Once troubled cop promoted to captain
Chief Burton picks Lt. Ted Ross over top Old Port cop
By Chris Busby
Three years ago, Portland Police Lt. Ted Ross was in danger of losing his job. He’d just pled guilty to driving drunk while off-duty in an unmarked police car, having rammed a stopped vehicle in the West End after getting liquored at an Old Port bar with fellow officers.
This week, Police Chief Tim Burton picked Ross to be the next captain of the department’s patrol division, the third-highest rank – next to chief and deputy chief – in the organization.
Burton chose Ross over Lt. Janine Roberts, head of the department’s Tactical Enforcement Unit, the unit charged with policing the Old Port. Roberts and Ross both have about 20 years’ experience with the department. A third applicant for the position had less experience.
Ross could not be reached for comment this morning. Burton did not respond to requests for comment. Roberts declined comment.
Ross is a highly accomplished, exceptionally hard-working member of the police force. Before the drunk driving incident, he was head of the department’s criminal investigation division. According to a report in the Portland Press Herald, Ross worked enough overtime to make him the highest paid member of the force, earning over $95,000 a year (more than then-Chief Mike Chitwood).
After Ross pled guilty, Chitwood suspended him for three months without pay, citing Ross’ long and exemplary record with the department as a factor in his decision. Ross had begun drinking that evening at an employee Christmas party held at Chitwood’s home prior to hitting the Old Port, according to press reports.
Ross was allowed to keep his rank, but was transferred to oversee patrol operations at the Portland International Jetport when he returned to work in July of 2003 – a position he still holds.
Two people injured in the accident threatened to sue the city, and together received over $275,000 in public money (the city is self-insured, so legal settlements are paid from a taxpayer-funded account). After the incident, City Manager Joe Gray barred city workers under the influence of alcohol from using city-owned vehicles. He also decreed that no alcohol be served at city-sanctioned parties, according to a news account at the time.
Burton’s choice of Ross over Roberts – the city’s first female police lieutenant – could be controversial among advocates of affirmative action. When Burton was hired to succeed Chitwood last fall over a black candidate for the post, there was an outcry among those who felt the city missed an opportunity to diversify its workforce. City officials pledged to address the issue.
Several critics of the process invoked a recent study done as part of the city’s affirmative action plan. That study indicated that the city was making progress in its effort to create a racially diverse workforce, but needed to hire many more female employees and promote more women into upper-management positions.
