Jami Resch has seen her promotions come in quick succession over the last few years.
In 2016, she was promoted from lieutenant to captain. Two years later, she became the assistant chief of the investigations branch. This May, she was named deputy chief.
Now there’s nowhere higher to climb within Portland’s ranks.
In a private ceremony at noon on New Year's Eve, Resch was sworn in as the city's new chief of police. The event came just after a day after the news dropped that outgoing Chief Danielle Outlaw would be leaving her post to take the top job in Philadelpha's police force.
Jami Resch waves to the audience during a community listening session at Maranatha Church in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Resch was sworn in as police chief in a private ceremony on New Year's Eve following the departure of Danielle Outlaw (right).
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
Outlaw told Mayor Ted Wheeler, who oversees the police bureau, about her decision last Thursday. By Sunday afternoon, he had picked her successor.
It was a stark contrast from the more than two-months-long, nationwide search Wheeler spearheaded two years ago to find Outlaw. That time, Wheeler walked the public through the process, sending out press releases with timelines for candidate interviews and seeking input on language for the job posting. He created "community panels" to help narrow down the pool of 33 candidates to just one.
The national search, Wheeler said at the time, gave the city "the chance to address fundamental questions about the direction of policing in Portland."
Many of the questions swirling during that period — concerning the bureau's use of force, treatment of individuals with mental illnesses, police accountability — still surround the force, leaving some wondering why Wheeler opted for a quicker, closed-door process this time around.
In a statement, mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone called Wheeler’s decision a “snap judgement."
“As we wrap up the deadliest year from police use of force in nearly a decade, I’m certain we need to take a great deal of care selecting a chief committed to reforming the Portland Police,” she wrote.
Fellow mayoral candidate Teressa Raiford joined Iannarone in taking aim at the fast-tracked process: “I believe that the fact that [Wheeler] didn’t apply an interim [chief of police] to give more public access to the process ... shows that he hasn’t been listening to Portlanders,” Raiford said.
“People want to feel assured that we have a police force that’s engaged with our community,” she added.
But the mayor’s office has countered that this time was different — for a few reasons, which were laid out in an email Tuesday afternoon by the mayor’s chief of staff, Kristin Dennis.
“In 2017, we knew we needed someone to come in and shake up the bureau. But this time is different — we’re happy with the trajectory we’re on and we need to continue making the improvements the Bureau has been working toward,” she wrote.
Secondly, Dennis wrote, this is an election year. This means the city won't be able to attract top-tier candidates, who will be naturally wary of a job where their future boss could be out of office by November.
Lastly, she wrote, the bureau needs to prioritize stability right now. There are big policy decisions on the horizon including contract negotiations, budget discussions and upcoming work sessions with City Council. This means the position needed to be filled promptly by “someone who understands the Bureau, the City, and the Community,” Dennis wrote.