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Street roots
Sept. 28, 2012
Justice department’s assessment puts focus on the work ahead
BY JO ANN HARDESTY
was designed to fail. If it wasn’t designed to
fail, it was tinkered with until it was too
inally, someone has called it like it is.
complex to work.
On Sept. 12, the highest-ranking law
The AMA, affinity groups from law and
enforcement officials, having studied
mental health fields, professors,
the Portland Auditor’s “Independent” Police
independent consultants, all kinds of
Review Board (IPR) for more than a year,
committed people have weighed in — for
has labeled this sham of police oversight a
years at a time — to propose remedies to a
‘self-defeating accountability system.’
City Council that has been unwilling to
Thomas Perez, the assistant attorney
improve training, institute important
general for the Civil Rights Division of the
employee review processes, negotiate an
United States Department of Justice (DOJ)
effective contract with the police union, or
gave notice to the city of Portland that they
even demote “million-dollar cops” who
had found widespread patterns and
require so much to defend and cost us so
practices of unconstitutional behavior.
much when the city compensates their
Read their 42-page report. I’ve been
victims. Portland City Council has never
calling for police accountability for more
successfully fired a police officer for use-of-
than a decade, and the civil rights abuses
force violations.
they describe are worse than even I
The result of our long-term engagement?
imagined. The DOJ had access to police
A large segment of Portland’s social justice
records you and I will never see. Their
advocates long ago realized the systemic
documentation of violent behavior is deeply
deficiencies we face. I expect many
disturbing.
remedies we’ve been proposing over the
However, the DOJ’s dissection of a
years will be included in the consent decree.
complete lack of accountability gives me
The result is that people outside of City Hall
hope.
have been on a learning curve. Not only do
In a private meeting with the Albina
we know what reforms are necessary, but
Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and
also we are acutely aware that we have an
Police reform (AMA), Perez spoke
historic opportunity to respond creatively
passionately about the need for public
with all we have learned. It is now time to
involvement. Perez expects the city to
replace the convoluted IPR with a civilian
consent to numerous decrees to give
compliance and reform authority. No longer
Portlanders the constitutional protections
should the auditor’s office simply review
we deserve. “We will be leaving town,” he
and sign off on exonerations police
said, indicating it would be up to citizens to
investigations provide for themselves. Leave
see that reforms are implemented.
them to counting things.
In a moment of great sincerity, Perez said
Having done such a thorough analysis of
that he wanted a “robust and sustainable”
the city’s failure to hold police accountable,
solution.
we are ready to roll out the kind of
I think he’s come to the right place.
sustainable reform Perez envisions. We are
While you are reading this, community
proposing a truly independent, civilian-led
activists are scrambling .to draft legislative
authority that will have investigative muscle:
language for remedies that a federal judge
subpoena powers and a prosecutor who
can rule on. This is a tough task for laymen,
does not work among the cops they seek to
but all sorts of organizations have been
bring to justice.
proposing changes to policy for many years.
Perez will receive from the AMA, the
Former Mayor Vera Katz cobbled
American Civil Liberties Union, the
together the IPR in 2001, amid calls for
National Lawyer’s Guild and other
independent oversight to rein in police
signatories, a two-pronged solution. We
misconduct. I believe that city apparatus
need a reformed IPR to continue, and
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
F
Former state Rep. Jo
A n n Hardesty serves
on the steering
committee o f the
Albina Ministerial
Alliance Coalition for
Justice and Police
Reform and is the
former co-chair o f the
city o f Portland
Racial Profiling
Committee. She is
also a principal with
Hardesty Consulting
Services.
expect it to actually address the police
killing of Keaton Otis in a meaningful way.
But while this goes on, and while a civilian
authority helps insure the City of Portland
lives up to its agreement to reform, we
expect academics, retired police, mental
health organizations, the communities of
faith and others to identify best practices in
policing. I expect the people of Portland to
design a truly effective means of ensuring
that police practices not only follow the rule
Sot o a lf do we know what reforms are
necessary, hot also we are acutely aware that
we have an historic opportunity to respond
creatively w ith a ll we have learned. It Is now
tim e to replace the convoluted SFR w ith a
c iv ilia n compliance and reform authority.
of law, but also actually improve their ability
to carry out a vital mission in the public’s
best interest. I expect Portland voters to
approve an ongoing civilian oversight
authority in the 2014 Charter Review
process.
Those of you who read Street Roots are
likely to be aware of the tremendous cost
our most vulnerable populations have been
paying when encountering police violence.
You must be aware of the systematic
injustice the federal government has just
documented. I call upon all you caring folks
— community advocates, soccer moms,
professors, churchgoers, all you well-
meaning readers — reach out to your United
States senators. Use the DOJ’s e-mail
address, portland.community@usdoj .gov.
Let them know that you think Portland has
the talent and the resources to create a
civilian authority that will see that our
constitutional protections are no longer
subservient to an ineffective City Council of
five, with one of them posing as a police
commissioner.
Beyond the presidential race, your vote can change Oregon
BY ROB SADOWSKY
article tie into Healthy Street Beat: A niche
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
website calculates that “if you live in Oregon
irst, I’d like to pause and say goodbye
and ride a bike 4 miles to your polling place,
to Margaux Mennesson. Margaux has
you are roughly 85 times more likely to die
served as The Bicycle Transportation
on your way to the polling booth than you
Alliance’s Communications Director for the are to cast a meaningful vote in the 2012
past four years.
presidential election.”
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ »»■ « She is moving on
So why vote? There are many reasons to
vote in any election from basic philosophical
H SM 1TH T
from BTA and
co-authoring the
reasoning (you should exercise your rights
Healthy Street
while you still have them) to the highly local
Bicycle
Beat. All of us at
(your vote in local elections are much more
Transportation
BTA and Street
likely to count). I’d argue that they are both
Alliance
Roots wish her
good reasons. I want to register my
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ the best in her
viewpoint, even if it is in the minority: Your
new adventures.
vote is a declaration of where you stand and
Election time is may affect the perspectives of many people.
There are local elections and issues on
right around the corner. My parents always
the ballot that will help shape the future of
said voting was one of the most important
the Portland metropolitan region. Whoever
things an American does for his or her
wins the Portland mayoral and city
country. Now we live in times of high-tech
commissioner races will influence how the
polling that only shares the current
city is run, from prioritizing the future of our
“opinion” of voters. We can read complicated
city’s streets to tackling vital issues such as
statistical analyses of possible outcomes
homelessness, affordable housing
before a single vote is cast.
Oregon already has been determined to be development, fair housing enforcement and
“out of play” in the presidential election. The economic development.
Whoever becomes mayor will also
chance that a vote in Oregon will make a
difference in the 2012 presidential election is determine who will be in charge of city
bureaus, including housing and
small. Now here’s my twist to help make this
F
Healthy Streetbeat is a
monthly column for
Street Roots written by
the Bicycle
Transportation
Alliance (BTA). Rob
Sadowsky is the
executive director of
BTA.
transportation. Outgoing Mayor Sam Adams
is now in charge of Transportation, so we
know that bureau’s leadership will change.
If you get a chance to attend one of the
forums or debates that will happen between
now and Nov. 6, please do so. One of the
ways we can exercise our right to democratic
engagement is to ask questions and share
perspectives one-on-one with candidates. I
have found that candidates really do want to
know how you feel and to know what is
important to you.
Your ballot will also include state and
regional measures. It is so easy to vote in
Oregon, because the ballot comes in the mail
and you will have time to read it in the
comfort of your favorite nest. You have until
Oct. 16 to register for this election.
I’m not going to tell you how to vote. BTA
is a 501 (c)3 charitable organization and we
don’t endorse candidates. However, I urge
you and your friends to vote. In the primary
elections, there were fewer than 7,000 votes
separating the top two mayoral candidates
and fewer than 3,000 between two
commissioners. So, there’s a pretty good
chance your vote will make a difference, a
difference that just might make it safer to
bicycle to the polls (or the mailbox) next
time.
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