See something we could improve on this page? Give website feedback.
Label:
News article
Four candidates have advanced in the search for the first director of Portland's Office of Community-based Police Accountability. Community members are invited to meet the candidates Sept. 9 and provide feedback before the Community Board for Police Accountability considers a final candidate.
Published
Updated
Sept. 16, 2026 update
Sept. 17, 2026 CBPA meeting 2 of 2
Community Board for Police Accountability meeting to consider a final director candidate. No public comment opportunity available; this meeting is a continuation of the Sept. 15, 2026 recessed meeting. Online Executive Session at 6 p.m. and Public Meeting at 6:20 p.m.
Sept. 15, 2026 CBPA meeting 1 of 2
Community Board for Police Accountability meeting to consider a final director candidate. 6 p.m. Public Meeting with public comment opportunity, followed by Executive Session.
Sept. 10, 2026 update
Event materials: Meet the OCPA Director Candidates
- Watch the video of the Meet the Director Candidates event
- View the slides presented by candidates
- Read OCPA director candidate biographies
- Learn about the OCPA director recruitment
Community feedback regarding each candidate was taken September 9 through 11, 2026.
Sept. 3, 2026
Four candidates have advanced to the final stage of the search for the first director of the Office of Community-based Police Accountability (OCPA). Their selection marks another major step in building Portland's voter-approved police accountability system.
The Community Board for Police Accountability (CBPA) will host a public meeting Wednesday, Sept. 9, to introduce the candidates and give community members an opportunity to learn about their experience, hear their vision for the new office and provide feedback.
View details for the Sept. 9 Meet the Director Candidates event
The candidates are Sean Eldridge, Mac Muir, George Perezvelez and Bessie Marie Scott.
The inaugural director will serve as OCPA's executive leader and will be responsible for building the office's systems, staff and day-to-day operations. The director will oversee work including staffing, investigations, community engagement and policy development.
Background and director recruitment process
Portland voters approved Ballot Measure 26-217 in November 2020, creating a new system for police accountability that gives community members a direct role in decisions about police misconduct and discipline.
The new oversight system is comprised of two parts: the Community Board for Police Accountability (CBPA) and the Office of Community-based Police Accountability (OCPA). OCPA will investigate allegations of misconduct involving sworn Portland Police Bureau employees and supervisors. The CBPA will review investigations, decide whether misconduct occurred and determine discipline when appropriate. The Board can also recommend changes to Portland Police Bureau policies and practices.
Portland City Council appointed the first 21 CBPA members and six alternates on June 18, 2025. Board members are community volunteers who serve as a governing body, not an advisory board. After their appointment, members completed required background and eligibility checks and extensive training before beginning their work in early 2026.
Meet the members of the Community Board for Police Accountability
One of the Board's first major responsibilities is choosing the person who will build and lead OCPA.
On Feb. 25, 2026, the CBPA voted to hire Motus Recruiting to lead a national search for OCPA's first director. Before recruitment opened, Motus held more than 10 listening sessions with community members, public safety advisory partners, City of Portland leadership and Portland Police Bureau leadership. Community and stakeholder feedback helped shape the recruitment process and the qualities sought in the new director.
The CBPA unanimously approved the recruitment process May 13, and the national search opened May 14.
A total of 164 people applied for the position. Motus conducted the initial screening and advanced 22 candidates to the Nominating Committee for review. The Nominating Committee, which previously helped review candidates for CBPA appointments in 2025, reconvened in an advisory role to review the applicants and make recommendations to the Board.
From that pool, 11 candidates participated in first-round interviews, six candidates advanced to second-round interviews and four candidates advanced to the public meeting stage Sept. 9.
OCPA director candidates
Sean Eldridge
Sean Eldridge is a public safety leader, organizational strategist, U.S. Air Force veteran, and community engagement professional with more than 20 years of experience working across law enforcement, investigations, leadership, and community-centered public safety.
Eldridge served in federal law enforcement, including with Homeland Security Investigations and as a federal Chief of Police with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where he led personnel, investigations, training, policy implementation, and public safety operations.
He later joined the Center for Policing Equity, working nationally with communities and public safety institutions to turn conversations about police reform, equity, and accountability into practical strategies for meaningful and lasting change.
Eldridge is also the founder and CEO of ARISE Group Inc., where his work brings together public safety, community engagement, training, and storytelling. Through documentary filmmaking and facilitated conversations, he uses storytelling to elevate lived experiences, bring different perspectives together, and create space for honest conversations about community, public safety, and trust.
Mac Muir
Mac Muir is the former Executive Director of the Community Police Review Agency (CPRA) in Oakland, California. As CPRA's
Executive Director, he managed both CPRA and Oakland Police Commission operations, oversaw a combined budget of up to $9.5 million, directed all investigations into alleged police misconduct, and finalized officer discipline with the OPD Chief. He hired CPRA's first in-house legal counsel, grew staff by over 300 percent, oversaw more than 500 misconduct investigations, and expanded CPRA's caseload to include concurrent investigations of alleged criminal misconduct.
Previously, Muir was a Supervising Investigator at the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), the largest police oversight agency in the United States. There he supervised and conducted over 500 additional investigations, including officer-involved shootings, sexual misconduct, and nationally covered use-of-force cases, personally interviewing more than 1,000 NYPD officers and civilian-complainants across all 77 NYPD precincts.
Presently Muir is Principal of his consulting firm, Muir & Associates, which provides expert witness services, post-investigation review, and advises on charter and ordinance reforms to police accountability systems nationwide, consistent with Portland's 2020 Measure 26-217. From 2025 to 2026, Muir served as Chair of the Vera Institute of Justice's Working Group on Police Accountability and Culture. He has advised policymakers and political campaigns at every level, from local races to presidential, on public safety and police accountability, and in 2025 he co-authored Cop Cop: Breaking the Fixed System of American Policing, which details issues in police accountability for overpoliced communities and officers alike.
Muir received his BA in Politics and Africana Studies from Oberlin College, received mediation training from Columbia Law School and the New York Peace Institute, and prior to his work in police oversight, served on the staff of Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. He was raised in Oakland, California.
George Perezvelez
George David Perezvelez is an accomplished civilian oversight practitioner and public sector leader with more than 18 years of experience advancing police accountability, institutional integrity, equity, and public trust. He brings a proven ability to navigate complex systems, build strong stakeholder partnerships, and translate principles of accountability into effective institutional practice.
George currently serves in Spokane's civilian oversight system, on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Civilian Review Board, and as Vice President of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). He previously served for 14 years on Berkeley's Police Review Commission and co-authored Berkeley's Office of Police Accountability ordinance, approved by voters with 81% support. He has led and participated in hundreds of oversight proceedings and investigations involving critical incidents, use of force, and officer conduct, and has advised oversight agencies across the country on investigative practices, policy, governance, and organizational capacity.
His experience also includes significant work at the intersection of public safety, government, labor, and community interests. Through civic and political engagement, including service on the Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee and work as a public safety advisor, George has worked directly with elected officials, labor organizations, community stakeholders, and other interests involved in shaping and implementing public policy. His service with The HAVI (The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention) further reflects his engagement with community based approaches to public safety and violence prevention.
His commitment to equity and meaningful community engagement is grounded in civil-rights work with organizations including the ACLU, NAACP, and National Council of La Raza, as well as engagement with Latino and LGBTQI communities and underserved veterans.
As a senior operations and executive leader in the private sector, George also managed complex organizations, teams, budgets, and multi-location operations, giving him practical experience in organizational performance, staff development, financial stewardship, and implementation.
Across his career, George has focused on building institutions.
Bessie Marie Scott
Bessie Marie Scott is a nationally experienced public-sector executive, police accountability leader, housing strategist, and organizational reform professional whose career has focused on strengthening government institutions, advancing community trust, and addressing some of the most complex challenges facing cities and communities. Scott has served in senior executive and oversight roles across municipal government, public safety, housing, homelessness, and community development. Most recently, she served as City Manager for the City of Antioch, California, where she became the first woman to hold the permanent City Manager position. As the City's chief executive, she oversaw a complex municipal organization encompassing public safety, infrastructure, housing, community services, economic development, and other essential government operations, while leading the organization through significant fiscal, operational, and institutional change.
Previously, Scott served as Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety in Seattle, where her work centered on independent police oversight, accountability, auditing, systemic review, and organizational reform. She also held leadership roles with Seattle's Community Police Commission, contributing to police reform and community-centered accountability efforts within the context of federal oversight. Her experience has given her a distinctive understanding of the intersection between independent oversight, constitutional policing, community trust, organizational culture, and effective government leadership.
Scott's career also includes extensive work in affordable housing, homelessness, fair housing, reentry, and services for historically underserved communities. She has worked with the Seattle Housing Authority, the Fair Housing Center of Washington, and organizations advancing alternatives to traditional criminal legal system responses, giving her experience that connects public safety reform with the broader social and economic conditions affecting communities.
Known for stepping into complex environments and building systems where stronger infrastructure, accountability, and trust are needed, Scott brings an executive perspective to institutional reform that extends beyond individual policies or investigations. Her leadership philosophy is grounded in the belief that public institutions earn legitimacy through transparency, accountability, operational excellence, meaningful community engagement, and the courage to confront systems that are not producing equitable or effective outcomes.
Today, Scott continues her work through public-sector leadership, consulting, organizational reform, and community-centered initiatives, advising organizations on police accountability, housing and homelessness, government operations, organizational effectiveness, and strategies for rebuilding trust between institutions and the communities they serve.
Public meeting: Meet the Director Candidates
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 at 6 p.m.
The Portland Building, Room 108
1120 SW 5th Ave Portland, OR 97204
The meeting will also be available online.
View details for the Sept. 9 Meet the Director Candidates event
Candidates will give a brief presentation on a shared topic, discuss their vision for the director role and describe how their experience and leadership would shape the Office of Community-based Police Accountability. A moderator will facilitate the discussion and present questions submitted by community members.
Following the presentations and discussion, community members will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the candidates. Feedback will help inform the Community Board for Police Accountability's selection process when they meet again Sept. 15.
What's next?
The CBPA will meet September 15 at 6 p.m. and September 17, 6 p.m. to consider and confirm a final candidate.
The City aims to have OCPA's first director in place later this fall.
Hiring the director will move Portland's new police accountability system into its next phase. The director will begin building the OCPA team, including hiring investigators, complaint navigators and other staff who will support the office's work.
The director will also establish the systems and day-to-day operations OCPA needs to receive and investigate complaints, support the CBPA and engage with the community.
The CBPA is designed to make its decisions independently. The Mayor, City Council, Auditor, City Administration and other City agencies are prohibited from interfering with the Board's independent judgment.