PORTLAND -- A Portland police officer involved in a controversial shooting back in 2005 has been promoted to sergeant, which has some local citizens outraged.
Officer Leo Besner was working as a SERT sniper when he shot and killed Raymond Gwerder. Gwerder was reportedly drunk, suicidal and had a gun. As he spoke to a crisis negotiator on the phone, he was shot in the back.
Besner later testified that he fired the shot to protect officers, children and adults in the area. He was cleared of all wrong doing, but the city still paid Gwerder's family a reported $500,000 settlement.
"We've gotten a lot of feedback from family and friends that through this situation they no longer feel safe with the Portland Police Bureau," said Molly Aleshire.
Aleshire knew Raymond Gwerder like a brother. When she and her husband recently heard that officer Bresner was receiving a promotion they immediately objected.
"It just doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel good that we're going to promote this behavior. It doesn't feel good that when we're choosing our officers, is it just that we don't' have anybody better to promote?" she asked.
Aleshire isn't alone. Dan Handleman of Portland Copwatch agrees. Handleman cited four Besner cases totaling $1,191,052 in settlement and legal fees paid by the city.
"To have him supervising other officers is of great concern because if he's going to let them do the same thing we're going to have more problems in the future," said Handleman.
Besner was officially promoted in a special ceremony with Police Chief Mike Reese Thursday morning. Chief Reese was not available for an interview with KGW, he did speak with our news partner KXL Radio to discuss the promotion.
"I weigh everything including discipline history, tort claims, recommendations from supervisors and their peers and their work performance before we make these decisions," Reese told KXL.
Reese also spoke with The Oregonian. He explained that Besner ranked seventh on the bureau's sergeant promotion list. With six promotions transpired, Besner was next. Reese described the process as "clear-cut". Deviation from it, Reese told the newspaper, could get the Police Bureau "into trouble."
