Eugene weekly., August 21, 2008, Page 18, Image 18

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Melody Dodd
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Featured Comedians
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18 AUGUST 21, 2008 EUGENE WEEKLY
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mayor and council unanimously voted for
police oversight anyway.
Lehner was hired by former Eugene
City Manager Dennis Taylor, who, along
with the Eugene police association, opposed
independent police oversight. In Tucson Lehner
once served as president of the police union.
Beamud said she also has other issues with
how the police have handled complaints.
Beamud has said the police chief
has decided that investigations of police
misconduct shall be suspended until criminal
proceedings are complete. Beamud notes
that other cities have concurrent criminal
and internal investigations. She cites a
leading police oversight expert that such
concurrent investigations are preferable.
Police oversight supporters recently
criticized local District Attorney Doug
Harcleroad for inserting a county criminal
investigation into a controversial Eugene
police Tasering of a protester. Critics said
Harcleroad, who has a record of quickly
dismissing complaints against police, was
retaliating and trying to intimidate those
who complained of police brutality and
trying to delay the police auditor’s work.
Asked about allegations of retaliation in the
Taser case, Beamud said, “I am sympathetic to
those people who might say that the complaint
has resulted in more scrutiny.”
Lehner also involved the DA in the
mysterious secret complaint, but it’s unclear
why, since the complaint did not appear to
be a criminal matter, according to Beamud’s
statement. The Eugene police chief is
supposedly under the supervision of the city
manager, not the DA.
The police chief also drew criticism for
assigning the same internal affairs offi cer
who was investigating the Taser complaints
by protesters to investigate the protesters for
additional charges.
“Clearly it created some problems,” said
Beamud of the IA investigator’s dual role.
Beamud said it would be better to have
separate offi cers conduct the criminal and
complaint investigations.
A similar issue had come up earlier with
another complaint. A person had alleged
that an offi cer used excessive force against
a woman involved in a naked bike ride
protest. According to Beamud, the police
internal affairs offi cer apparently took a list
of witnesses from the complainant and then
used the list to charge other people involved
in the protest with crimes.
Beamud said regardless of police motive,
“There may be a chilling effect on the complaint
process if what they disclose in the complaint
process results in further criminal charges.”
In other cities, Beamud said, police
chiefs exercise more discretion in pursuing
minor cases against people complaining of
police misconduct.
In the Magaña case, police apparently did
not pursue charges against the heroin user and
prostitute victims of the EPD offi cer while the
criminal investigation and trial was in progress.
With so many unresolved issues, the future
of the independent police auditor and review
board function in Eugene appears uncertain.
“Although they say they’re in favor of
independent complaint review, the devil
is in the details,” said Councilor Bettman
of the chief and city manager. “So far the
administration’s posture appears to be to
resist any oversight.”
The manager and chief have said they
will propose changes to the city’s police
oversight law to address their concerns. But
Bettman said, “There is not a problem with
the ordinance; there is not a problem with the
auditor. There is a problem with resistance.”
She said the chief and manager’s proposed
changes to the ordinance are “a ruse to
reduce the very minimal amount of power
that the auditor’s offi ce and the external
review of complaints has to begin with.”
The city managers “are very secretive.
Information is hard to get, it’s rationed, so the
idea of having open scrutiny of complaints
is anathema to how they’ve functioned,”
Bettman said.
Bettman, who is months away from the
end of her last term in offi ce, said she’s not
sure there will be support on the council to
protect independent police oversight.
She pointed out that the council last year
voted 5-3 against requiring an independent
internal investigation of how the more than
a dozen complaints against Magaña were
ignored by more than a dozen other offi cers
for six years. “Even with the severity of
those crimes and the longevity of those
crimes, they didn’t do an administrative
investigation at all,” Bettman said.
‘When the leaders
won’t follow the
law, the rank and
fi le won’t respect
the law.’
—C HUCK D ALTON , NAACP
“You just have people on council that are
anti-accountability,” she said. “We have a split
council here.”
The tight mayor’s race could change that
split to open opposition of police oversight.
Mayor Kitty Piercy has supported the
auditor, but challenger Jim Torrey has said
he opposes the independent police auditor,
preferring that the auditor be controlled by
the city manager, not the council. Torrey,
who has said he may spend more than half
a million dollars to win the mayor’s seat,
has received some of his biggest campaign
contributions from the police union, a strong
critic of the independent auditor function.
Bettman said she hopes voters will
approve a city charter amendment in
November that would help prevent a future
council from doing away with independent
police oversight. Beamud said she supports
the charter amendment and opposes changing
the existing ordinance. But Beamud’s last
day before leaving for her new job in Atlanta
is Aug. 22.
Beamud said her deputy Dawn Reynolds is
qualifi ed to fi ll in. Reynolds has experience as
a city prosecutor, judge and defense lawyer and
said she will apply for the head auditor job.
The council voted this month for a nine
month process to fi nd a permanent auditor. That
would leave the offi ce short-staffed and push
the hiring decision to the next council after the
potentially pivotal mayor’s vote in November.
Beamud declined to recommend who
should replace her as independent police
auditor. She said of the mayor and council,
“it’s really up to them.”
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