The Boise City Council this week confirmed Interim Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar to the position permanently. The vote to approve the 28-year BPD veteran was unanimous.
Council members who have worked with Winegar in previous years spoke highly of him prior to the vote.
“[We’re] Really excited to have you here permanently in this very important position, in this very important time in our city, as we navigate how we police in the 21st century,” said Council President Pro Tempore Holli Woodings.
Winegar has been interim chief before; in 2019 he stepped in when then-interim Chief Mike Masterson retired shortly after Boise Mayor Lauren McLean took office.
In 2020, McLean hired Ryan Lee away from the Portland Police Department to be chief in Boise but asked for and received his resignation last fall following reports of an abusive leadership style and increasing toxicity within the department.
Winegar, who had been Deputy Chief under Lee, retired in 2021. Other senior officers left the department in recent years as well and some are suing the city over working conditions they say Lee made it impossible to function.
Masterson, who is now challenging McLean in the upcoming mayoral race, told Boise State Public Radio Winegar should have been the guy all along.
“That’s a decision that should have happened about three years ago when Ron was a finalist for the position,” Masterson said, referring to the search that ultimately brought Lee to Boise.
Masterson characterized what Winegar has stepped back into as a department “in crisis.” Dozens of positions are vacant, and now-former Captain Matthew Bryngelson was revealed last fall as having participated in white nationalist gatherings and authored racist posts online.
An external investigation into Bryngelson’s actions and influence was launched in December, but the $500,000 allocated to pay East Coast-based law firm StepToe & Johnson has been exhausted.
Masterson said he’s aware of multiple individuals who did not agree to be interviewed as part of the Bryngelson inquiry.
City Spokeswoman Maria Weeg would not confirm interviews were declined. She said the firm had completed its initial investigation and was preparing a presentation on its findings thus far, and any additional steps it could take for the city council to consider at an upcoming meeting.
Winegar, speaking to the City Council following his confirmation, acknowledged his return has not been all “butterflies and rainbows,” but, “I will do my best to bring public safety and community service and community policing with me and through the department and through the community as we partner together and make sure that this is a safe and livable city for everyone.”
Weeg said there were no other candidates interviewed for the position.
