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The Investigation of a Damaging Police Bureau Leak Hits the Half-Year Mark, With No Answers in Sight

The clock keeps ticking, so we keep counting.

A PBB cruiser in August, 2021. (Michael Fortsch)

By Tess Riski

176 DAYS: That’s how long ago Officer Brian Hunzeker resigned from his role as president of the Portland Police Association due to what the union described as a “serious, isolated mistake related to the [Portland] Police Bureau’s investigation into the alleged hit-and-run by Commissioner [Jo Ann] Hardesty.” We still don’t know what he did. The mayor’s office says it doesn’t know what he did. Hunzeker has been on paid administrative leave since May 27.

187 DAYS: That’s how long it’s been since the Police Bureau opened an internal affairs investigation into the leak of information that wrongly implicated Commissioner Hardesty in a March 3 hit-and-run. It has released no results of its inquiry.

175 DAYS: That’s how long it’s been since the city signed a contract with an outside investigative firm to probe the leak.