Mayor announces pick for Boise Police accountability director. He’s a familiar face
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean has announced her pick for director of the overhauled Office of Police Accountability. The nominee has been serving in the spot since June.
On Thursday, the city announced in a news release that the choice for the job is the interim director, Jesus Jara. He will lose his interim tag and assume the director job permanently if confirmed by the Boise City Council.
Jara started on June 1, just a day after the former director, Natalie Camacho Mendoza, submitted her resignation from what was then called the Office of Police Oversight.
Jara has previous experience with Boise and the Office of Police Oversight, as he worked in Boise’s human resources office as a compliance specialist and an investigative analyst for oversight. He had both roles from November 2014 to January 2017, according to city spokesperson Bonnie Shelton.
Before being named as the interim director, Jara recently worked as a senior analyst in the human resources department for Benton County, Oregon.
The director role is a full-time position, which is one of the changes made in the transition to the Office of Police Accountability. In the past, the director job was a part-time position.
Boise is the only city in Idaho that maintains a separate city office for independent oversight of its police department. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have a citizen commission, but it operates differently.
City Council members will consider Jara’s confirmation during the council meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31, at Boise City Hall.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 1:53 PM.
