Portland police chief to terminate 2 consulting contracts after conflict of interest questions

Portland

Police Chief Bob Day

said last week he will cancel two

Police Bureau

contracts amid questions about the perception of conflicts of interest.

The move comes after the city already paid $37,500 to the

August Wilson Red Door Project

, where Day was director of strategic initiatives from 2020 to 2023, and $42,390 to the firm of Jim Ferraris, a retired

Woodburn police chief

and a former Police Bureau assistant chief who worked alongside Day.

Those amounts are small compared with the Police Bureau’s overall annual budget of roughly $300 million but not insignificant as a majority of the City Council continued Wednesday to argue that the Police Bureau

can and should trim its spending

.

The Red Door Project, which uses theater performances to bridge divides between police and the public, was hired to provide “executive coaching, community engagement and diversity enhancement education” to the bureau, according to its contract. The city authorized the Police Bureau to spend up to $100,000 on the contract.

Ferraris’s firm, Ferraris Investigations & Consulting, provides agency and police reviews and helps law enforcement agencies with employee misconduct investigations, plus use of force and police shooting investigations, according to his

website

. Ferraris was hired to develop a succession plan at the Police Bureau by identifying candidates for leadership roles and creating pathways for officers of color. He was also charged with giving recommendations on the Police Bureau’s organizational structure and new crime prevention strategies.

The city extended Ferraris’ contract through Dec. 31 and authorized the Police Bureau to pay him up to $150,000 total.

Day, in a Thursday interview, acknowledged the appearance of conflicts of interest but also presented his decision as a cost-saving measure during a tight fiscal year.

“I recognize fully, you know, people call it cronyism, good old boy system, whatever the term is,” Day said. “I think that appearance is there… My decision is really baked into this budget conversation, which has been all consuming in my life in the last month.”

A journalist with the Portland Mercury first raised questions about the contracts May 9, prompting the police chief to end them.

Day did not seek competitive bids for either contract, instead opting for a sole-source process where he identified the two organizations as best suited to do the work. He said he felt a sense of urgency to start the work, particularly with Ferraris’ contract, which he called a “holistic organizational review.”

Day said he needed someone who understood the city and the Police Bureau. Ferraris had served in the organization for 28 years. Invoice records show he charged the Police Bureau $400 an hour for consulting services and $75 an hour for travel time.

In an

April memo

, Ferraris made recommendations that included streamlining the number of divisions and units reporting directly to the police chief and keeping the positions of deputy chief and three assistant chiefs.

Other law enforcement agencies have sought his firm’s help. He was hired in

2023 to investigate allegations

of misconduct against two Wasco County probation officers accused of antisemitic behavior at work.

Kevin Jones, co-founder and chief creative director of the Red Door Project, said he hoped to resume his group’s work with the Police Bureau at a later date. “We are eagerly looking forward to resuming our collaboration and continuing to make a positive impact in our community,” he said in a statement.

Day defended the contracts, saying the Police Bureau followed the city’s procurement rules and posted a public notice of the proposed contract. Day said other organizations had seven days to object but no one did.

And as for working with people he’s close to, Day said he has been actively involved in Portland issues for 35 years, so he said he often works with people he knows.

“I needed to have people that could step up, to step into the space and do the work, and they happen to be people I have a relationship with,” he said.

—

Zaeem Shaikh covers the Portland Police Bureau and criminal justice issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-221-4323,


zshaikh@oregonian.com


or on X


@zaeemshake

.

Latest Public Safety News

• Man accused of spraying bullets on I-5 claims ‘people were out to get him’

• 18 more men sue over alleged sexual abuse by ‘Dr. Cold Fingers’ at Oregon youth prison

• Search for fugitive dad closes in as autopsy reveals heartbreaking details in deaths of 3 NW sisters

• Portland man gets 25 years for attempted murder of 3 police officers

About The Author