Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Initiatives. Before that, he was the civilian director of the department.
O’Hara is now the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, a role he first took on following the death of George Floyd. He began the role in November 2022.
His career has been unblemished — and in a world where often we hear of negativity more than anything else, O’Hara has become a great example of a Kearny kid done good.
In the chief’s case, it does not matter what side of the political spectrum you’re on when it comes to the federal presence in Minneapolis. From a local standpoint, O’Hara has had the tough conversations. He’s been brutally honest every time he stands before TV cameras, along side the city’s mayor, among people who are for and against ICE’s presence.
He has, no doubt, dealt with an immense amount of pressure, now and since he was first hired to rebuild a police department from the ground up after Floyd was killed under the knee of one of the department’s (former and now incarcerated) officers. Every step of the way, he has distinguished himself as one of America’s finest municipal police officers.
If you’re from Kearny, or even nearby, knowing much of what O’Hara’s become started here should be such a great source of pride. If it isn’t, you probably should have stopped reading this long before now.
— Kevin A. Canessa Jr.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.