Three days after being fired by the Boise City Council, former police oversight director Jesus Jara has filed a whistleblower lawsuit, alleging that he was retaliated against for investigating complaints against the former police chief and reviewing police activity via body camera footage.
The lawsuit also offers more details on the lead-up to Jara’s suspension earlier this month and his termination on Friday.
On Dec. 2, Jara was put on administrative leave, and Mayor Lauren McLean released a statement saying she had a “lack of confidence” in Jara’s office.
A week later, by a vote of 5-1, the City Council fired Jara on Friday, with city leaders maintaining that Jara had surveilled police and the public by frequently watching police body cameras as the director of the Office of Police Accountability, a semi-independent agency tasked with reviewing citizen complaints against police.
McLean then put out a news release accusing Jara of exploiting his access ”by randomly viewing over 8,000 videos, almost exclusively without cause.” Jara alleged that the news release is libelous, and that the city punished him for doing his job.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office, Maria Weeg, declined to comment on pending litigation.
Jara previously worked as an investigative analyst in an earlier version of the city’s police oversight office, as well as in the city’s human resources office. Before taking over as director of the accountability office in June 2021,...
Pulsar Responds to Rumours Regarding Financing Pulsar Helium Inc. (AIM: PLSR, TSXV: PLSR, OTCQB: PSRHF), a primary helium company, understands that a third-party broker has falsely circulated comm...