FEES IN LIEU OF TAXES are needed to offset the subsidy Boise taxpayers make toward state government. The mirrored office building at Broadway and the Boise river is owned by BSU and pays no taxes as a state-owned property. HOWEVER the majority of the space is used by for profit PRIVATE business.ccThat spqce should pay fees to the city.

THE HP CAMPUS is now owned by the state of Idaho and pays no taxes. HOWEVER part of it is occupied by HP for private commercial business. That portion should pay fees.

THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS are a good idea, but citizens should be able to vote for ALL candidates while candidates should come from each of the districts–just like the county commishes.

POLICE COMMISSION still needs to be instituted. Citizens have no voice in the biggest budget item in Boise government. Commission would be like, Parks, Airport, Zoning, Library, etc. The Office of Police Accountability (OPA) should be under that civilian authority, not at the whim of the mayor.

FIRE SERVICE is provided for free by Boise to the likes of BSU, but the university pays for police. BSU is like a town of 28,000 that pays no taxes or fees for fire protection. Same is true for state-owned HP campus and capitol mall. HOWEVER the Feds pay Boise for fire protection at VA and federal building. There is no logical consistent policy.

We have tried in vain to bring these issues to the candidates and have been ignored each time.

Of major concern is the description of the dead man carrying “an edged” object and “multiple weapons. He also reportedly had “dialogue” with officers. These statements are simply intended to muddy the water.

Not only do the coppers refuse to show the body cam video–if there are any–but the refuse to tell citizens if the dead man had a knife, sword, or putty knife. Failure to tell us assumes a cover up.

Winegar on camera said the dead man had items which “could be used as weapons. Things just don’t add up when coppers refuse to give straight info.

Media reports said the dead man had called the coppers himself and had engaged in dialogue before returning to his second floor apartment. Video appeared to show a building under construction. Sounded like a construction worker, but it will probably be many months before a laundered report is ever made public.

Ben— I’m not quite sure how to respond to that comment. Obviously one best left alone.

For the defense, unions are beneficial for police departments. I can’t disagree that what you say isn’t true in some cases, but not here. We are able to set hiring standards and offer competitive wages to attract the best and brightest in a highly challenging market. We do not protect bad cops, we protect the process so that these cases are done right and we don’t find ourselves in a position where we have to protect a bad egg because an overzealous administrator violated case law. I’ve know the editor for 20 years, he can vouch for my integrity and honesty. You may find this hard to believe but given the past few years, not a lot of interest in joining a field that is often exposed to venom and mistrust.

Douglas— yes the wages are better than they once were because it is hard to recruit. A dozen officers were attacked the other night by a male with a high powered semi automatic rifle and stood their ground to keep people safe. What’s the number you think is appropriate for those duties that are becoming all too frequent and more dangerous? We are 30 officers short because the profession has been tasked with everything no one else wants to do and it has become incredibly challenging. We want experience that applies to us. Nothing against a small agency officer but they just might not adapt to a mid sized city agency.

Polar bear— we have no beef with anything other than corruption in the mayors office. If you’re ok with that then I pretty much know how you’re going to vote. We all live with those choices.

Warren— attacking someone based on their writing style pretty much indicates something more of a personal attack than one based on facts which gives me insight into you. Come back with some facts to support an argument. This isn’t about me, I speak on behalf of the officers who expect me to be their voice. This is about transparency in government, something you’re overlooking based on some fabricated perception that simply isn’t there. Despite these shortcomings in your post, and other comments you’ve made, we will always be happy to serve.

UPDATE 8/23/2023–
Our contract is a public document as are our negotiations. I have no hidden agenda when it comes to policing. Unions can be bad in many cases. I’m proud of the work our union has done over the years to make this an attractive career which becomes more and more difficult every year. We hope to make it attractive enough to recruit the best candidates around whether from Idaho, California or Arizona. I have no intention in getting into a back and forth with anyone but love to open an intelligent dialogue about policing in 2023. I will likely retire in the near future and have nothing to lose or gain by being deceitful. Hopefully we can discuss the future as well as the present.

BPD CONTRACT:
FullCLAandbulletpoints202220242

EDITOR NOTE–The GUARDIAN will be happy to post opinions and comments from al sides of issues discussed here.

The BOISE DEV piece is worth a look as it goes into detail about the matter.

The GUARDIAN confirmed the law firm burned through $500,000 in taxpayer funds investigating the potential possibility of racial issues after a retired captain was noted to be posting racially based messages on social media. The outside investigation is on hold at present and further funding will likely be discussed in May by the City Council.

To our knowledge, the investigation is not the result of a single complaint alleging police misconduct or racially motivated police action.

Boise’s city councilors brought the grief upon themselves with a resolution making investigation of abortion cases a low priority. The Boise resolution in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court Roe-vs-Wade recinding decision was the only such action in Idaho.

Making a public statement declaring intent to not enforce a law certainly invites retaliation. Not wise to list what laws a city will enforce or ignore.

Check out the BOISE DEV report from the legislature.

The GUARDIAN has read all 19 affidavit pages detailing the probable cause for the arrest warrant of Bryan Kohberger, 28. With years of police-court reporting under the belt and sessions teaching coppers the ethical guidelines of crime reporting and release of information, we can offer nothing but admiration and praise for the conduct of this high profile case.

The degree of sophistication in handling the press gathered at Moscow was impressive. Not only the press conference style, but the use of a “media pool” allowing video and still images in the Latah County court room during his initial appearance averted a media frenzy. Pools are normally used in congressional and Presidential events. Typically a pool will grant access to single TV, radio, print, and wire services photographers and reporters. Media pools make all recordings and images available to all media.

While it may have seemed coy when police refused to answer reporter’s questions, we can now see they had a lot of info gathered from multiple agencies. Bottom line is there is little in our lives today that isn’t recorded or archived.

UPDATE 1/6/23–FBI had coppers stop suspect in Indiana to check for wounds on his hands, according to NY POST.
We offer a link below to the entire report which is fascinating reading. The affidavit was written by Brett Payne, a corporal with the Moscow Police Department (MPD) who has been with the department for about four years.

PROBABLE CAUSE AFFIDAVIT

I’m hearing many people express concern regarding the mayor’s ineptness in the handling of daily operations.

From her confusing responses to the complaint nine police officers filed for workplace harassment to her differing statements on the Office of Police Accountability . The waters muddy even further with, a hastily created contract to investigate a retired captain who has sullied the reputations of so many fine officers.

What thought went into consideration of the many respectable and capable Idaho law firms who employ former United States Attorney’s office employees experienced in civil rights investigations… and arriving at a more affordable cost than what one Boise Council member described as “sticker shock”? Why wasn’t there time to expedite a process to seek bids from equally capable and locally based law firms? Perhaps if the mayor was more familiar with local resources she governs versus the powerbase that influences her from outside Idaho that decision would have been very different. We all see the need for expediency but not when it comes with a ready, fire, aim attitude!

Despite the early McCarthyism rhetoric of the mayor in initially casting dispersions on the men and women of a really good police department, I stand firm in my belief these detestable statements and writings were the lone beliefs of one troubled individual. From my perspective ready, aim and when sure of your target, fire would have been a more preferable approach.

All good investigations are focused on the “suspect”, when known, then develop accordingly. The “scope” should be focused on the Captain, his emails, correspondence and interactions with others then expand to his inner circle of friends and workplace colleagues; to those he supervised; then to the command staff he interacted with daily.

Because he was in a command position, I highly doubt that he has made any arrests within the last 7 years. His promotional peer evaluations, reviewed by department leaders as he progressed through the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant and captain won’t provide ANY credible leads or answer to the big question- why?. Most prudent people I have spoken to on this issue believe it’s better to use the precision of a rifle rather than a shotgun approach to this important inquiry. If there is such an urgency to seek immediate answers why wasn’t language added to the contract to request a preliminary report in 60 days?

I have recommended the department immediately initiate an ethics or conduct unbecoming a Boise Police Officer investigation based solely on his interviews and writings during the time he was still employed as a police officer but all the time writing under his now known pseudonym. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, a decertification recommendation to Idaho P.O.S.T is not only warranted but obligated. I’m not convinced City Hall feels the same.

There’s no doubt this investigation is warranted but not at the cost of a half million dollars. This is just one more example of statements and decisions from the Mayor’s office lacking sense. Citizens are losing confidence in local elected officials, particularly in regards to integrity and transparency, and it starts at the very top.

Masterson was the second longest serving chief in Boise history.

The overriding official reason for his termination seems to be that he was randomly reviewing copper body-cam videos “without authorization.” From the standpoint of the GUARDIAN we feel the guy was merely doing his job, but Mayor Lauren McLean is spinning his actions as being unwarranted “invasions into citizen privacy.” The mayor and five councilors interpret the city code as authorizing the OPA to monitor police records and video only in the wake of citizen complaints.

In an unusual move the MAYOR made the motion for dismissing Jara. The GUARDIAN doesn’t recall any mayor making a motion before the council. As we recall, the mayor can only vote to break a tie, so if the EXECUTIVE begins the LEGISLATIVE action with a motion it was possibly a violation of protocol(Roberts Rules of Order). Any legal beagles are welcome to comment.

Meanwhile Mclean is seeking half a million dollars in taxpayer cash to hire a consultant at $800 per hour to investigate whether or not there has been racist action in the Boise PD–despite no complaints filed alleging racist police action. This move comes in the wake of revelations that a retired BPD captain was affiliated with a white supremacy group in Tennessee. Deadline for the outside investigation report is AFTER the November 2023 election for mayor and council.

Media outlets, including the GUARDIAN, have public record requests pending for communications between the office of the mayor and the OPA. We have unconfirmed tips some of those records discouraged Jara from investigating an incident involving former chief Ryan Lee allegedly injuring a copper during a “restraining hold” demonstration. Mayor McLean subsequently asked Lee to resign following pressure from the police union and a news report by KTVB-TV news.

For more details, check out KTVB.COM, and BOISEDEV, websites.

The action was at the direction of Mayor LaurenMcLean, City Council President Elaine Clegg, City Council President Pro Tem Holli Woodings, and City Council Member Jimmy Hallyburton. There was not a quorum of the council present, but council members Lisa Sanchez, Luci Willits and Patrick Bageant, were informed of the move and none of them objected. That move circumvented Idaho’s open meeting law.

Jara had previously recommended that former Chief Ryan Lee be placed on administrative leave during an investigation of Lee’s conduct with another officer which allegedly resulted in a neck injury. Lee was subject of nine complaints from within the department. The surprise move to bench OPA Director Jara is the latest round of unsettling action involving Boise PD. In the city press release announcing Jara’s suspension, “ongoing concerns with professional judgment and lack of confidence in the actions of the office” were cited as reasons for the suspension.

Insiders speculate that Jara, who by city code has access to all police records and body cams, may have “bombshell information.”

Last week the office of City Attorney sent a memo to city staffers and coppers warning them to preserve any potential evidence in the investigation surrounding the revelations of racist allegations against retired captain Matt Bryngelson who had attended a white supremacy meeting and made racist remarks. Bryngelson was one of the nine who filed complaints against Lee.

The city memo was seen by some officers as an intimidation. They felt the memo was an attempt to gain access to officer’s private phone and computer records. The city said it was only to preserve evidence.

HERE IS THAT MEMO:

TO: Boise Police Department Employees
Jesus Jara, Director of Police Accountability Sarah Borden, Human Resources Director Alex Winkler, Chief Information Officer Lynda Lowry, ex officio City Clerk
FROM: Megan Larrondo, Deputy City Attorney
CC: Jayme Sullivan, City Attorney
Doug Tyler, Chief Admin Officer
Kimberly Smith, Public Safety Division Sr. Manager Alison Berriochoa, Paralegal
DATE: 11/23/2022
RE:
Investigation into Discriminatory Policing and Conduct at BPD
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
ALERT: DOCUMENT RETENTION/LEGAL HOLD NOTICE

This Memorandum is to inform you about an internal investigation being conducted into Boise Police Department and your legal obligation to preserve documents and data related in any way to the Investigation. We must preserve all documents and data related to the Investigation, and you have been identified as a person who may possess relevant documents and/or data. You are responsible for complying with the instructions in this Memorandum promptly.
You are directed to preserve documents and data relating to the Investigation as provided in this Memorandum. These obligations will remain in effect until you receive a subsequent written notice that this Legal Hold has been updated, modified, or released. Failure to preserve documents and data relating to the Investigation may jeopardize the Investigation, expose the City to liability, and cause you to be subject to discipline. Accordingly, please contact the City Attorney’s Office if you have any questions or concerns about the obligation to preserve documents and information.

In addition, you should share this Memorandum with anyone in your department and/or the City you have reason to believe has or might have documents or data related to the Investigation. You have an obligation to ensure that all employees that you supervise adhere to the obligations in this Memorandum. Please notify the City Attorney’s Office if you identify any other persons who you reasonably believe may have documents or data relevant to the Investigation.
I. Background
The Investigation stems from racist statements made by former BPD Captain Bryngelson. The Investigation will investigate whether discriminatory policing and/or conduct has occurred at BPD. This includes investigating whether a culture of discrimination exists at BPD, whether any rights within the community have been violated by discriminatory policing practices, whether any rights within the department have been violated by discriminatory conduct, and whether Bryngelson or any other BPD employee used any BPD resources to advance racist beliefs.
You are obligated to preserve all documents and data that pertains to the Investigation generated between November 2017 to present.
II. Documents and Data
We ask that you take any steps necessary to ensure that you preserve and retain all documents (including duplicates and drafts) and data as they currently exist and going forward until further notice. The terms documents and data should be interpreted broadly and are not limited to hard copy documents. The terms include all records and information, including electronically stored information. They include audio recordings, video in any form, email, instant messages, word processing documents, spreadsheets, databases, calendars, telephone logs, internet usage files, and all other electronic information created, received, and/or maintained by the City on its computer systems. Sources include all hard copy and electronic files, computer hard drives, network drives, removable media (e.g., CDs and DVDs), laptops, iPhones or other smart phones, backup tapes, backup media, and anywhere else data is or could be stored. Note that this list is not exhaustive and is provided only by way of example. If you use a home computer or personal laptop to perform work on behalf of the City, you also must preserve any relevant information from that computer. If you use a personal email account to send work-related emails, you must preserve those emails. If you use a personal phone to send work-related text messages, you must preserve those text messages.
You must perform a diligent and reasonable search of all locations where potentially relevant information may be found. Failure to follow this directive may result in serious legal and other consequences for you as well as the City.

If you are unsure of the relevance of a document or category of documents, preserve it and contact the City Attorney’s Office for more information.
DO NOT DISCARD ANY DOCUMENTS (INCLUDING ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS) RELATING TO ANY OF THESE TOPICS. This request applies to documents currently in your possession and those you may create or receive after the date of this Memorandum. Your only obligation at this time is to identify and preserve relevant documents as they are kept in the ordinary course of business. You need not sort, summarize, or otherwise index these documents.

Do not mark up or edit any documents, and do not create any new documents in response to this Memorandum.
III. Special Considerations for the Preservation of Electronically Stored Information (ESI)
Electronically stored information (ESI) may be an important source of discovery and/or evidence in this matter. You must take every reasonable step to preserve relevant ESI until further notice.
The City must preserve all ESI related to the Investigation and suspend the deletion, overwriting, or any other possible destruction of relevant electronic documents and data. Automatic data-destruction protocols also must be suspended, and failure to do so could result in legal liability. These obligations apply to all relevant ESI, no matter when it was created. This is a continuing obligation to preserve all newly created ESI until further notice.
Typically, such ESI may be located in or on one or more of the following:
• Computer(s), meaning any programmable machine, including, but not limited to, network servers, desktops, laptops, home and office computers, mainframes, personal digital assistants, other handheld computing devices, and mobile phones;
• Hard drive(s) or hard disks, meaning the primary hardware that a computer uses to store information;
• Network(s), meaning a group of one or more computer systems connected to enable people to share information and equipment (e.g., local area network(s), wide area network(s), home area network(s), metropolitan area network(s), etc.);
• Email servers;
• Other storage device(s) or media, meaning any component that is used to store
data;
• Magnetic storage media, including but not limited to, hard drives, stick drives, Zip
drives, and floppy disks;
• Optical storage media, including but not limited to CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs;
• Voicemail and/or voice messaging systems; and
• Archive(s) and/or backup tapes, meaning long-term storage area(s) for data and
hard copy documents.
IV. Suspension of Document Destruction Policies
Recipients of this Memorandum must suspend any routine business practice likely to alter or destroy the documents and data described herein until further notice. Such business practices may include, but are not limited to, shredding, disposal, or other destruction of documents; server backup tape rotation or overwriting; electronic data deletion;
The IT staff has been notified of these requirements and will assist Legal in locating and preserving documents necessary for use in the case. scheduled destruction of backup media; re-imaging of drives; drive hardware exchanges; sale, gift, or destruction of computer systems; disk defragmentation; and/or other disk maintenance routines. You should not resume these routine business practices until further written notice.
This direction supersedes any contrary instructions in the City’s policies and procedures (including records retention and destruction schedules established by state law, ordinance, or resolution) and any other guidelines or direction you may have received concerning the retention or destruction of records, documents, and other data.
This direction includes a duty to preserve documents and data maintained by departing employees.
V. Obligations of Third Parties
Our legal obligation to preserve information extends to any documents or data within the City’s control. If you are working with third-party vendors or other entities that may have documents or data covered by this Memorandum, please notify the City Attorney’s Office immediately so that we may determine whether to inform these third parties of our document preservation obligations.
VI. Confidentiality
In order to protect the City’s Attorney-Client privilege and rights of confidentiality, we request that you refrain from discussing or otherwise communicating about this matter with anyone (whether inside or outside the City) without first contacting the City Attorney’s Office.

Finally, you must acknowledge receipt of this Document Retention/Legal Hold Notice by signing the attached Certification and delivering it to Alison Berriochoa at the City Attorney’s Office (aberriochoa@cityofboise.org) confirming that you have received the Document Retention/Legal Hold Notice and will comply with it within 10 working days of receipt.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this request, please do not hesitate to contact the City Attorney’s Office.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and prompt attention to this matter.

Certification of Compliance with Document Retention/Legal Hold Notice
I have read the Document Retention/Legal Hold Notice Relating to the Investigation into Discriminatory Policing and Conduct at BPD and agree to comply with its terms. I certify that since receiving the Document Retention/Legal Hold Notice, I have not altered, discarded, or destroyed any responsive documents in either paper or electronic form and that I will abide by the terms of the Notice.
_____________________________________ Printed Name _____________________________________ Signature ______________________________________ Date
Page 5 of 5

Like all of you I was pretty shocked when news broke recently about our former co-worker Matt Bryngelson. At first I thought it some sick joke but it didn’t take long to figure out it was all true. I’ve known that man for 20 plus years and never could’ve guessed this would happen. I’d never even heard of these groups or knew who Daniel Vinyard was. Twitter was educating me quickly. The more I read, the more disgusted I was. My better half couldn’t even bring herself to read it at all.

I thought I could write a well thought out, big worded essay in this case but then that would’ve been insincere at best, so I spoke with my coworkers and decided the best course would be just putting it out there. I don’t know how to express this adequately but that is simply not how we think here at BPD. I was pretty sure early on that this incident would bring out all the haters saying “ I told you so” and I wasn’t disappointed. They showed up in force looking to reinforce any preconceived notions they already had. I wasn’t worried so much about those folks, despite my efforts to change hearts and minds, sometimes it just won’t happen. We are a part of this community and we are deeply invested in keeping it safe and beautiful despite the many challenges we continue to face.

I started my career in policing back east in 1993, it didn’t take long to realize that was a miserable place to work. When I came to visit Boise in 1998, I figured out quickly that this was a special place. BPD officers cared deeply about the community and I saw what professional policing looked like. I got hired in 2000 and never looked back. Since that date I’ve never seen anything that looked like biased policing or heard any of the beliefs held by Bryngelson. This is a pretty good place to be a police officer, it has great community support and we never fail to recognize that. Almost daily someone thanks us for being there at a football game or on the streets. It’s a great feeling that is not lost on us. It is something we take very seriously and when anyone does something to damage that trust, it hurts us all deeply.

What I did see following the recent revelation was department wide shock and disgust. I’m pretty comfortable speaking on behalf of all my colleagues that we are all incredibly upset and disappointed that we had been fooled all this time. The thought that somehow these are widely held beliefs department wide or in Idaho law enforcement are simply not true. I’ve read the stories that people post saying we will cover for each other, the “Code of Silence” and other conspiracy theories. It is simply crazy to believe that we are going to protect someone like that or any other misdeeds. I’m not about to risk my family or career for the stupid acts of another….. The simple truth is no one hates bad cops more than good cops. These are the ones that give us bad press and damage that trust. Not to mention the peer scrutiny we have in law enforcement is pretty rigorous. We are tougher on each other than anyone can imagine. We all cherish the trust the community has given us and when someone does something to damage that, we take it pretty seriously. I can use words like disgusting, condemnation, saddened, disappointed….. they all apply here. Mr. Bryngleson does not represent ANY of the hardworking officers of the Boise Police Department in any way, shape or form. It’s been a lousy week for all of us.

That brings us to the topic of our mayor. While I agree with her statements condemning Bryngelson and his actions, Mayor Mclean took it a few steps too far. To somehow indicate or imply there is a racist community living in the police department is stupid and insulting. To state we better not “Circle the wagons” is a ridiculous thing to say that only drives a wedge deeper into our relationship with the citizens we serve. Recent surveys show that our citizens give us a 95% satisfaction rate with the service we provide. That’s pretty good in my opinion. But the political grandstanding continues.

Mayor Mclean has indicated she wants to have a third party investigate us, as far as I’m concerned, we welcome that. We love transparency. I’m not sure I can say the same for Mayor Mclean. We have yet to learn who conducted the third party investigation into Chief Lee and we certainly know that City Hall did a horrible job taking our legitimate complaints about Chief Lee very seriously. Transparency certainly wasn’t the word of the day in that case. As a matter of fact, the OPA report still hasn’t been released despite city ordinance requiring it to be publicly posted. So I don’t have a lot of faith in City Hall and Mayor Mclean, it looks like she is more interested in distracting from her failures by casting doubt on what is truly an excellent police department.

I’m not looking to pick a fight or get into a back and forth with anyone and I’m sure people will disagree with some of the things I’ve said. I’m ok with that. I will say this city is our home and we truly love to serve our community as professionally and fairly as possible. We will always condemn any hatred, racism and bigotry to the fullest extent possible. That is one thing that will never change.