Masterson calls McLean’s security detail ‘selfish,’ while Boise says it’s a safety decision

As the Boise mayor’s race heats up, a former police chief candidate has spoken out against Mayor Lauren McLean over her security detail, despite the severity of threats against her.

In an interview with the Idaho Statesman about his campaign for mayor, Mike Masterson, who was police chief from 2005 to 2015, criticized McLean for having a two-officer security detail, which he said was “selfish.”

Late last month, the security detail was removed, but the Boise Police Department maintains it could return if needed.

For over two years, McLean has had two Boise Police officers accompanying her at City Hall and other events, in response to a threat level that the mayor’s office has said increased markedly during the polarized COVID-19 pandemic.

Since taking office just before the pandemic enveloped federal and local politics, McLean has had protesters outside her home with torches, as well as “real and grave” threats, according to her March 2022 statement.

‘Am I next?’: Idaho politicians face increasing threats and harassment while in office

The statement, which came after reports of public officials like former Ada County Commissioner Kendra Kenyon leaving office due to the menacing political environment, was a rare public look at the danger McLean has faced.

“I still feel intensely the fear, frustration and helplessness of watching my two children quietly take in news of thwarted threats against me and learning that they, too, were being targeted and tracked online,” McLean’s statement said. She added, “… just weeks after the first of several family briefings and as people carrying torches stood just 20 feet from our living room window, I sat on our basement stairs to be sure my brave, supportive kids wouldn’t see my face.”

Last year, a Canyon County man was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison after writing threatening graffiti on public land and writing McLean’s name on a bullet.

Another former Ada County commissioner, Diana Lachiondo, had protesters come to her home during health board meetings. Last year, activists associated with Ammon Bundy went to the homes of a local judge, two police officers and a nurse practitioner to protest a child welfare case, according to previous Statesman reporting.

Many leaders of American cities — especially in large ones — have security details, and the need for security has risen in recent years, according to Bloomberg News.

“While I appreciate (my security detail’s) service and have come to count them as close members of my team, I miss the days when I could run to the drugstore without someone tailing me and knowing what I’m shopping for,” McLean said in the statement.

The move to provide more security was made by the police department, according to its spokesperson, Haley Williams.

“Thankfully, over the past year or so, BPD officers who monitor these types of threats and situations have noted a decrease in the frequency and severity of concerning behavior related to the safety of City Hall staff, including elected officials,” Police Chief Ron Winegar said in an emailed statement.

In his interview, Masterson said the mayor’s detail has taken two needed officers off the streets.

“I question why that has to happen in a city that’s the safest in the United States,” Masterson said. “Sure we have had our political disagreements and there’s people on the far right and the far left that espouse different things, but to take two officers … in this time when we desperately need them on the street to me appears to be selfish.”

According to 2019 violent crime data from the FBI, there are a number of American cities with lower crime rates than Boise.

In an email, Williams said the City Hall security detail was added in 2020 “in response to civil unrest and credible threats to the safety of elected official(s) and/or staff members at City Hall at the time.”

“BPD has resources dedicated to specialty positions around the city and we make staffing decisions for those positions in the same way we would evaluate threats and needs for any special event, incident or ongoing concern,” Williams added. Boise police evaluate safety “constantly” to “best meet the needs of our community” and the decision to reassign the officers was made in April, she said.

“As needs change, those officers could be reassigned back to the City Hall security team,” Williams said.

Masterson said he told police officers during a campaign event in early April that, if he were mayor, he would remove the security detail.