Magana-Lara report backs findings.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Robert Lehner For The Register-Guard

The recently released Public Safety Liability Management report concludes a long series of investigations into the criminal behavior of former Eugene police officers Roger Magana and Juan Lara.

This independent examination reviewed key conclusions reached by city of Eugene management with regard to these cases. We welcomed this effort as a double-check of our own work.

The city was fortunate to contract with PSLM and Rod Brown, a highly respected Oregon law enforcement consultant. In 2005, Brown headed up a special committee to review a similar case involving the Oregon Youth Authority.

The PSLM review addresses the issues that have been of greatest concern since the Magana-Lara cases became known: Was anyone else involved or know what was going on? Why did those who heard from victims and others not act? How could such people be hired as police officers? Did race play a role in their hiring? How could they have gone for so long without being caught?

The report answers these questions. We encourage people to read the report on the city's Web site: www.ci.eugene.or.us.

Our conclusion that Magana and Lara each acted alone and without the direct knowledge of others was confirmed by the review, as was our conclusion that no other persons were so culpable that additional investigations or personnel actions are warranted.

We've said before (and the report concurs) that several system-related issues contributed to these events. Identifying and correcting these issues has been and remains the most important lesson from these events.

We must accept responsibility for these deficiencies and act on them. We can never eliminate the possibility of such behavior. Our goal is to minimize this possibility and eliminate the risk that someone could, deliberately or not, exploit the same weaknesses to a similar result.

What changes have been implemented?

Our hiring practices must screen applicants more rigorously using standardized criteria for all candidates. No person can be hired as a police officer without a written recommendation to hire by a named supervisor with the concurrence of the police chief. All information relevant to the hiring decision is now available for that final decision - no more compartmentalization.

Field supervisory ratios are better than they were when the Magana-Lara events were occurring, and we have assigned our watch commanders to provide better coverage. We have removed the responsibility for investigation of most misconduct cases from first-line field supervisors, a duty that requires considerable time out of the field.

The Magana-Lara cases also raised an issue of propriety with respect to supervisors investigating one of their own direct subordinates accused of serious misconduct. This practice has been eliminated.

We have doubled our capacity for internal affairs investigations. We now investigate almost all misconduct cases, and all serious misconduct cases, separately from the accused employee's chain of command.

We, along with the new police auditor, ensure that appropriate progress is being made and that all investigatory activities and actions are meticulously documented.

The new voter-approved police auditor is in place, and the Civilian Review Board will be appointed by the City Council within weeks. This additional oversight is intended to make internal police investigations more transparent, fair, thorough and complete, and to ensure that conclusions are supported by the evidence.

The need for these changes largely was identified in 2005 by a review conducted by the International City Management Association - Police Executive Research Forum. I am satisfied that we are making reasonable progress implementing these changes.

However, even this conclusion is subject to review. At the direction of the mayor and City Council, an independent evaluation of our progress is being conducted.

The Magana-Lara cases brought tremendous anguish to this community. The public and city employees alike remain incredulous that such events could have occurred.

We are reminded that we are not so special or unique that the human frailties that are within each of us might not manifest themselves in our co-workers, our friends, our families or ourselves, even in a horribly criminal manner. The cruel truth is that it has happened in other places, and now it has happened here.

We empathize with the victims. Although we are not personally responsible, we recognize that our own processes and skepticism played a role in their victimization - and for that we are profoundly regretful.

With the benefit of painful experience, we must move forward.

Our community faces many tremendous public safety challenges - including crime, drug addiction, and resource constraints. With the support of our community and our many partners, we look forward to meeting these challenges.

Robert Lehner is the city of Eugene's chief of police.