the same person who pays for excessive force claims
judge whether excessive force occurred is a funda-
mental conflict of interest.”
Wilde adds, “Public input into police policy builds
a bridge between the community and their police,”
and says, “I hope the university will adopt a police
commission model like the city’s.”
In the recent retaliation case, a federal jury found
in September that UO Police Chief Carolyn Mc-
Dermed and Lt. Brandon Lebrecht retaliated against
UOPD officer James Cleavenger for whistleblowing,
and another officer, Sgt. Scott Cameron, retaliated
against him for previously speaking up about the use
of Tasers on campus.
The three-quarters of a million dollars the UO paid
out was for economic and punitive damages.
Cleavenger had filed a 2013 lawsuit that exposed
the UOPD for spending
work time creating list of
people who should eat a
“bowl of dicks,” made up
of people and things that
annoyed the department,
from local civil rights attor-
ney Lauren Regan to Mayor
Kitty Piercy to Ems game
security officers as well as
celebrities and local land-
marks.
Chris Wig, a UO grad,
says the jury verdict should
— MARTY WILDE
be a wakeup call for the UO
to change its process and
adds that “worse than not
changing” its process, the
UO has not apologized to
the students and community members that were on the
“Bowl of Dicks” list. He calls this “indicative of an
arrogance and that we don’t need to be accountable.”
Wig says his criticism of the UOPD’s process
comes not from his position on Eugene’s CRB but as
a private citizen and a candidate for a seat on the Eu-
gene City Council.
Associated Students of the UO President Hel-
ena Schlegel says she only recently found out about
UOPD’s complaint resolution process “and was im-
mediately concerned.” She says, “I do not see how the
current process is effective, and the ASUO is provid-
ing input to UOPD and the UO administration to work
UO CAMPUS COPS
LACK OVERSIGHT
Civilian oversight of the police tends to be reactive not
proactive, says Mark Gissiner, Eugene’s civilian police au-
ditor. Yet a recent $755,000 jury verdict in the “Bowl of
Dicks” retaliation case against the University of Oregon’s
police department has not prompted change in the UO’s
police oversight.
The Eugene Police Department’s complaints process,
while “not perfect,” has emerged nationwide as a “leading
model,” Gissiner, says. EPD’s process involves the Civil-
ian Review Board (CRB) that examines policy and gives
input into the police investigation process as well as an
outside auditor who conducts the investigations. The CRB
and police auditor report to the Eugene City Council, not
EPD and are funded separately.
Under the UO model, there is
a Complaint Resolution Commit-
tee (CRC) made up of students,
administrators, UO employees
and four “at-large” members.
There is no independent auditor.
The committee “provides recom-
mendations to the vice president
for finance and administration
to help ensure that complaints
regarding the conduct of sworn
members of the UOPD and
UOPD policies are resolved in
a fair, thorough, reasonable and
expeditious manner.”
Jamie Moffitt, who is the UO
vice president for finance and ad-
ministration and chief financial
officer, says via email that the UO committee’s responsi-
bilities and other aspects of the process “were developed
after more than a year of research into various models
of oversight used by municipalities and universities by a
working group made up of students, faculty, staff and a
local government/community liaison, with input from the
Eugene police auditor.”
Gissiner says altought he was consulted “to some de-
gree,” his was merely an advisory role and “not at all part
of the decision-making structure.”
Marty Wilde, a UO grad and attorney, who has writ-
ten to UO President Michael Schill about his concerns
regarding police oversight at the university, has concerns
over how that oversight is configured. He says, “Having
‘Public input into police
policy builds a bridge
between the community
and their police. I hope the
university will adopt a
police commission model
like the city’s.’
• Activist and sociologist Gwyn Kirk, Ph.D., will speak at 7 pm
Thursday, Oct. 22, at First United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive
Street. Kirk is a widely published writer and founding member of
Women for Genuine Security. Her presentation will include
discussion of her visit to North Korea on a peace mission.
Sponsored by Oregon WAND.
• Lehigh University scholar James Braxton Peterson, Ph.D.
will speak on the Black Lives Matter movement at 7:30 pm
Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Erb Memorial Union Ballroom on the UO
campus. Peterson is director of Africana Studies at Lehigh and
blogs for The Huffington Post on pop culture, youth and politics.
• “Digital Disruption of Media: Learning to Embrace the
Change” will be the topic at City Club of Eugene at noon Friday,
Oct. 23, at the Downtown Athletic club, 999 Willamette Street.
Speakers will be John Stark of KLCC, Associate Editor Camilla
Mortensen of Eugene Weekly and Mark Blaine of the UO School
of Journalism and Communication. $5 for non-members. The
program the following week, Oct. 30, will be on the future of the
Elliott State Forest. See cityclubofeugene.org to get on the club’s
email list.
• A fundraiser for County Commissioner Pete Sorenson in
support of his re-election bid is planned from 7 to 8:30 pm
Friday, Oct. 23, at a private residence near 13th and Lincoln. Call
Steve Coatsworth at 606-8829 to RSVP. Sorenson is also taking
a hike around Mount Pisgah Saturday morning, Oct. 24, with the
Sierra Club and others. Meet at South Eugene High School
parking lot at 10:30 am.
• The city’s Willamette to Willamette (W2W) project seeks to
make a better connection between Eugene’s downtown and the
Willamette River along a “great street” of 8th Avenue. “By
integrating public art and local history, 8th Avenue can become
an inviting, beautiful and walkable promenade to the river,”
according to the city. A survey is now on the project’s website,
Eugene-or.gov/w2w, and staff members will be on hand to talk
about the options from 10 am to 2 pm Oct. 24 at Saturday
Market. The survey will close Nov. 16 and results will be posted
in early December.
• A fundraiser chili dinner for Community Supported
Shelters will be from 6 to 7:30 pm Sunday, Oct. 25, at St. Mary’s
Episcopal Church, 1300 Pearl Street. Doors open at 5:30 pm,
presentation about CSS programs at 6:45 pm.
• Advocates for the homeless are planning another
demonstration at 6 pm Monday, Oct. 26, outside Harris Hall
before the Eugene City Council meeting. Some information can
be found on the OURS homeless camp’s public Facebook page.
• Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy will be available to meet
between 5 and 6 pm Tuesday, Oct. 27, at Albertson’s at 4740
Royal Ave. The Mayor’s One-on-One meetings are usually held
on the fourth Tuesday at different locations around town. Call
682-8340 for more information.
>>> CONTINUED ON P. 10
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