McDermed’s retirement came with no warning to other members of UOPD.
She had meetings scheduled for every day next week, including three days of Incident Command System advanced training and a meeting about Track Town 2016, McIver said only hours before McDermed announced her retirement.
Andre LeDuc, Executive Director of Enterprise Risk Services —the department that oversees UOPD — sent an email to all UOPD employees at 9:34 p.m. on Friday announcing McDermed’s retirement.
“Dear UOPD Colleagues,” the email read, “Carolyn McDermed, chief of the University of Oregon Police Department, announced her retirement today. We will have information about the leadership transition process Monday.”
McDermed has been under fire since the UOPD lost a $755,000 lawsuit last year. James Cleavenger, a former UOPD officer, sued three UOPD members, including McDermed, for wrongful termination and retaliation. Cleavenger won the lawsuit, $36,000 of which was in punitive damages against McDermed herself.
Cleavenger alleged in his lawsuit that McDermed mismanaged the police department. She was criticized specifically for her handling of the “Bowl of Dicks” list, which was created by night shift officers to name people and organizations the officers disliked.
More to come.
Original:
Normal operations will continue throughout the weekend and more information about the transition process will be provided on Monday, McIver said.
