Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman and one of his top lieutenants are on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into a personnel matter.
Marshman released the following statement on Saturday:
"The day I was sworn in as Chief, I made a commitment to establishing internal legitimacy and restoring trust, both within our organization and with the community we serve. Part of that commitment is respecting the investigative processes we have in place to ensure accountability at all levels of the organization. These processes apply to me as much as they do to every member of the Bureau. Regardless of rank, everyone should be accountable and it starts with me. "I look forward to the completion of this process and am committed to full transparency so that everyone has access to the facts. "I'm very proud of the work Portland Police Bureau members do every day to keep our community safe and they continue to have my full support."
Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office released this statement late Friday afternoon:
Today, Police Chief Mike Marshman and Adjutant Lieutenant Michael Leasure were placed on paid administrative leave and reassigned to the Personnel Division, pending the conclusion of an investigation by the Independent Police Review. The Mayor was informed of the investigation by IPR at the close of business Thursday, and his office spent the day Friday working through administrative details related to this action.
The nature of the investigation will not be released at this time. It is the Mayor's hope that the investigation will be expedited and that this matter will be resolved quickly. Both Chief Marshman and Lieutenant Leasure have the right to due process and are assumed to be innocent of any wrongdoing while the investigation is underway. The Mayor has appointed Assistant Chief Chris Davis as Acting Police Chief until further notice.
Mayor Wheeler gave his state of the city address Friday, but didn’t mention the investigation. He did say he was conducting a nationwide search for a new police chief and plans to make an announcement regarding that this week.