One of the more controversial protections Portland cops get in their union contracts is about to be a moot point for the police bureau's highest-ranked organized workers.

City Council on Wednesday is scheduled to vote on a revised contract with the Portland Police Commanding Officers Association, which represents the city's police lieutenants.

Among tweaks that increase members' pay and reward them for living within city limits is a potentially more meaningful change—one that might be a far bigger deal when the city takes up negotiations with the city's rank-and-file police union, the Portland Police Association, in 2017: The lieutenants are foregoing the standard 48 hours' notice offered up before they're asked to give an initial interview as part of an internal police investigation.

This so-called "48-hour" rule has been a central sticking point in Portland's quest to reform the police bureau. Though a settlement the city reached with the US Department of Justice in 2014 can't change collective bargaining agreements the city has struck with police unions, federal justice officials and the judge overseeing the settlement have repeatedly taken issue with the 48-hour rule, which is uniformly extended to police officers who've just shot or killed a suspect, and allows them time to confer with union lawyers.

The rule is less of a concern for police lieutenants, who aren't frequently on the front lines making arrests. But "it was still an issue," in contract negotiations, City of Portland Human Resources Director Anna Kanwit tells the Mercury. "It wasn't something where they just said 'no problem,' but they're not involved in as many [investigations]."

The verbiage of the 48-hour rule presents an interesting issue for internal affairs investigators. By Kanwit's reading of the rule, internal affairs never actually has to give 48 hours' notice to cops involved in use of force incidents. That's because the rule states the 48 hours should only be extended "when criminal culpability is not at issue," and an officer who uses force could always potentially face a criminal charge.

The City Attorney's Office has a similar take on the rule. According to the Oregonian, Deputy City Attorney Ellen Osoinach recently told US District Judge Michael Simon—who's overseeing the city/DOJ settlement—that "the rule doesn't hamper the city from requiring officers who use force to give immediate statements."

So does the police bureau ever actually forego the 48-hour rule when it's investigating cops who use force? Not to Kanwit's knowledge.

"I don’t believe the bureau has done that," she says. "If they have, it’s rare."

Mayor Charlie Hales, by the way, endorsed doing away with the 48-hour rule for rank-and-file cops when he was running for office in 2012. With Tuesday's announcement that he's done after this term, another mayor will likely be minding the shop before the next contract is hammered out.