Street roots., April 12, 2013, Page 12, Image 12

Street roots
12
April 12, 2013
JT T F relationship continues to hide behind ‘trust us’ facade
by the FBI. The FBI’s investigation
guidelines and policies permit them to carry
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N I S T
out “assessments” and “preliminary
n March 27, with dissenting votes
investigations” without a reason to believe
from Commissioners Fritz and
that the target of the inquiry is or may be
Novick, the Portland City Council
involved in terrorism activity.
voted to accept the annual report on the
Based on other Freedom of Information
Portland Police Bureau’s collaboration with
Act requests and investigations by the Office
the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The
tighter restrictions of Oregon laws and the
of Inspector General, we know there is a
report, submitted by Chief Mike Reese, was
Oregon Constitution under which the city of
greater likelihood that FBI “assessments”
nearly identical to the report that was
Portland must operate. We remain
and “preliminary investigations” will result
accepted last year and provided very
concerned that cooperation between the
in surveillance and collection of information
minimal detail about the number and types
police bureau and the JTTF will inevitably
related to political, religious and social
of cases where PPB is lending resources to
expose Portland officers to violations of
activities that are lawful and constitutionally
the FBI’s terrorism investigations.
Oregon law.
We in Portland are left to wonder not only
protected. Only inquiries at the “full
We frequently remind the Council that,
how and when PPB is lending resources to
investigation” stage require a factual
the FBI, but also whether we should
predicate towards a specific individual,
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Without adequate detail of the
during either the “assessment” or
implementation of the JTTF agreement, we
“preliminary investigation” stage, it should
are forced to accept a “trust us” approach to
automatically trigger heightened inquiry by
oversight. And while we all wish we could
the chief, the commissioner-in-charge and
trust our government to do what is right,
the active involvement of the city attorney
history has taught us that unless there is
to ensure that the city’s involvement will not
adequate oversight and opportunities for
violate either the resolution or Oregon law.
accountability to the public, we should not.
Especially because the “criminal nexus”
The ACLU has appeared before City
standard of the resolution is undefined and
Council on numerous occasions over the
fuzzy, it is critical for the public and the
past 15 years in order to educate the
Council to know how many inquiries PPB
Council and the public about inappropriate
officers have participated in and at what
political, religious and ethnic surveillance
stage (as classified by the FBI). If we knew
carried out by the FBI and other federal,
that few, if any, of our officers worked on
state and local law enforcement agencies.
either “assessments” or “preliminary
With our coalition partners, we
investigations,” it would go a long way
endeavored to sound an alarm regarding
toward public verification that the city is in
inappropriate investigative techniques and
(R E U T E R S / S T E V E D IP A O L A )
compliance with the resolution and Oregon
surveillance prior to the attacks of Sept. 11,
law. Conversely, if PPB officers were
2001. Our efforts, at least in part, led to the
involved only in “assessments” and
decision in 2005 by former Mayor Tom
Once again, missing from this report was
since 1981, Oregon law has prohibited any
“preliminary investigations,” it would
Potter and the Council to withdraw from
data indicating the number of investigations,
state or local police agency from collecting
in
d icate th e r e w as a m u ch g re a te r likelihood
formal participation in the FBI’s JTTF.
th e ty p es of inv estig atio n s, a t w h a t stag e of
o r 'm aintaining any In fo rm a tio n ’ ab o u t '
that the city was in violation of the
When Mayor Adams renewed public
the FBI inquiries PPB was asked to work
political or religious or social activities of
discussions concerning the relationship
Resolution and Oregon law.
with the JTTF, and the total number of
individuals or organizations unless they’re
between the Police Bureau and the JTTF in
Before casting his no vote at Council in
hours the investigating criminal intelligence
directly related to criminal activities.
2010, the ACLU provided expert testimony .
March, Commissioner Novick talked about
unit officers worked on terrorism inquiries.
We arrived at our position in support of
and documentary evidence regarding the
the ongoing frustration with receiving a
The ACLU has never asked the city to
the resolution in 2010 in part because we
conflicts between Oregon law and the
JTTF report that cites so little detail about
disclose specific factual information
considered it to be the continuation, not the
guidelines and policies under which the FBI
PPB’s involvement. While the ACLU
regarding the individual matters on which
end, of an ongoing conversation regarding
and its Joint Terrorism Task Force operates.
disagrees that abandoning the reporting
PPB cooperates with the FBI. Disclosing
the appropriate boundaries and safeguards
Two years ago we testified in support of
requirement is the appropriate response to
the number of inquiries and the stage of the
for PPB’s task of protecting the safety of all
Council Resolution 36859 which now
this frustration, we wholeheartedly agree
inquiry at the time of the FBI request to the
Portland residents, workers and visitors,
governs the relationship between the Police
city, however, would not disclose information with Novick that until we can break the
while at the same time complying with and
Bureau and the JTTF. We did so despite our
cycle of presenting and accepting such bare
that could compromise an ongoing inquiry
respecting the constitutional and statutory
continued high degree of concern over the
bones reports, the mechanism over which
or investigation.
rights of individuals and organizations.
ability of the Bureau to navigate and respect
In 2011, we had urged that the Resolution JTTF activities are monitored will remain
In 2011 we set out very specific
the great differences between the very
inadequate and we in Portland will be forced
limit PPB involvement to only those
expectations that we had for the annual
malleable federal guidelines and polices
to accept this “trust us” approach.
inquiries designated as “full investigations”
reports on the city’s relationship with the
under which the FBI operates and the
BY BECKY STRAUS
O
Becky Straus is the Legislative Director with the ACLU of
Oregon. She directs advocacy and lobbying efforts before the
Oregon Legislature and is the ACLU’s primary lobbyist on
City of Portland matters. Much of this commentary comes from
testimony delivered to the City Council on March 27 by ACLU
of Oregon Executive Director David Fidanque.
JTTF and the FBI. We urged the mayor and
police chief to put the systems in place that
would ensure both that the terms of the
resolution would be honored and that
Portland would be a model of transparency.
After significant revisions to the first
draft, the 2012 Annual Report was
submitted with some detail, but not enough
detail to truly inform the public of the
nature of PPB’s participation on the JTTF -
certainly not enough to compel anyone to
point to Portland as a model of
transparency.
This year’s report was similarly
disappointing.
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