‘Fresh look from old eyes’: Boise police chief says BPD still needs to build trust
It’s been two months since Ron Winegar took over as the Boise Police Department’s interim chief of police.
The over 27-year Boise police veteran took over during a turbulent time after nine officers — including senior leaders — brought forward numerous allegations against former Chief Ryan Lee. Boise Mayor Lauren McLean previously told the Idaho Statesman that the “unprecedented” publication of personnel complaints, along with management concerns, led her to ask for Lee’s resignation.
Winegar, who retired in 2021, took over as acting chief Sept. 27 and was named interim chief Oct. 31. Winegar’s annual salary is $196,352, according to a roster obtained by the Statesman via a public record request. That is the same amount Lee earned.
“I was frankly surprised and certainly honored to receive a call and ask if I’d be willing to consider coming back and serving as the acting chief for a time,” Winegar told the Idaho Statesman in an October interview.
“After some long thought and discussion with my wife, we felt like it was right. It was the right thing to do. It was the right opportunity to just hopefully contribute and make a positive difference in both the department and the community.”
Just as the nearly 400-person police force began to regain its footing, news broke that former Boise Police Capt. Matthew Bryngelson was tied to an organization with white supremacist views. Bryngelson retired in August after almost 24 years.
The former patrol captain was one of nine officers who brought forward complaints and was a source in a KTVB story that broke the news surrounding the initial complaints against Lee, who is Chinese American.
McLean told city and union leaders during a Nov. 21 meeting that she planned to launch an investigation to determine whether city resources were used to “advance racist ideology.” The city also wants to determine whether any residents’ rights were violated or if anyone within the department was affected.
McLean, alongside city and police leaders, announced Wednesday that Washington D.C.-based law firm Steptoe and Johnson would oversee the investigation.
The Boise Police Department in a Nov. 21 statement condemned Bryngelson’s actions and said it “will welcome and fully cooperate” with the investigation. The Boise police union, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 486, and the Treasure Valley Fraternal Order of Police issued statements denouncing Bryngelson and called his comments “revolting” and “detestable.”
READ MORE: ‘A painful gut check’: Boise leaders condemn ex-captain’s ties to racist posts
Winegar wants to add more field training officers
Winegar told the Statesman that he has already identified areas within the department that he wants to address.
The department has been hiring officers “at a pace that is really unprecedented,” Winegar said, and that has strained the department’s field training officers. After new hires finish an over 20-week academy, they spend multiple four-week periods in the real world under one field officer after another.
“It’s the better part of a year before they’re really out on their own and driving a police car by themselves, making decisions and doing all the things we expect,” Winegar said.
The intensive number of new hires has caused officers to feel overwhelmed and burned out, Winegar said.
Winegar said he hopes to add more field training officers to alleviate the burden along with finding ways to give them down time in between the demanding training periods.
Another priority for Winegar is promoting people. It can be challenging to encourage lower-ranking officers to rise through the ranks, because they lose certain benefits like overtime, union membership and shift preferences in higher-ranking positions.
“Those are three strikes against the position for sure,” Winegar said.
The Boise police union has roughly 240 members who include officers and sergeants. And any officers that choose to promote up to the status of lieutenant or above lose union protection as they become members of the management.
There are 15 lieutenant positions within the department, and last month 10 of them were filled, Boise Police spokesperson Haley Williams said by email. All of the department’s 27 sergeant positions were filled.
The average pay rate for a Boise police lieutenant is $62.81 an hour, which averages to $130,644 annually, according to calculations done by the Statesman. The department’s lowest-paid lieutenant makes $127,628.
Sergeants on average make $107,328 annually, or $51.60 an hour. But Winegar said officers who qualify for overtime could make as much as higher-ranking officers if not more.
In late October, the department had 38 officer vacancies. That means other officers must work a lot of overtime. But it also can mean they burn out.
“We’re working our officers in so many ways and so much overtime that it’s not healthy for them,” Winegar said. “It’s not good for their families and not good for their emotional well being and their livelihood.”
Boise Police Cpl. Brian Holland, a spokesperson for the police union, told the Statesman by phone that he agreed with the concerns Winegar outlined and added that he’d like to see the department not only address vacancies but eventually hire more officers as the city continues to grow. Plus, Holland wants additional resources like ballistic shields, vehicles and tactical gear.
“Everybody’s being worked to the max,” Holland said. He added that he’s most concerned about vacancies within the patrol unit.
Holland, a nearly 20-year veteran of the department, said he’s known Winegar for a long time and that he’s always been “personable” and “approachable.” Holland said that a lot of the union members feel they are in a “holding pattern” and waiting to see when a new chief will be hired.
“The expectation from the community is not changing from what they want to need from us,” Holland said.
Search for permanent chief could take up to a year
McLean kicked off the search to find a permanent chief in late October but in a news release said that it could take up to a year to complete. The process is expected to include the City Council, union members, community leaders and residents.
“It’s important that we get this right,” McLean said in the release.
McLean said that she plans to work with Winegar, Deputy Chief Tammany Brooks and the rest of the department’s command staff to address internal needs.
In a phone interview, McLean said she wants the force to focus on community policing, where there is a strong emphasis on crime prevention that McLean said is “what’s kept Boise safe for so long.” She added that officers are also expected to build relationships in the community while holding people who commit crimes accountable.
Meanwhile, McLean said that both internal and external candidates are on the table and added that it’s important to “create a career ladder” for officers.
This isn’t the first time Winegar has stepped in as chief.
In October 2019, he was named acting chief for a brief stint after former Chief Bill Bones retired and before former chief Mike Masterson, who had retired from the department in 2015, took over while the search for Bones’ successor continued. Winegar was named acting chief again in April 2021 until he retired two months later just before Lee became chief. Winegar applied for the chief’s job in 2020 but wasn’t selected as one of the two finalists.
Masterson told the Statesman by phone that Winegar is a “straight shooter” and noted that he promoted Winegar to lieutenant and then captain during his 10 years in the department.
“He’s got a pretty good knowledge base of policing in Boise, what it takes to be successful,” Masterson said. “He’s seen those successes in his 25- or 30-year career, and above all, he understands the culture of the organization and the men and women who work there.”
Winegar told the Statesman that he spent the single year of his retirement working with nonprofit organizations and working as a member of the board of directors for the Idaho Peace Officers Memorial. He also went scuba diving for the first time in his life.
“I wasn’t really bored in retirement. I was OK. I was just fine doing what I was doing. And I was very happy,” Winegar said. “But this, this challenge arose and it’s just an honor to come back … I think it’s just an opportunity to take a fresh look from an old pair of eyes that maybe I can see ways to improve things.”
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Crime is down in Boise, Winegar tells council
Winegar addressed the city’s crime rate in a November presentation in front of Boise City Council, his first since Lee’s resignation.
Crime overall has fallen in Boise in recent years.
The rate of crime was 16.37 per 1,000 people in 2021, down from 20.1 in 2020, according to statistics from the police department. In 2000, that number had risen to 42.54.
Reports of violent crime have not changed much in recent years: 2.6 per 1,000 people in 2021, the same as in 2020. In 2019, the rate was 2.3.
“We are seeing the violent crime rate, while it’s spiking reportedly in other cities, in larger cities and even in our peer cities, we are experiencing a tremendously low rate in comparison, so we’re thankful for that,” Winegar said.
Rates of rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, car theft and arson have all fallen, according to statistics comparing crimes reported during the third quarters of several years.
Still, reports of some crimes appear to be rising, though the numbers each year are small:
- Intimidation and stalking reports rose 44% between the third quarter of 2021 and the same quarter of 2022.
- Extortion and blackmail rose 150%.
- Reports of child pornography and obscene materials rose 147%.
- Reports of fraud rose 7%.
Winegar said crime declined during the most severe periods of the pandemic, when people were largely at home. While reported crimes spiked in the third quarter of 2021 before declining again in the third quarter of 2022, he said he expects reported crimes to eventually return to pre-pandemic levels.
