Portland's new chief of police officially starts Monday morning. She was sworn in by city auditor Mary Hull Caballero during a private ceremony in the chief's office on the 15th floor of the Justice Center.



Chief Danielle Outlaw is expected to spend her first day meeting with Mayor Ted Wheeler, who also serves as police commissioner, Chris Uehara, who recently served as interim chief, the bureau's public information officers and address one or two precinct roll calls.



Outlaw declined requests for interviews in the last month. Instead, she has slated 15-minute interviews with interested media on her second day on the job, Tuesday. A public swearing-in ceremony is expected to be held later this fall, police spokesman Sgt. Chris Burley said.

Outlaw, who celebrated her 42nd birthday last month, is the city's first African American woman to lead the police bureau and Portland's 48th police chief. She spent the last 19 years at the Oakland Police Department, most recently serving as a deputy chief. She started as a police explorer with Oakland police when she was in high school, attending Holy Names High School.

Welcome to our NEW police chief, Danielle Outlaw. She was sworn in this morning. pic.twitter.com/IhwjeqaBK3 — Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) October 2, 2017

The mayor introduced Outlaw during a brief press conference in Portland in August after the mayor named her as the city's next chief following a national search. She explained then that she wanted the job because Portland police face many of the same issues as the Oakland department.

Both are grappling with how to improve community relationships, deal with racial disparities in the criminal justice system, handle homeless encampments, effectively manage crowds, hire a more diverse force and adopt police reforms in hotbeds of social and political activism.

Outlaw will take command of a bureau that has struggled with a staffing shortage, problems complying with a federal settlement agreement over excessive use of force against people with mental illness, ongoing controversies about the police handling of large protests and a breakdown in trust with community members.

She has said she expected to spend her first months here trying to learn the culture of the Police Bureau. She's only the third outsider to lead the Portland Police Bureau as chief.

Last month, the City Council approved a 5 percent boost in annual base pay for the new chief and other top brass, including captains, commanders and assistant chiefs, who live in the city.

Outlaw indicated this summer she planned to live in Portland. The five percent will be added to Outlaw's base salary of $215,000, bringing her annual pay to $225,750.

Only three other high-ranking police supervisors now live in Portland, according to an Oregonian/OregonLive public records request. They are Cmdr. Bryan Parman, Capt. Mike Krantz and Capt. Todd Wyatt.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian