Skip to main contentThree years ago, while describing the job of a police chief, Mark Kroeker stressed the importance of allies, which he likened to spokes on a wagon wheel.
"You have several spokes," Portland's top cop said in an interview with Renford Reese, a professor at Cal Poly Pomona. "The rank and file, the community, special-interest groups, various ethnic groups, the elected people, the news media."
Describing the downfall of a former LAPD chief, Willie Williams, Kroeker said, "Two of Williams' spokes broke down early in his administration: The rank and file spoke, and the elected people spoke."
When Mayor Vera Katz hired him in December 1999, Kroeker, a former assistant chief in Los Angeles, seemed a solid choice, based on the above criteria. He was considered to be savvy with the politicos, popular with the rank and file, and well-liked by the news media. He was also known for his good relations with ethnic groups, and especially for his ability to defuse racially charged situations as he did in the wake of the Rodney King riots.
In the past three-and-a-half years, however, Kroeker has faced controversy after controversy: the police riot on May Day 2000, the unearthing of his decade-old taped anti-gay remarks, the police killing of Jose Mejia Poot.
The current crisis is over the fatal May 5 police shooting of Kendra James, a 25-year-old black woman who, while under the influence of cocaine, apparently tried to drive away from a traffic stop with Officer Scott McCollister hanging out of her car.
Given the subsequent public outcry, it seems like a good time to check out Kroeker's spokes and see how he's holding up.
Rank and File: Kroeker got off to a rocky start with the troops but made some progress in winning their trust. Still, many cops are pissed off by Kroeker's suspension of McCollister, which they see as politically motivated.
The Media: Like most chiefs, Kroeker has had a contentious relationship with reporters. Willamette Week gave him a hard time following the police attacks on protesters during the 2000 May Day march. The Portland Tribune took the lead on investigating the shooting of Poot, a Mexican nurseryman shot and killed by police on a psychiatric ward in 2001. And now, even his critics think The Oregonian's aggressive coverage of the Kendra James shooting, which has been very critical of the Police Bureau, signals that the chief is now a target of the city's largest news organization.
Politicians: This spoke once seemed solid but is now cracking, as City Hall insiders are starting to privately call for his head. And although his boss, Katz, has publicly stated her support for the chief, there are anecdotes aplenty of Kroeker being dissed publicly and berated privately by Katz over the past six months. City Hall watchers note that at a July 1 public forum on the James shooting, Katz, after a short introductory statement, did not join Kroeker on the stage but instead sat in the audience.
Ethnic Groups: This spoke is clearly broken, and Kroeker didn't mend it during his uninspiring performance at the July 1 forum. Even to sympathetic observers, his statements seemed stale, rehearsed and evasive.
Community: While African-American and Hispanic leaders clearly are at odds with the chief, it's harder to gauge the broader community support. The chief has received emails praising his handling of the James shooting, but some think that may stem from the efforts of talk-show host Lars Larson. In any event, Kroeker's stock was not helped last week by revelations that the bureau has lost files from past police shootings.
Special-Interest Groups: This could be what's holding Kroeker up. Despite all his troubles, the chief is popular with the downtown business community, specifically the Portland Business Alliance, which still retains significant influence at City Hall.
Some spokes (such as his relations with the rank and file and the media) can be repaired. But in Kroeker's case, the most important component may be the hub--the chief himself.
All chiefs come with only a limited warranty. Most last two to three years. In the past, while making no secret of his desire to eventually return to L.A., Kroeker has said he wants to serve at least five years in Portland. Many wonder whether he still feels that way.
While his handling of the James situation has not been particularly adroit, he deserves credit for promptly releasing to the public the bureau's investigation of the shooting, and he has seemed earnest in his commitment to revamp bureau policies.
But the chief also has proved to be thin-skinned by nature and sensitive to criticism. He could reach the point where he wants to walk away from the constant hassles and second-guessing. Our take, however, is that he'll wait until he can put the Kendra James shooting to rest and get the bureau back on track.
WWeek 2015