Eugene weekly., August 21, 2008, Page 16, Image 16

Blind Oversight
Cops block auditor from seeing
informant complaints
WORDS BY ALAN PITTMAN
PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
P
olice confi dential informants
came up repeatedly during
the scandal involving Roger
Magaña, the Eugene police
offi cer sentenced to 94 years
for raping or sexually abusing more than a
dozen women.
In a sworn deposition during the subsequent
$5 million in lawsuits against the city,
Eugene offi cer Larry Crompton testifi ed that
he once confronted Magaña about a victim’s
complaint but dropped the matter. A suspected
heroin user and prostitute had complained to
Crompton that after she told others about
having sex with Magaña, Magaña had sent
16 AUGUST 21, 2008 EUGENE WEEKLY
other offi cers to tell her to “keep her mouth
shut” in a threatening manner.
Magaña explained to Crompton that
the woman was one of his confi dential
informants. That claim, Crompton testifi ed,
“put it all to rest.”
Shocked by the six-year spree of offi cer
sex abuse that the EPD failed to stop despite
numerous complaints, voters passed a 2005
charter amendment to create an independent
Civilian Review Board and police auditor to
oversee complaints.
But now, apparently, the police chief
and city manager have instituted a policy of
illegally refusing to allow the auditor to oversee
complaints involving confi dential informants.
Asked if she has been allowed to handle
confi dential informant cases like those in the
Magaña trial, Eugene Police Auditor Cristina
Beamud said, “I would like to be able to say
yes,” but the chief and city manager have
taken the policy position that she cannot.
Beamud declined to say whether the
confi dential informant policy dispute is
involved in a recent controversial case. The
chief and city manager have been hiding a
complaint by two citizens from the auditor
since May 22 and dismissed the allegations
of misconduct against the offi cer without
independent oversight, according to Beamud.
Beamud said the city attorney — hired by
the city manager — has told her not to reveal
the nature of that controversial complaint.
Beamud said the complaint from two citizens
was not an excessive force allegation but
declined to say whether the complaint
involved sex, as in the Magaña case.
City Manager Jon Ruiz did not respond
to requests for an interview for this story. An
assistant said he was out of the offi ce or in
meetings.
Police Chief Robert Lehner also declined to
say whether the confi dential informant policy
dispute was involved in the recent controversy.
Lehner refused to talk about the dispute, even
in broad terms. “It would be illegal to do that,”
Lehner claimed, but refused to cite which laws
that would violate.
Lehner said he may be able to reveal
details of the “sensitive” complaint against
a fellow offi cer later. He said he doubted
that future date would be more than a year.
Asked if it would be less than a month, he
said, “I don’t know.” Lehner referred other
questions to a written statement claiming:
“The viability of criminal cases and safety
of associated persons is at some risk” in
discussing the issue.
Lehner and Ruiz’s action in hiding the
complaint appear to directly violate city law.
“The auditor’s offi ce is the intake center
for all community complaints about police
employees,” the city ordinance creating the
auditor position states.
Beamud said she only found out that the
police were hiding the complaint because her
assistant noticed that a number was missing
in the complaint numbering sequence.
Beamud, a former police offi cer and
prosecutor, says she has procedures in place
to handle confi dential complaints and would
not reveal the identity of police confi dential
informants. She said the police can provide
complaint information to her with redacted
names. “We have ways of dealing with that.”
The City Council “hired someone
perfectly capable of keeping confi dential
information confi dential,” City Councilor
Bonny Bettman said. Bettman, who
spearheaded creation of the independent
oversight function, pointed out that the
auditor’s only real power is to oversee and
not to adjudicate complaints. “The entire
model allows access to information, and
that’s it,” she said. “Now what they want to
do is take even that role away.”
“The auditor is under the same
confi dentiality rules [as the police] and has a
perfect track record,” said Councilor Zelenka.
“The ordinance is clear” about her intake of
complaints and access to information, he
said. “There are no exceptions.”
The police chief
and city manager
have instituted a
policy of illegally
refusing to allow the
auditor to oversee
complaints involving
confi dential
informants.
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