BOISE, Idaho — Former Boise Police chief Ryan Lee, who was asked to resign at the request of Boise Mayor Lauren McLean in September, will be receiving a nine-month severance package at the value of his salary with health insurance.
According to a Boise City news release, Lee officially separated from the city last week. His resignation, on Sept. 23, came nearly 24 hours after KTVB published a story on internal complaints against Lee -- this also included a memo from the Office of Police Accountability recommending Lee be placed on leave pending further investigation into the complaints.
Lee was also under investigation by Idaho State Police for allegedly injuring an officer's neck during a briefing, but was never charged. Lee was never placed on leave by McLean during his service with BPD.
"I opted in this department, it was important to have leadership. We had no internal grounds to take action. It was within my discretion, and I chose to have him remain on duty," McLean previously said in an interview with KTVB.
"I met with the union. It was in that meeting that I learned that their leadership, too, had been coaching the chief on his leadership and management style... There were several of us that had been having these conversations and offering support that we believe he needed." McLean said on Oct. 6.
Lee was named chief in the summer of 2020.
Lee's annual salary is approximately $196,352, according to a Boise City spokesperson. A nine-month severance pay would still be six-figures -- around $147,264. The news release said Lee's severance was decided after consultation with Boise City Council.
Oct. 31 was the official day Ron Winegar, a 27-year veteran of the Boise Police Department, became interim chief, the news release. Winegar was named interim chief at the end of September.
According to the press release, Winegar will focus primarily on filling vacancies in the department and handling operations while the search for the next chief is ongoing.
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"I've asked Chief Winegar to focus on the department's most pressing needs, as the council and I start a robust search for Boise's next Police Chief," Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said. "Our city is growing, which is putting a lot of pressure on our officers. Filling vacancies, addressing internal needs and investing in a police department that will meet the demands of our growing community – the Boise Way – are my top priorities."
A recruiting firm will assist in finding a permanent chief, along with members from the city council, union, community leaders and residents. The process is expect to take up to a year, the news release said.
"It's important that we get this right," McLean said in the news release. "So, we're launching a search that's clear in what we need: a leader who shares Boise's values, comes from a department with a similar culture, has proven they're able to provide support and leadership to a team of officers committed to serving our city in the toughest of times, and a proven understanding of what's needed in a growing city to ensure the proactive policing that affords us the community safety we all want."
Boise City council is still working on certain policies for internal complaints against a command staff member to be addressed properly, Boise City Council member Patrick Bageant told KTVB in a previous interview.
"There are policies and procedures for various city departments and various city personnel in various different ways. It gets murkier and more challenging, as you get up to the higher levels of leadership,” Bageant told KTVB on Oct. 17. "It's been a little confusing, frankly, because we had to do a fair amount of figuring out what's going on. It was a very fast moving situation there for a little bit. But, by the time we got to reading the complaints, I think I had a pretty good grip on the the big story, the big picture."
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