EDITORIAL: Pressure on to decide on detective

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 18, 2022

Baker City Police Chief Ty Duby told the Herald recently that the city can’t keep Detective Shannon Regan on paid administrative leave “indefinitely.”

Obviously.

But city residents could hardly be blamed for wondering just how long this period, when the city is paying Regan $6,000 per month but not allowing her to work, will turn out to be.

Duby placed Regan on leave in July 2021. He had little choice but to do so after La Grande defense attorney Jim A. Schaeffer alleged that Regan, the lead detective in the fatal shooting of Angela Parrish in Baker City in January 2020, listened to five phone calls between Schaeffer and his client, suspect Shawn Quentin Greenwood, in 2020. Schaeffer argued in court that Regan violated Greenwood’s rights, and the attorney sought to dismiss all charges against Greenwood.

Judge Matt Shirtcliff declined to do so, but he did rule that Greg Baxter, Baker County district attorney, couldn’t use at trial any evidence that Regan collected after Sept. 14, 2020, the day her computer was used to access and listen to the phone calls, according to an investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice. Greenwood later pleaded no contest to three lesser charges and was sentenced to 90 months in prison.

Two issues have a direct bearing on Regan’s employment situation. First, the Department of Justice is investigating whether Regan broke any laws (official misconduct is probably the most likely charge, if so). Duby said he hasn’t heard any results from the investigation. The second issue is whether the district attorney could use Regan as a trial witness in the future. If not, it’s difficult to imagine how the city could continue to employ her as a police officer, as testifying is a vital part of the job, particularly for a detective.

Duby and City Manager Jon Cannon need answers to both those questions. And then they need to make a prompt decision about Regan’s status.

Prolonging this situation is a misuse of city dollars, and it deprives Regan of the ability to plan for the future.

— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor