darylturnerchiefreesepatrol.jpg

Officer Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, (left) with former Portland police Chief Mike Reese, patrolling Old Town together after Turner was sworn in as the union president in 2010.

(The Oregonian)

A disturbing pattern of police union intimidation is threatening the integrity of Portland's civilian police oversight system, City Auditor Mary Hull Caballero alleged Thursday.

Hull Caballero, who was elected last year and took office in January, oversees the city's Independent Police Review Division, the intake center for complaints against police.

She took her concerns to Mayor Charlie Hales and the City Council last week but was dissatisfied with Hales' response, she told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday.

Her decision to go public with the explosive accusation is the first sign that she is unafraid to call out police officials, following in the steps of her predecessor, LaVonne Griffin-Valade.

Hull Caballero made three allegations:

* That a police chief - whom she didn't name but whom Hales indicated was former Chief Mike Reese -- leaked confidential information to the union from a 2013 police background check of an IPR applicant who was hired as an investigator;

* That police union President Daryl Turner harassed and intimidated a second IPR investigator in 2014;

* And that the union has filed complaints against the IPR -- including accusing a third investigator of racial discrimination -- intending to hinder its work.

"It's a pattern of behavior that appears to me to be meant to chill or obstruct the independent investigations," Hull Caballero said in an interview.

Mary Hull Caballero took over as Portland's elected auditor in January.

Turner declined to address the allegations Thursday other than to say he's disappointed in the "personal attack on my credibility and integrity."

Hales, through his spokesman, declined to comment Thursday. In a memo last week shared by Hull Caballero, he placed any potential blame for the leak on Reese, who was replaced as chief in January by Larry O'Dea.

Reese declined to comment Thursday. O'Dea said Thursday that he did not leak confidential information.

Constantin Severe, IPR director, said the leak threatens to undermine the independence of an agency already struggling to gain legitimacy with a skeptical public. He worries the police actions may hinder the IPR's work and suppress public complaints.

Portland created the Independent Police Review Division in 2001 to accept complaints and recommend police policy changes. The City Council gave the division power to conduct its own investigations last year, following a recommendation by the U.S. Department of Justice after it concluded that Portland police engaged in a pattern of excessive force against people with mental illness.

The Portland Police Association bitterly opposed the IPR's increased powers.

Hull Caballero said she knew about past conflicts but her concerns intensified after an introductory meeting with Turner on Jan. 22.

At the end of the session, she said, Turner casually mentioned that an IPR employee hired in 2013 by Griffin-Valade had "flunked" a background check.

The Police Bureau conducts background checks for IPR. The information is supposed to be shared with the auditor but otherwise remain confidential.

Hull Caballero said she asked Turner how he knew about the results. "He said, 'The chief told me,'" Hull Caballero recalled Thursday.

Hull Caballero said she was taken aback but didn't ask Turner whether he was referring to Reese or O'Dea.

Turner and Reese declined to address the situation Thursday. "I don't have any comment on personnel matters," Reese said.

Hull Caballero complained about the breach in a March 12 memo to Hales, who oversees the Police Bureau, and to the rest of the City Council. She urged an investigation to find out who else might have been involved.

Hales wrote back: "On the allegation that there may have been a leak of confidential information supposedly from former Chief Mike Reese: There is little we can do about 2013 actions taken by former City employees."

He added that he supports a proposal from O'Dea to have an outside agency conduct background checks for IPR employees.

The applicant admitted frequent drug use in his 20s and 30s. The applicant also informed background investigators of an out-of-state misdemeanor conviction, which didn't turn up in a criminal records check because it was dismissed after a year of good behavior, according to someone with knowledge of the situation.

Hull Caballero said IPR's team of five investigators is "tough," but she's concerned nonetheless.

"What I find unacceptable about this is they may be adjusting their behaviors in ways they might not even realize," she said of investigators.

In another episode, Turner tried to "harass, bully and intimidate" IPR investigator Casey Bieberich on June 3 after she interviewed an officer about a complaint of misconduct involving police commanders, according to a June 2014 memo from Griffin-Valade to Hales. Hull Caballero shared the memo Thursday.

Turner told the investigator multiple times that IPR should know "right from wrong" and cops believed the investigation lacked merit, according to the memo. He also told the investigator that when union members asked him about the investigation, he replied with a dismissive: "That's IPR."

Afterward, the IPR created a "safety plan" requiring two IPR employees to attend interviews.

Griffin-Valade also pressed for Turner to be investigated. Anna Kanwit, Portland's human resources director, responded that the city couldn't do much.

She said Turner has a "unique relationship" with the city - serving as an employee whose salary and benefits are reimbursed by the union - and could file an unfair-labor-practice claim if the city tried to "control" his actions, according to the June 2014 memo.

"My statements and my speech are covered, not just under the First Amendment, but also under collective bargaining laws,'' Turner said Thursday. "I will advocate for my members' rights, professionally and appropriately as I've always done.''

In October, the union fired back against IPR's safety plan. In a complaint to the city, the union argued that state law caps the number of investigators for an interview at two. Because a member of the police internal affairs division must be present, only one member of the IPR can be in the room, the union contends.

Separately, the union filed a complaint against a third IPR investigator, alleging racial discrimination based on a question the person asked during an investigation.

Of the union actions overall, division director Severe said: "I don't know how you can have meaningful independent investigations when the investigators are being brow-beaten and subjected to investigations for doing their job.''

The IPR has eight investigations underway. Four stem from complaints about protests. A fifth is reviewing the controversial arrest of a 16-year-old who was later acquitted, with the judge blasting police for using excessive force.

-- Brad Schmidt and Maxine Bernstein

bschmidt@oregonian.com and mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-294-7628 and 503-221-8212

@cityhallwatch and @maxoregonian