A Portland Police Bureau file photo of Captain Bob Day, who was assigned as the new Deputy Chief on April 16, 2018. Portland Police Bureau

After a months-long process, Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw has chosen her second in command.

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Outlaw announced Monday she's tapped police bureau veteran Bob Day as her deputy chief. Day has been with the bureau for nearly 28 years, serving as a commander and assistant chief in that time. Most recently, Day was a captain in charge of training.

Outlaw also picked two new assistant chiefs to round out her executive team. Capt. Ryan Lee and Cmdr. Jami Resch will each receive promotions.

"These selections were made after careful thought and consideration," Outlaw said in a statement.

The deputy chief job is new to the Portland Police Bureau. Outlaw negotiated for the creation of the position as a condition of taking her job last October. At the time she was hired, Outlaw served as a deputy chief at the Oakland Police Department.

The new position represents a tweak to the chain of command at PPB. Past police chiefs took daily reports directly from the bureau's assistant chiefs. Now, Day will serve as a middleman between Outlaw and those assistants.

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Day's promotion answers questions about whether Outlaw would select a second-in-command from within bureau ranks or look elsewhere. And it's the latest step in a career that's seen recent tumult.

After joining the bureau in 1990, Day worked his way up to the rank of assistant chief under former Police Chief Larry O'Dea. But O'Dea left the police bureau under a cloud in 2015, facing questions that he'd misled officials after mistakenly shooting a friend during a camping trip. In the fallout, new Chief Mike Marshman demoted Day to captain.

Day was one of 13 candidates for the deputy job interviewed by a citizen committee that helped scrutinize candidates. According to Jo Ann Hardesty, a current City Council candidate and police reform advocate who served on that committee, Day was the group's second pick for the job.

Hardesty declined to say who the first choice was, but said she's pleased with Outlaw's selection.

"I think he has the experience," Hardesty said. "He certainly has had lots of roles inside PPB. I think he knows the inherent flaws that Chief Outlaw is going to be confronting."

Hardesty has frequently railed against police abuses, including at a recent protest event in response to a controversial officer-involved shooting at a Portland homeless shelter. But she says she's hopeful about Day, who's spoken openly about being influenced by the racial justice movement.

"It's been an amazing journey both personally and professionally for me," he said last year at an event put on by the City Club of Portland.

Lee and Resch are also both longtime PPB employees, and their promotions mean two other police officials are out as assistant chief. Chris Uehara and David Hendrie had been serving in that role, and will hold the rank of commander going forward.

PPB's news release doesn't specify what Day's salary is in his new position. The city previously listed pay for the job at $186,576 plus benefits and a take-home vehicle.