Officer reunites where career began

After being on the front lines of the rioting and dealing with the chaos first hand in Minneapolis earlier this year, Officer Brandon Fandel is looking forward to a little more peace and calmness in Owatonna.
Fandel has rejoined the Owatonna Police Department as a patrol officer after being away for the past five years as a Minneapolis officer. Fandel worked for Owatonna from 1999 to 2015 as a patrol officer and later as a detective. He left for Minneapolis in 2015, but he remained living in Owatonna with his family the entire time.
While Fandel admits he was looking to come back to Owatonna even before the riots took place in late May because the commute from Owatonna to Minneapolis was wearing on him, it was the riots over the George Floyd killing that ultimately sealed his decision. Fandel said it was frustrating to work through the riots and then experience the demands to defund the police and abolish the police department.
“I want to go back to a place where we have community support and department support,” said Fandel, who is a 1997 graduate of Owatonna High School. After high school, he went to Alexandria where he obtained his law enforcement training.
Fandel says working the riots took an emotional toll on him as well as the rest of the Minneapolis officers. “It was surreal,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it was happening. It takes a toll on you.”
He shared how officers in Minneapolis were getting shot at almost nightly. “I was hyper-vigilant,” Fandel said. “I was left wondering when is this car that’s shooting going to come rolling by me. When is it going to be my turn? I don't say that in an excited way, either.”
During the riots, Fandel had several “close calls” with commercial-grade fireworks, though he escaped without any injuries during the mayhem. “We were pelted with rocks and bottles,” he said. “My hearing might be a little worse,” he added.
Fandel said it was very difficult to work as a Minneapolis officer during the riots and the weeks following. “I felt abandoned by our leadership—the mayor, the city council and the top police department managers,” he said, noting nearly every officer on the department felt the same way. “In the moment, we felt abandoned.”
Since the riots, there has been a mass exodus of officers from the Minneapolis force. More than 150 officers have filed work-related disability claims after the Floyd killing and ensuing unrest while many others are simply jumping ship. On Fandel’s shift of 24 officers, one sergeant and four officers left within a week earlier this month. He said other precincts in the city have fared much worse. Some officers have walked away from the profession while others like Fandel have gone to other departments.
“My fear is that people will look at it that they are all bad cops,” Fandel said. But, he stressed, quite the opposite is true. “The vast majority are good cops and smart people,” he said. “They are saying I don’t deserve this and I’m not the enemy.”
He is especially frustrated with community members who are always quick to criticize the police. “We are putting our lives at risk to help others,” Fandel said. “People lose sight that we are trying to help victims. People lose sight that there is a victim on the other side who wants justice. The victim of these cases goes unnoticed and we are made out to be the bad guy.”
Despite the abandonment by Minneapolis leadership as Fandel calls it, he said many community members came up to Minneapolis officers to express their appreciation and support for the police. “That did mean a lot to us,” he said.
Fandel said he began exploring the possibility of coming back to Owatonna last year, but he and his wife decided it wasn’t the right time. When the opportunity came up again this year, he said, “I can’t not come back. I need to be there for my family and the best way to do that is to be back home.” He and his wife have three children.
Even though he is excited about coming back, Fandel says it's hard to look back with any regrets of leaving Owatonna the first time. During his stint with Minneapolis, Fandel had the opportunity to work the Super Bowl, Final Four and other major events. While there are certain things Fandel will miss about policing in Minneapolis, he is quick to point out that Owatonna is his community and this is where he belongs.
And protestors with the recent unrest in Minneapolis helped drive that point home for Fandel. “Protestors yelled that we didn’t live there,” he said. “You have the thought in the back of your mind: ‘Why am I here?’ Why am I not a target for a city that I care about?” He quickly realized Minneapolis is not his community.
“It's time for me to come home,” Fandel said. “Owatonna is the community I have grown up in. This is the place I care about and want to keep safe.”
He enjoys the small town charm Owatonna has to offer. “It’s a big enough city where it keeps you involved and interested, but it’s small enough where you know everybody,” he said. “This is the town I am comfortable with,” he added.
Fandel is well aware of the dangers involved with law enforcement and realizes there is a chance when he goes to work he may never return home again. “I want to risk my life for something I care about. This is my community. I am okay putting my life on the line for my community,” he said.
He is thankful Owatonna hired him back where he can focus on protecting and serving Owatonna residents. He will be working the overnight shift from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. once he completes a field-training program, or as he calls it a “re-acclamation period.”
Fandel said his goal is to do the job the best way he knows how to. And, he says, he will be just content if he never has to be involved in a riot situation again for the rest of his career.
Once life settles down again, Fandel hopes to reengage in community activities in Owatonna.