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The Portland Police Association on Thursday released its own survey of rank-and-file officers, saying the majority of its members support Chief Mike Marshman and don't want a national search for chief done. Mayor Ted Wheeler, pictured on the left, has directed the city to start a four-month national search for chief and has encouraged Marshman to apply. (The Oregonian)

The Portland police union wants Mike Marshman to remain chief and opposes the mayor's push to do a national search for the city's top cop.

The Portland Police Association conducted a survey of its rank-and-file officers, sergeants and detectives and released the results Thursday.

With 84 percent of the 849-member union responding, the majority said morale is up with Marshman leading the Police Bureau and believe a search for an outsider will hurt the bureau.

One of the eight questions the Portland Police Association asked its members in an online survey that started last Thursday and ran through Wednesday. (Portland Police Association)

"When it's clear that Chief Marshman is more than qualified for the position and has the overwhelming support of his rank-and-file employees, a national search for a police chief is a misguided endeavor,'' Officer Daryl Turner, association president, said in a news release.

Marshman, 50, who has risen through the ranks in his 26 years with the bureau, was appointed chief by former Mayor Charlie Hales in late June as Chief Larry O'Dea retired while under criminal investigation for an off-duty shooting of a friend during a camping trip.

Marshman quickly made widespread changes in the command staff, demoting the four assistant chiefs who served under O'Dea and naming his own three captains or commanders to fill three assistant chief jobs.

Turner said Marshman understands the needs of patrol officers even though it's been a long time since he worked the street. He also has a good, non-adversarial working relationship with the union, even if he disagrees with its stance on particular issues or grievances, Turnert said.

"Moreover, Mike has come up through the ranks,'' Turner said. "He has a good relationship with the rank-and-file. He understands the politics and dynamics of Portland and our organizational history.''

He cited the short tenures of the only two chiefs who didn't come up through the bureau's ranks but were appointed from outside, Mark Kroeker and Bruce Baker.

Kroeker was hired in December 1999 after he retired as a deputy chief for the Los Angeles Police Department. He resigned under pressure from Mayor Vera Katz in 2003. Baker was appointed by Mayor Neil Goldschmidt in 1974 from Berkeley, Calif. The marriage of Baker and the bureau was not a happy one. Baker once recommended to city officials that he be the last or "one of the last" chiefs to be chosen from outside the bureau.

In keeping with his campaign pledge, Mayor Ted Wheeler has directed the city to do a four-month national search for police chief. Marshman said the mayor encouraged him to apply, and Marshman said he will.

The mayor has said he wants an effective leader committed to returning the city to true community-based policing, where officers have time to get out of their cars and get to know the people and businesses they serve. He wants to increase diversity within the bureau from hiring to promotions and address a significant staffing shortage.

"The search will provide an opportunity to engage both local and national talent on a core set of issues vital to the future success of the Portland Police Bureau,'' said Wheeler's spokesman Michael Cox.

The union's eight-question survey showed:

-- 90 percent of the 712 union members who responded believe morale has improved under Marshman and 94 percent support his continued service as chief.

-- 91 percent believe Marshman has promoted a positive culture in the Police Bureau.

-- 87 percent believe that replacing Marshman "will negatively affect morale in the Police Bureau.''

-- 83 percent believe that replacing Marshman with a chief who comes from outside the bureau will negatively affect the bureau.

-- 82 percent don't believe the mayor will consider the union's input in the search.

--94 percent support Marshman's continued tenure.

94 percent of the union members who responded to the survey would support keeping Chief Mike Marshman in charge of the Police Bureau, according to the Portland Police Association. (PPA)

Marshman, who recently returned from three weeks of paid leave while under investigation for allegations that his executive assistant signed him in for attending a training class that he missed, said earlier this week that he intends to apply for the permanent job.

"I don't want to abandon ship when things are starting to move forward. I feel obligated to do so,'' Marshman told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "I think morale is on the uptick. We're looking to hire another 15 to 18 officers next month. I feel obligated to continue to work to connect with people who work here and with the community. Those two things are what keeps me going on.''

The city expects to post a job description sometime in May and has estimated its four-month search will cost $19,900.

Under a tentative schedule, screening of applicants would occur in June. Some community representatives would sit in on interview panels for the finalists. A candidate would be selected by the end of July. The mayor doesn't plan to have finalists meet the public in a town hall-type gathering, he said.

The Rev. T. Allen Bethel, president of the Albina Ministerial Alliance and vice chair of the alliance's Coalition for Justice and Police Reform, said he very much favors a national search for chief.

"In order to get a chain in the culture and accountability in the bureau, I feel we really need someone from the outside who has no ties to the same 'old boys' network,'' Bethel said.

While Bethel said he supports Marshman as chief in the interim, he said he would not support him as the bureau's permanent chief.

Bethel said Marshman didn't take a leadership role when Marshman attended the now-defunct Community Oversight Advisory Board as the police liaison to the U.S. Justice Department on the city's settlement agreement over use of force against people with mental illnesses.

"I didn't see great participation by him or really a push by him to see that the reforms and the community's concerns were heard,'' Bethel said.

The Rev. Leroy Haynes, chair of the alliance's Coalition on Justice and Police Reform, said a national search would find the best candidate for one of the city's most critical jobs. The alliance wants a leader who can propose a strong community policing strategy to build trust between residents and officers that's now sorely lacking, Haynes said.

Dan Handelman, who leads the police watchdog group Portland Copwatch, said the union's ardent support of Marshman may signal "a too cozy'' relationship between the chief and union. But appointing someone from outside the bureau isn't necessarily a solution either, he said.

The search for a chief comes as several high-ranking police officials including Capt. Kevin Modica, Capt. Derek Rodrigues and Lt. Mike Leasure remain on paid leave, pending separate investigations.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian