BOISE, Idaho — Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar is prioritizing recruitment, hiring, and training as he takes over the department where he started his career in 1993.
Then-Deputy Chief Winegar was finalist for the Boise Police Department's (BPD) top job in 2020; Boise Mayor Lauren McLean ultimately chose Ryan Lee from the Portland Police Bureau. Lee resigned at the mayor’s request after KTVB investigative reporter Alexandra Duggan published a story detailing complaints against Lee.
Chief Winegar retired in June 2021 before returning to take over BPD's Interim Chief role in September 2022. The Boise City Council confirmed Winegar as the permanent police chief in May 2023.
BPD is currently under investigation, paid for by the City of Boise, regarding retired BPD Capt. Matt Bryngelson's personal beliefs surfaced in online blogs and podcasts.
Mayor McLean called Bryngelson's beliefs "racist" and hired Steptoe & Johnson to "determine if this issue is pervasive within the department."
The investigation is currently on pause, according to City of Boise spokesperson Maria Weeg. Steptoe invoiced the city $500,000, the entirety of the amount not to be exceeded as stated in the contract.
The city is working to establish a date for Steptoe to provide a status update where the city will decide on the next steps forward, Weeg said.
Chief Winegar sat down with KTVB to discuss his priorities going forward:
Chief Winegar: Honestly, if there were other candidates, I'm not aware. I get the feeling that it was more I've been here now for six or seven months, and things are going fairly well. I've demonstrated the leadership that I think they are looking for, again, at this time for the situation that we find ourselves in.
KTVB Reporter Andrew Baertlein: Matt Bryngelson has been labeled racist for the things that he's done. You are someone who is part of the fabric of this institution. Have you noticed anything like that within the department through your past - almost three decades now - being involved with BPD?
Chief Winegar: I did not. I did not see any police officer or other employee here in this agency treat people poorly because of their race. I did not see any indications that that ideology or that thought process was involved in any decision making in the organization. I did not certainly know of than Captain Matt Bryngelson's ideology or his thought process. So, it was it was a surprise to me, certainly, and a shock. And I know that there are people out there that would say, 'How can that be? That's impossible. There's no way that's true. You've got to be hiding something or covering something up.' And I would just say, people are very complicated individuals. And I never saw an indication in any of his work or his approach to people or interactions with people, either inside the organization or outside the organization. And I worked with him for 20 years. I did not see that coming. And that's really all I can say.
Baertlein: What has the police department's involvement been with that investigation?
Chief Winegar: Our department has been intimately involved in the investigation. We have provided a number of documents and a number of pieces of information to the investigators. Certainly, cooperated and complied with any and every request that has been asked of us.
Baertlein: How do you one, regain that trust, and then two, how does Boise police become the institution that you would like it to be going forward?
Chief Winegar: How you gain trust or regain trust, really boils down to the relationships again, and certainly we recognize that there may be a segment of the population who is anti-police or hates the police for whatever reason, whether it's legitimate or not, whether it's their cultural upbringing, or their experiences that they have lived. I get that. But our obligation, and my expectation for all of my officers who work in this department is that we will treat them with dignity and respect as well. And if we continually do that, and when we fall short, we make amends and we apologize. We move forward. We do better next time. We take corrective action when necessary. We do all the things that we can to ensure that that mantra is repeated, in every single contact with every officer and every member of the community, then I think we can move towards regaining that trust.
Baertlein: What is your relationship is like with Mayor Lauren McLean.
Chief Winegar: I would categorize it as good. I appreciate her confidence in me and in our department. I have met with her in the last six months, almost every week. So, we talk about things and priorities, and certainly have a very good professional working relationship together.
Baertlein: She did pass you over the first time when you were up for that initial job as Chief when you were the deputy. I believe you're serving as the interim chief proceeding into that as well.
Chief Winegar: Yes.
Baertlein: So, was that surprising to get a call after you've been passed over for Ryan Lee?
Chief Winegar: It was completely out of the blue when I when I got the call from her in late September, did not have her contact in my phone. And so, it was an unknown number when the phone rang. But it was an opportunity to really come back, and I feel like make a difference in the organization. In that initial five-minute conversation, we didn't discuss contracts or salary or any of those things. It's really the question, 'would you be willing to come back and serve as the Acting Chief for a time?'
Baertlein: Speaking of a time, how much time do you think you have left? You've done this for three decades.
Chief Winegar: Yeah, I'm getting a little long in the tooth. There's no doubt I'm older than most of the folks here in the agency. What I agreed with the mayor was, 'we'll take it six months at a time and see how it goes.' So, I fully expect I'll probably be here next year at this time. And depending on how it goes, maybe longer than that. Time is difficult to come up with. There's not enough time in the day to do all the things that we need to do. But, really, it's all about trying to lead an organization that is diverse and one where people make life and death decisions in a split second. So, community policing, recruiting, hiring, training, leadership, and accountability - as well as wellness within the organization - have been my priorities. We feel like these are things that should endure and should last. I feel like they're important. So, that's what I'm working on.
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