December 23 2020
OIR Group recommends reforms and policy changes following a scathing review of the Michael Fesser case.
The authors of a report lambasting the city of West Linn for its handling of the Michael Fesser case sat down (virtually) with West Linn city councilors to discuss their review and recommendations at the council s most recent meeting on Dec. 21.
Councilors told Michael Gennaco and Rob Miller of the OIR Group that they hope to engage them further as the city moves forward in the wake of the racist policing scandal.
In April, the city hired OIR Group to conduct a review of its own approach to the Fesser case after fallout from a settlement rattled the city in February.
West Linn cop fired for wrongful arrest mulling lawsuit December 22 2020
Former West Linn Police Sgt. Tony Reeves was let go in June for conduct during Fesser case; no lawsuit filed yet.
Former West Linn Police Sgt. Tony Reeves issued a tort claim notice to the city of West Linn in October alleging he was wrongfully terminated from the city. No lawsuit from Reeves has been filed, though his attorney, Chris Mascal, said they had filed the tort notice to keep their options open. City is on notice that Reeves asserts that his termination was unfair, unprecedented and was merely asserted against him to shift blame and pacify the public regarding the bad press that the City received over Fesser s civil lawsuit(s), the tort notice reads.
Recently released report shows how West Linn dealt with racial discrimination lawsuit.
Over the past seven months Michael Gennaco and Robert Miller of the investigative firm OIR Group have attempted to piece together everything that went wrong for the city of West Linn and who is to blame since the moment Michael Fesser served city officials with a tort claim alleging racial discrimination by West Linn police on June 4, 2018.
While it was fairly easy to find fault with the actions of former Chief Terry Timeus and former Sgt. Tony Reeves (as the Clackamas County District Attorney s office demonstrated in its Brady investigative report released in May), the OIR investigators focused on when and how the city from its administrators to members of the police department, elected officials, attorneys and insurance providers failed to handle the aftermath of the illegal and racially-motivated 2017 arrest of Fesser.
Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote resigns early
Clackamas County District Attorney-elect John Wentworth will take the office a few days early.
Gov. Kate Brown announced Dec. 17 that she will appoint Wentworth to be Clackamas County s top prosecutor effective Jan. 1.
Wentworth won election in May as district attorney for a term that starts Jan. 4, but Foote announced his retirement effective Dec. 31. Brown s early appointment of Wentworth is intended to ensure a smooth transition in the DA s office. John Wentworth has deep roots in Clackamas County, and has earned the support of Clackamas County voters, Brown said. His dedication to serving the public, including his two decades with the Clackamas County District Attorney s office, demonstrates his deep commitment to this work, and will enable him to hit the ground running on day one.
WEST LINN, OR (KPTV) - The city of West Linn released the full 40-page independent investigation report into the police department and the cityâs response to a racially motivated wrongful arrest case.
OIR Group, an independent police oversight and review firm, conducted the investigation, centered around Michael Fesserâs tort claim and subsequent $600,000 settlement.
In February 2017, Fesser, a Black man, was pulled over by West Linn officers in Portland. Court records show that Fesser had previously brought up concerns of racial harassment to his boss at A&B Towing, and that boss called in a favor to a friend, then-West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus.