Eugene, Oregon - Review lays blame for sex-scandal on ex-officers
By Rebecca Nolan, The Register-Guard, 03/22/07
An outside review of the Eugene Police Department's investigation of two former officers responsible for a sex scandal that tainted the agency's reputation has found that the officers are solely to blame for their crimes and that no other officers or supervisors were involved in the misconduct.
The review, which will be released to the public today, also found that officer Roger Eugene Magaña's racial background led to his hiring despite his failure to meet basic standards, that lax supervision and oversight contributed to his and Juan Francisco Lara's ability to escape detection, and that other officers disregarded complaints from victims whom they felt lacked credibility.
However, former McMinnville Police Chief Rod Brown, who conducted the review for Public Safety Liability Management Inc., said the allegations against Magaña and Lara were so outrageous, so egregious, that the handful of officers who heard them simply did not believe they were true. Magaña, 43, is serving a 94-year prison term following his conviction for the rape, kidnapping and sexual abuse of prostitutes and drug addicts he encountered on the job. Lara, 33, was released last year after serving a reduced sentence for official misconduct, coercion, harassment and public indecency for using his badge to coerce women into sexual acts. He is now a student at the University of Oregon.
The city commissioned the review last summer after it settled lawsuits with 14 of Magaña's and Lara's victims for more than $5 million.
Brown looked at dozens of police officer depositions, court documents and the two officers' background files before delivering his report to the city this week. The Register-Guard reviewed many of the same documents when they were released last summer.
City Manager Dennis Taylor and police Chief Robert Lehner said in separate interviews Wednesday that they wanted someone from outside the city to look specifically at whether anyone else should share the blame for what happened and whether additional investigation is needed before the city can move forward. "It was useful and helpful to get someone else to look at the decisions we made over the last 3 1/2 years, especially in terms of, `What should we have known? What should we have done?' " Taylor said.
Lehner said the city sought someone with a police background who would be better able to appreciate the nuances of law enforcement.
Both Taylor and Lehner were hired after the scandal broke. Since then, the city has created and filled a new police auditor position; begun assembling a citizen police review board; boosted staffing in the police internal affairs office; changed its police recruiting, hiring and promotions processes; begun an exhaustive update of police policies and procedures; and worked to free up police supervisors so they can spend more time on the streets rather than behind a desk.
One question that has dogged the city since the scandal broke is how the two officers got hired in the first place.
Magaña, who worked for the city's public works department for a decade before applying to be a police officer in 1995, was hired through a now-defunct program meant to increase the number of minority officers. Investigators have found that the program had the effect of lowering basic hiring standards. Magaña, who had twice been arrested for burglary (though never convicted), was rumored to have been selling drugs while a public works employee, allegations that investigators never substantiated.
Brown concluded in his review that "Magaña was absolutely elevated to an advantage because he was a minority race - that was the whole purpose of the program that initially brought him into the police department."
Lara was hired in 2001 through the regular recruiting process, despite the fact that he had been caught urinating in public in Tucson, Ariz., in 1994, and lied to a police officer about beer he had in his car. He ultimately pleaded no contest to providing false information to police and paid a fine.
In a background investigation, Lara admitted using cocaine 20 to 25 times, smoking pot five times, using crystal meth at least once, and occasionally selling cocaine to friends at parties. He also admitted to shoplifting as a teen.
In his review, Brown found that the police department's old hiring system was flawed. Although the chief at the time signed off on every hire, he often did not have all the information about each candidate, Brown found. That was the case with both Lara and Magaña. Brown blamed a system that "compartmentalized" information about applicants, preventing anyone from knowing everything about any one candidate. Brown said there was not enough evidence to tell whether people involved in recruiting and hiring had intentionally or inadvertently withheld negative information in order to push minority applicants through.
Under Lehner, the system has been streamlined so that the chief has access to all the facts before a final decision is made. The current chief said there is no way either officer would be hired today.
Another often asked question is whether others in the department knew about the officers' misconduct and, if not, how they were able to go undetected for so long. Brown found that supervisors at the time were overburdened with administrative work that kept them out of the field. They often relied on officers to perform their duties without supervision except in emergencies.
Closer supervision probably would have deterred Magaña and Lara or at least would have detected their illicit activities, Brown said. But he found no evidence of negligence or malfeasance on the part of overworked sergeants and command staff.
He also concluded that the so-called "Blue Curtain" of police silence was not a factor in the Magaña and Lara cases. Although officers in several cases ignored women's complaints about Magaña's abuses, they did so because their jobs made them cynical and skeptical of such allegations, not because they wanted to protect a fellow officer. And Magaña, like many sex predators, was a skilled manipulator who shrugged off the allegations with convincing nonchalance.
The fact that several officers came forward after the scandal, went public and shared what they knew proves their good faith, Brown said. "They were willing to take responsibility for their actions and do the right thing by coming forward," Brown wrote. "Their actions should be given appreciation and not criticism."
Lehner said Wednesday that because such a scandal had never occurred here before, officers were operating under a kind of naivete that caused them to overlook the red flags. That innocence is gone. "We now know that it can happen here," he said.
Though the city and department are still dedicated to recruiting and hiring minorities, they now do so not by lowering standards but by increasing the pool of qualified applicants through outreach and education, he said.
Lehner and Taylor said they hope the new report will close the book on the case and allow the city to move forward with changes designed to help prevent future problems. Lehner said that until now, the public has had to rely on his reassurances that the issues have been addressed.
"This has been scrutinized from every possible angle, and I think that can give the public some confidence in that somebody else looked at this through objective eyes," the chief said.
Retrieved March 31, 2007 from http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/03/22/printable/a1.maganalara.0322.0a96Xe5l.phtml?section=cityregion
An outside review of the Eugene Police Department's investigation of two former officers responsible for a sex scandal that tainted the agency's reputation has found that the officers are solely to blame for their crimes and that no other officers or supervisors were involved in the misconduct.
The review, which will be released to the public today, also found that officer Roger Eugene Magaña's racial background led to his hiring despite his failure to meet basic standards, that lax supervision and oversight contributed to his and Juan Francisco Lara's ability to escape detection, and that other officers disregarded complaints from victims whom they felt lacked credibility.
However, former McMinnville Police Chief Rod Brown, who conducted the review for Public Safety Liability Management Inc., said the allegations against Magaña and Lara were so outrageous, so egregious, that the handful of officers who heard them simply did not believe they were true. Magaña, 43, is serving a 94-year prison term following his conviction for the rape, kidnapping and sexual abuse of prostitutes and drug addicts he encountered on the job. Lara, 33, was released last year after serving a reduced sentence for official misconduct, coercion, harassment and public indecency for using his badge to coerce women into sexual acts. He is now a student at the University of Oregon.
The city commissioned the review last summer after it settled lawsuits with 14 of Magaña's and Lara's victims for more than $5 million.
Brown looked at dozens of police officer depositions, court documents and the two officers' background files before delivering his report to the city this week. The Register-Guard reviewed many of the same documents when they were released last summer.
City Manager Dennis Taylor and police Chief Robert Lehner said in separate interviews Wednesday that they wanted someone from outside the city to look specifically at whether anyone else should share the blame for what happened and whether additional investigation is needed before the city can move forward. "It was useful and helpful to get someone else to look at the decisions we made over the last 3 1/2 years, especially in terms of, `What should we have known? What should we have done?' " Taylor said.
Lehner said the city sought someone with a police background who would be better able to appreciate the nuances of law enforcement.
Both Taylor and Lehner were hired after the scandal broke. Since then, the city has created and filled a new police auditor position; begun assembling a citizen police review board; boosted staffing in the police internal affairs office; changed its police recruiting, hiring and promotions processes; begun an exhaustive update of police policies and procedures; and worked to free up police supervisors so they can spend more time on the streets rather than behind a desk.
One question that has dogged the city since the scandal broke is how the two officers got hired in the first place.
Magaña, who worked for the city's public works department for a decade before applying to be a police officer in 1995, was hired through a now-defunct program meant to increase the number of minority officers. Investigators have found that the program had the effect of lowering basic hiring standards. Magaña, who had twice been arrested for burglary (though never convicted), was rumored to have been selling drugs while a public works employee, allegations that investigators never substantiated.
Brown concluded in his review that "Magaña was absolutely elevated to an advantage because he was a minority race - that was the whole purpose of the program that initially brought him into the police department."
Lara was hired in 2001 through the regular recruiting process, despite the fact that he had been caught urinating in public in Tucson, Ariz., in 1994, and lied to a police officer about beer he had in his car. He ultimately pleaded no contest to providing false information to police and paid a fine.
In a background investigation, Lara admitted using cocaine 20 to 25 times, smoking pot five times, using crystal meth at least once, and occasionally selling cocaine to friends at parties. He also admitted to shoplifting as a teen.
In his review, Brown found that the police department's old hiring system was flawed. Although the chief at the time signed off on every hire, he often did not have all the information about each candidate, Brown found. That was the case with both Lara and Magaña. Brown blamed a system that "compartmentalized" information about applicants, preventing anyone from knowing everything about any one candidate. Brown said there was not enough evidence to tell whether people involved in recruiting and hiring had intentionally or inadvertently withheld negative information in order to push minority applicants through.
Under Lehner, the system has been streamlined so that the chief has access to all the facts before a final decision is made. The current chief said there is no way either officer would be hired today.
Another often asked question is whether others in the department knew about the officers' misconduct and, if not, how they were able to go undetected for so long. Brown found that supervisors at the time were overburdened with administrative work that kept them out of the field. They often relied on officers to perform their duties without supervision except in emergencies.
Closer supervision probably would have deterred Magaña and Lara or at least would have detected their illicit activities, Brown said. But he found no evidence of negligence or malfeasance on the part of overworked sergeants and command staff.
He also concluded that the so-called "Blue Curtain" of police silence was not a factor in the Magaña and Lara cases. Although officers in several cases ignored women's complaints about Magaña's abuses, they did so because their jobs made them cynical and skeptical of such allegations, not because they wanted to protect a fellow officer. And Magaña, like many sex predators, was a skilled manipulator who shrugged off the allegations with convincing nonchalance.
The fact that several officers came forward after the scandal, went public and shared what they knew proves their good faith, Brown said. "They were willing to take responsibility for their actions and do the right thing by coming forward," Brown wrote. "Their actions should be given appreciation and not criticism."
Lehner said Wednesday that because such a scandal had never occurred here before, officers were operating under a kind of naivete that caused them to overlook the red flags. That innocence is gone. "We now know that it can happen here," he said.
Though the city and department are still dedicated to recruiting and hiring minorities, they now do so not by lowering standards but by increasing the pool of qualified applicants through outreach and education, he said.
Lehner and Taylor said they hope the new report will close the book on the case and allow the city to move forward with changes designed to help prevent future problems. Lehner said that until now, the public has had to rely on his reassurances that the issues have been addressed.
"This has been scrutinized from every possible angle, and I think that can give the public some confidence in that somebody else looked at this through objective eyes," the chief said.
Retrieved March 31, 2007 from http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/03/22/printable/a1.maganalara.0322.0a96Xe5l.phtml?section=cityregion