, 2017
News
Page 7
Racial disparity, harsh penalties cause D A s
to pull back from some TriMet charges
Fare jumpers won’t be charged with Class A misdemeanors
BY EMILY GREEN
sentence in Washington County was 28
days.
11 three district attorneys in Portland’s
In Multnomah County, the average
sentence was 15 days, costing taxpayers an
tri-county area signed an agreement
average of $2,520 per inmate.
Tuesday, Jan. 3, stating their offices
will no longer prosecute TriMet fare
Efforts during the 2015 legislative session
evasions or exclusions for interfering with to change the language of the charge so that
it would no longer apply to someone who
public transportation, or IPT.
The agreement comes after district
entered TriMet property while under
exclusion failed.
attorney offices in Multnomah, Clackamas
Rep. Lew Frederick (D-Portland),
and Washington counties all found that
introduced the bill because, he said, IPTs
among transit riders who didn’t pay their
fare, African-Americans were excluded from
are an example of regulations used to
TriMet property at a significantly higher
disproportionately target low-income people,
rate than Caucasians.
immigrants and people of color.
After TriMet lobbyist Aaron Deas
Transit riders can be excluded from
TriMet property for many reasons, including arranged a sit down among TriMet officials,
not paying their fare. The
a TriMet-funded district
exclusion typically
attorney, legislators and
remains in effect for 30
public defenders, the
days.
I f lbe number of African- House Judiciary
In the majority of
Committee reviewing the
American transit riders
cases, a person is
bill decided to postpone
and Caucasian riders
charged with interfering
its first hearing,
were equal, fo r every one
with public
effectively ending its
transportation when they Caucasian rid e r charged
chances for passage that
are caughtfare jumping
session.
w ith IPT, there would he
According to
after being excluded -
eight African-Americans
Multnomah County
not for physically
charged w ith IPT,
District Attorney Rod
interfering with the
Underhill, 500 cases
operation of a public ---
involving IP T c h a rg e s
transit vehicle as the
come into his office for
name of the charge would
review
each
year.
Of
those, he said, 350 to
suggest.
400 cases involve someone who was charged
Interfering with public transportation is a
with an IPT because they were caught
Class A misdemeanor and carries a
riding TriMet, Usually for not paying their
punishment of up to one year in jail.
fare, while under exclusion.
Street Roots first reported bn the
“The other 100 or 150 are going to be
excessive nature of this charge and its drain
behavioral
based,” he said, “but amongst
on court resources in March of 2015 (Street
both groups we see disproportionality -
Roots, “TriMet Exclusions: One wrong
from an RRI (Relative Rate Index)
step”).
According to data compiled by the Oregon standpoint, of about 8 to 1 range.”
That means that if the number of African-
Criminal Justice Commission, for those who
American
transit riders and Caucasian
received jail sentences resulting from IPTs
riders were equal, for every one Caucasian
from 2010 to April 2014, the average
S T A F F W R IT E R
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experiencing
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rider charged with IPT, there would be eight
African-Americans charged with IPT.
Also playing into the top prosecutors’
decision to stop applying this charge to fare
jumpers was its seriousness/
“We see Class A misdemeanors for
assault and DUII,” said Underhill. “Where
should the proportionality be for fare
evasion?”
A ccordin g to th e a g r ee m e n t, p r o sec u to rs
will review those who ignore their
exclusions from TriMet property for lesser,
Class C misdemeanor charges instead, such
as criminal trespass or theft in the third
degree.
TriMet also issued a statement saying it
deems the district attorneys’ decision to
change their policies around IPTs to be fair.
Both TriMet and district attorney
statements reiterated that a recent
independent evaluation of fare enforcement
on TriMet by Portland State University’s
Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute
found no evidence of systemic racial bias,
although it did find there was reason to
more closely examine why African-American
riders were being excluded at a higher rate
than white riders.
But fare jumpers will continue to be
ticketed, and IPTs aren’t going away
completely. ,
“We agree with Tri-Met and others that
’naers’needtoiee'lsaie^^oh^ffie^MAXand^Bus
lin es. C o n seq u en tly w e w ill c o n tin u e to
review for prosecution IPT charges for
persons engaging in or excluded from Tri
Met for qualifying behavior-related conduct
such as that which involves assaultive or
offensive physical contact, disorderly
conduct that involves the use of physical
force or conduct immediately likely to result
in the use of physical force,” read the
agreement
You can read the full agreement online at
news.streetroots.org.
emily@streetroots. org