Boise mayor, new police chief are asked about defunding police. Here’s what they said
Mayor Lauren McLean says she does not support defunding the Boise Police Department, weighing in for the first time on a nation-wide debate about police departments following the death of George Floyd.
She said she does not plan to propose diverting money away from the department, as other cities, such as Minneapolis, have done.
“Public safety is my first priority,” McLean said during a live-streamed news conference. “We have to have a safe city if we’re going to have a city where everyone can thrive. So no, I do not intend to propose defunding the police, but instead I’m in full support of our police department.”
Ryan Lee, Boise’s newly confirmed police chief, said he understood the sentiment behind calls to defund police forces around the country, but said it is critical to have adequate police service.
“I think we need to be mindful and thoughtful about police funding,” said Lee by teleconference from Portland. “We need to make sure that we have adequate funding to properly train and educate the officers that we’re onboarding. We need to be mindful and deliberate about who we’re bringing in to the organization.”
Lee will join the department after two decades with the Portland Police Bureau, where he was an assistant chief. He is billed on the Portland police website as a “national subject matter expert in policing large-scale events and public order policing” with a background in homeland security, terrorism and intelligence.
But Portland has been heavily criticized in recent days for the way its police bureau has handled protests following the death of George Floyd. The city’s police chief stepped down Monday.
The Oregonian reported that police last week used tear gas and an “ear-piercing warning alarm” to clear demonstrators. That led to a federal lawsuit, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
A federal judge also recently allowed a lawsuit alleging excessive force against demonstrators in an August 2018 rally to go forward.
Lee said he would not comment on specific instances. He said he has advocated “for some time” that police reach out to activists and form a relationship with demonstrators “to help facilitate those opportunities.”
“That is really the most successful model to managing large-scale events,” Lee said,” especially those that are free-speech events.”
When asked if he planned to increase departmental training on topics such as de-escalation, he said he planned to take “a comprehensive look” at the training already in place and make adjustments if necessary.
He said he would also want to review the department’s policies on choke holds and the use-of-force continuum, which in some departments restricts officers from using the most severe levels of force in the most extreme situations.
Lee was confirmed to the role by the Boise City Council on Tuesday night. He will start July 1.
The council confirmed him unanimously, but Council Member Lisa Sánchez took issue with how the process was handled. Sánchez, who is the only person of color on the City Council, said she was frustrated that she was not part of the selection process. Several other council members were.
“I feel that I could have brought a lot to the table, not so much just in selecting the chief but informing the chief to come about issues that I felt I could give personal perspective on,” she said at the meeting.
Asked about the selection process Wednesday, McLean said it began before she became mayor in January.
There were several panels, she said, who narrowed the choice to four candidates, whom McLean then interviewed. McLean proposed two finalists who participated in more community panels.
“After that, we offered council members the opportunity to talk directly with Chief Lee while we were in the background-checking process,” she said. “There was a chance for everyone to get to know him — via Zoom, of course — prior to the vote last night.”
Sánchez told the Statesman on Wednesday that she chose not to talk to Lee when offered the chance, because she had other priorities at the time and felt that because the decision had already been made, she would have a chance to talk with Lee another time.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 3:20 PM.
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