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Following last week’s news that Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler had fired Portland Police Bureau Officer Brian Hunzeker for his role in the leak of information that falsely implicated Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in a hit-and-run crash, the city has also released records showing the discipline it imposed on two other involved officers.
PPB Officer Kerri Ottoman received one day of suspension without pay, and Officer Ken Le received a letter of reprimand. Internal affairs determined that both officers violated the bureau directive related to dissemination of information.
According to internal affairs documents, Ottoman leaked the allegation to Gabriel Johnson of the Coalition to Save Portland, a right-wing political action committee that broadcasted the allegation on a Facebook livestream on the morning of March 4, 2021.
The documents say that Le shared the information with a colleague at the city’s Bureau of Emergency Communications, which fields 911 and non-emergency calls.
Last week, WW obtained an email in which Wheeler disagreed with PPB Chief Chuck Lovell’s proposed discipline for Hunzeker: a 12-week suspension without pay. Wheeler argued that termination was the appropriate level of discipline because internal affairs determined that Hunzeker’s actions were retaliatory against Hardesty.
There appears to have been some disagreement about the appropriate level of discipline for Ottoman. In a Jan. 11 email, Wheeler advocated for a one-week suspension rather than a one- or two-day suspension.
“I understand the mitigating factors of her long tenure and lack of prior discipline; however, there was extreme harm caused by this action,” Wheeler wrote. “I am inclined to find that the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors....I also find the harm caused by this conduct to be so significant that a two-day suspension does not adequately address the issues in this matter.”
But in a March 4 imposed discipline letter, the mayor wrote that a one-day suspension was appropriate, in part because Ottoman apologized for her actions.
“I have carefully considered the information you provided,” he wrote. “During our meeting, you shared with me the challenges, difficulties, and personal struggles you have experienced during the past two years. You told me that you have learned from your mistake and you accepted responsibility and apologized for your actions. You told me that you did not expect that the information you had shared with Gabe Johnson would be shared with others, as you believed you were privately sharing information with a close confidant.”