Street Roots • May 26-June 1,2017
News
Page 7
Portland police see increase in misconduct allegations from public
2016 saw the highest number o f complaints in recent years, with a disproportionate percentage coming from African Americans
BY EMILY GREEN
S T A F F W R IT E R
he Independent Police Review’s Annual
Report shows community members
filed 435 complaints against Portland
police in 2016.
It’s the highest number of complaints the
agency charged with police oversight has
processed in eight years.
When Portlanders take issue with the
behavior of a police bureau employee, they
can file a complaint with the Independent
Police Review. The agency, housed under the
City Auditor’s office, determines whether the
complaint warrants an investigation,
mediation, dismissal or in minor cases, follow
up with the bureau to make improvements to
service.
According to its report released May 18,
the most significant increase was in
complaints related to police use of force,
which more than doubled to 143 in 2016, up
from 69 the previous year. The bureau has
approximately 900 sworn officers in its ranks,
and 397 had complaints filed against them.
Police use of their hands, feet and knees
garnered the most force complaints, with
“other force” coming in a close second. This
category includes allegations of pushing,
grabbing and unnecessary or mismanaged use
of force.
Until 2015, the Independent Police Review
and police bureau’s Internal Affairs Division
dismissed or declined the majority of use-of-
force complaints. But in 2016, they opened
investigations on 94 percent of force
complaints.
Another increase was in officers who had
multiple complaints lodged against them
during the course of the year, with 49
receiving three or more complaints, up from
30 the previous year. Several had as many as
five or six complaints.
The report revealed that 32 officers were
disciplined in 2016 - the majority receiving
“command counseling,” which includes a note
in their file and a debriefing by a superior. Six
officers left the bureau while under
investigation, and two were fired for
misconduct.
The report also showed that while African
Americans account for 6 percent of Portland’s
population, they filed 23 percent of
complaints in 2016. This is a slight increase in
disparity from 2015, and the report stated it’s
“consistent with historical trends.”
Additionally, African Americans filed 56
percent, and Latinos 16 percent, of disparate
treatment complaints.
Police shootings were down from six in
2015 to two in 2016 - with one resulting in
T
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fatality. Both of the suspects who were fired
at were white, stated the report.
While the uptick in complaints against
police this past year bucked what was
previously a downward trend, the numbers
continue to be lower than they were in the
early 2000s, said Independent Police Review
Director Constantin Severe. Back then, he
said, his agency would receive about 700 to
800 complaints annually.
He attributed increases in use of force and
conduct complaints, in large part, to the many
protests spurred by local and national political
climates in 2016.
“There was a relatively high number of
demonstrations that resulted in
confrontations between protesters and police
officers,” Severe said. “Even prior to the
election, there were a number of protests that
happened in Portland, including at City Hall.”
While 10 complaints stemming from
demonstrations led to full Independent Police
Review-led investigations, decisions on
whether or not those allegations will be
upheld have not yet been made, he said.
In 2016, the Independent Police Review
and Portland Police Bureau’s internal affairs
completed 80 investigations, upholding one or
more of the allegations made by a community
member in 22 cases.
But it was the police bureau’s own internal
affairs office that investigated the vast
majority of complaints against the bureau.
When this happens, the Independent Police
Review reviews the police investigation.
As part of the 2012 settlement agreement
between Portland and the U.S. Department of
Justice, the Independent Police Review is
required to increase the number of
investigations it conducts.
At the start of 2013, the agency only had
two and a half investigator positions. Today it
has seven full-time positions, said Severe.
This enabled it to conduct more of its own
investigations in 2016 than any other year,
with 29 cases initiated.
In 2016, both the Independent Police
Review and police department internal affairs
completed investigations more expediently
than in years past, with the median time of
case completion falling well under the 180-day
mark required by the Department of Justice.
In order to further increase the oversight
agency’s capacity to take on investigations,
Portland City Council approved a code change
on April 19 that will allow the Independent
Police Review to send minor complaints
directly to the police bureau employee’s
supervisor for quicker resolution.
There are many reasons the vast majority
of complaints don’t lead to a full investigation.
For one, the alleged misconduct must be in
violation of Police Bureau Policy, and 107
complaints this past year did not meet this
requirement.
Additionally, the Independent Police
Review must be able to identify the officer in
question, which it could not do in 37 of the
incidents. Altogether, 206 complaints were
dismissed by IPR, fewer than in recent years.
Severe said his agency has many tools at its
disposal to figure out who the police bureau
employee accused of misconduct is, even
when the person filing the complaint did not
obtain the officer’s name or business card.
“If they can just tell us where it was and
the time, a lot of times we can figure out who
it was,” he said.
Often his agency will take a complaint from
a caller complaining about an incident that
took place months before and who can’t
remember the exact location. Severe said the
caller might say something like, “I don’t know
who the officer was, but he was a white guy
with close-cropped hair.”
In that case, he said, “That’s not going to
be as useful to us. We’ll accept the complaint,
but our ability to follow through on it is going
to be limited.”
emily@streetroots. org
Source: 2016
Independent Police
Review Report