How Minneapolis Looks From the Police Chief’s Squad Car

The Minneapolis police cruiser was heading south toward sections of the city hit hardest by recent immigration raids. I was riding with the city’s police chief, Brian O’Hara. How candidly, I asked him, was he willing to discuss his views of President Trump? “I have my personal opinions,” O’Hara allowed warily. “I don’t think my personal opinions are relevant for my job.”

We were approaching Karmel Mall, a hub of the Somali community in South Minneapolis. The shopping corridor had emptied...