Former Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea Indicted for Shooting Friend

The former Portland Police Chief, Larry O'Dea, has been indicted in Harney County for shooting his friend during a hunting trip. O'Dea is charged with one count of negligently wounding another, a Class B Misdemeanor.

The incident happened during an April trip in Harney County. At the time, O'Dea told a responding deputy that his friend had accidentally shot himself. When O'Dea returned to Portland, however, he told his boss - Mayor Charlie Hales - what had happened.

Neither O'Dea nor Hales apparently thought to notify Harney County of what had actually happened. Neither did they start the ball rolling on an administrative review, which is required.

It was not until a report by Willamette Week that the truth of what happened was disclosed. Willamette Week also first reported the news of the indictment.

O'Dea ended up resigning in June.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department concluded that Hales's inaction obstructed a "fair and expeditious resolution" of a probe into the shooting.

The conclusion came from Justice Department officials overseeing a settlement agreement between the federal government and Portland Police Department.

The investigators were critical of actions taken by Hales and O'Dea and the aftermath of O'Dea's shooting of his friend, saying "tragically, conduct...illustrated PPB's accountability failures."

They also suggested that failures of Mayor Hales were in violation of the settlement agreement that was put in place after a federal investigation concluded that Portland Police used excessive force against people with mental illness.

Investigators concluded that neither Hales - nor several other officials - notified the police bureau's internal affairs unit of the incident and asked for an administrative review, which is "required by the Settlement Agreement."

They also took issue with the fact that O'Dea "told his subordinates would be handled as a private, personal matter. He undercut the usual accountability systems and placed his subordinates in an untenable position."

To make matters worse, investigators concluded, "the city and PPB failed to issue communication restriction orders and failed to collect evidence" prejudicing any Independent Police Review investigation that might happen into "the incident and its aftermath.

"Under the former Chief, PPB failed to consistently apply its own policies on the reporting and investigation of off-duty firearm discharges."

Instead of doing what they were supposed, the investigators pointed out, one city official wrote to O'Dea, telling him, "Don't worry chief we got your back."

Investigators write the actions in this incident, "give rise to the need to determine compliance with" several Portland Police directives including

• “Police Bureau members, whether on duty or off duty, shall be governed by the reasonable rules of good conduct and behavior, and shall not commit any act tending to bring reproach or discredit upon the Police Bureau or the City of Portland;"

• “Members shall not ... make any written or oral statements which would impair or diminish the orderly and effective operations, supervision, or discipline of the Police Bureau;" and

• “Members will not make any false statements to justify a criminal or traffic charge, or seek to unlawfully influence the outcome of any investigation.”

When the shooting happened in April, O'Dea originally told a responding deputy that his friend had accidentally shot himself, didn't identify himself as a Portland police officer let alone the Chief of Police, and only confessed to what had happened weeks later.

When Hales announced that O'Dea was being replaced as chief of police, he spent the first few moments of the press conference scolding the press.

“I’ve been very disappointed in the trial by media that has occurred in Chief O’Dea’s incident,” he said. “I’ve asked for Portlanders to wait for the outcome of the official investigations. I’ll continue to wait on passing judgment until I have all the facts."

The mayor has yet to respond to the criticism from the Justice Department.

Photo courtesy Portland Police