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Donna Henderson, who was summarily dismissed from her job as acting Portland police chief June 27 in the wake of the Larry O'Dea shooting investigation, has returned to Portland City Hall—this time as interim coordinator with the city's liquor licensing program in the Office of Neighborhood Involvement.
Henderson's return is unusual given the circumstances of her departure.
Mayor Charlie Hales named Henderson acting police chief in May, after putting then-Chief Larry O'Dea on administrative leave pending inquiries into his off-duty shooting of a friend on a camping trip in Eastern Oregon.
But when O'Dea retired under pressure in June amid a criminal inquiry into the shooting, Hales named Mike Marshman the new chief. Marshman, in turn, announced he would demote Henderson, who joined the bureau in 1988, to captain.
At the time, Henderson and three other top police officials under O'Dea faced a city inquiry into possible violations of bureau policy over how they responded to news of O'Dea's shooting incident, The Portland Tribune reported. No one who knew of the shooting, including the mayor, alerted Portland's Independent Police Review division. That inquiry is ongoing.
Rather than be demoted, Henderson chose to retire, effective July 1.
She told The Oregonian, in a story published July 6, that she was unfairly scapegoated. "O'Dea 'misled the mayor, his senior staff and internal affairs about the incident,"' the newspaper reported. "'I would have never covered for Chief O'Dea for anything, let alone something like this.'"
Henderson did not respond to a request for comment.
When asked by WW for comment, Hales issued a brief statement: "I congratulate Donna Henderson on her new position."
The Office of Neighborhood Involvement is under the control of Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who is out of the country.
Willamette Week
