Eugene Police Auditor Cristina Beamud announced today that a Eugene police sergeant had accused her of the crime of official misconduct, that the police chief had referred the matter to the district attorney and that the district attorney was investigating.

At a press conference, Beamud issued a statement: “On February 4 a police sergeant submitted a memorandum on city letterhead accusing me of official misconduct. This memorandum was directed to the City Council. The City Council supervises me and I account to them. However, the correspondence was also directed to the Chief of Police. The Chief directed the allegations to the District Attorney and the District Attorney is investigating the matter.”

Beamud said she did “not want to discuss the factual details underlying these allegations for fear of compromising or influencing the investigation.”

Beamud’s statement continues:

“I would like the public to know at this time that I fully intend to cooperate with this investigation. I deeply believe that public officials must fully account for their actions and I am confident that the process and the investigation will not reveal any wrongdoing on my part. I do not want this to obstruct the important work that I have to perform and I am concerned that these allegations may serve to disguise the bigger issue — that is the establishment of a viable, transparent system of police oversight.”

Mayor Kitty Piercy said at the press conference:

“I applaud the auditor’s commitment to transparency and accountability, and her absolute confidence that she can go through this, whatever process the DA puts in place, and come out the other side with clear evidence that she’s doing a good job. In my case, I’ve seen the accusations and there’s not enough specifics in them to indicate to me in any way that any wrong-doing has been done.”

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