C ruising C ontrol
»
Cops and community dialogue on public sex, discrimination
and the search for a new chief by Inga Sorensen
PHOTO BY DOUG
he summer heat seems to have
spawned a surge of pubic sex inci
dents and raised concerns among
Portland police.
According to Greg Clark, com
mander of the Portland Police Bureau’s North
Precinct, this appears particularly true for Kelley
Point Park, a popular picnicking site in North
Portland where the Willamette and Columbia
rivers converge.
“We’ve had complaints about same-sex folks
engaged in sexual contact in view of others,”
Clark tells Just Out.
He expresses concerns about families with
children who might be exposed to such “inap
propriate behavior.”
According to police, at least 11 cases of pub
lic indecency have been reported this year at
Mount Tabor Park in Southeast Portland. Most
recently, on July 19, a 59-year-old man was
arrested and charged with public indecency after
a female bicyclist reported seeing him mastur
bating inside a vehicle.
Clark, meanwhile, brought his concerns
about male sexual activity at Kelley Point Park
to a recent gathering of the Sexual Minorities
Roundtable.
The roundtable, established in the early
1990s, is a monthly gathering of sexual minori
ties and members of the Portland Police Bureau.
It’s designed in part to give participants the
chance to exchange infonnation and share con
cerns about law enforcement interaction with
sexual minorities.
Similar bureau roundtables exist for other
constituencies, including Asians and Hispanics.
“We feel it’s good to use the roundtable as a
problem-solving tool,” Clark says.
He adds that it’s the “least confrontational”
way to handle the problem.
"We find that if we make people aware of the
problem it can make a difference,” Clark says.
Longtime gay activist Norm Costa, vice
chair of Pride Northwest Inc. and a regular
roundtable attendee, says he’s pleased police
have brought their concerns to the roundtable.
‘T o me, this is an example of community
policing,” he says.
Many law enforcement agencies nationwide
launch stings to snag cruisers without any fore
warning. The traps may be prompted by inci
dents of indecent exposure or people having sex
in the underbrush, among other goings-on.
“In the old days [the Portland police] would
have put people out there to entrap cruisers,”
maintains the 71-year-old Costa. “Now they’re
coming to the Sexual Minorities Roundtable. 1
think that’s really good.”
Both Clark and Costa note that cruisers may
become the targets of gay bashings or robberies.
“They’re vulnerable because a lot of them
won’t report the crime because of what they were
doing when it happened,” Costa explains. “It’s a
problem waiting to happen.”
Clark urges people to be aware of their sur
roundings— and as for sexual activity, he says:
“Don’t do it in a public place.”
n related news, a survey crafted by the Port
land Police Bureau and Sexual Minorities
Roundtable is being distributed at various busi
nesses with a large queer clientele.
The responses “will be confidential and used
only for purposes of reporting the nature and
prevalence of discriminatory incidents involv
ing [an] individual’s gender identity or expres
sion.”
Its purpose is to help paint a portrait of the
scope of bias-related incidents against sexual
minorities, includ
ing where and how
the incidents hap
pen. It is believed
that many bias inci
dents go unreported
for a variety of rea
sons, thus making it
harder to get an
accurate depiction
of how pervasive
and serious the
problem may be.
. te
A sso ci
ov*
txce
* M te *
I
osta,
mean-
^ while, says he
hopes the Portland
Police Bureau con
tinues connecting
with the sexual
minorities community when a new chief is
brought on board.
He recently served on a focus group that dis
cussed the attributes citizens would like to see in
the city’s next police chief.
Mayor Vera Katz launched a series of such
groups in July in response to Charles Moose’s
decision to leave the bureau to become chief of
the Montgomery County Police Department in
Rockville, Md.
Moose departed Portland at the end of July.
Applications for the post are currently being
accepted, and the city hopes to make a final job
offer by Nov. 1.
Costa hopes the new chief is committed to
community policing and able to interact with
diverse populations.
“I went to the focus group as a gay man,” he
says, adding that he discussed issues important
to the sexual minorities community.
“It’s vital to me that the sexual minorities
community continue to have a voice,” Costa
says.
He’d also like to see the city promote some
one from within the bureau.
Assistant chiefs Bruce Prunk and Mark Pare-
si have indicated their interest in the post. Both
men have worked closely with the sexual
minorities community.
“There are candidates like Bruce Prunk and
Mark Paresi who have demonstrated their dedi
cation to diversity,” says Costa. “I think that’s
very important."
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