Page 6
Vendors
Street Roots • July 13-19, 2018
Vendor voices: Have you felt profiled by police?
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C ENTRAL C ITY
CO FFEE
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P a Ahe Oregonian reported on June 27
I
IN STORES
that 52 percent of all arrests last
JL year in the Portland area were made
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against people on the streets, and 86
percent of those were for non-violent
violations. Many of those arrests were for
low-level violations, often aggravated by
homelessness.
The numbers for 2018 are currently
outpacing those from 2017. Portland’s
homeless population is composed of a
disproportionately large number of African
Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic
and the elderly.
Street Roots recently asked our vendors
about their first-hand experiences with law
enforcement, specifically if they have ever
felt profiled or harassed by the police. Here
are some of their responses.
STREET ROOTS PHO TO
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“I was staying at Portland Rescue
Mission in January, it was cold, I was
waiting for food to open up. I found a warm
air vent and was standing by it. A Portland
policeman came by and said I can’t be
standing there. I said
‘This is a public
sidewalk.’ He got #
irritated and said ‘I
can arrest you for
your attitude.’ So I
Said ‘You mean you
will take me
somewhere warm and
safe and serve me
food?’ I held my hands
out and said, ‘Let’s go.
Cuff me/ He realized he was in over his
head, talking to someone who knew his
rights, and he walked away.”
Dennis Chavez
Portland Art Museum
“Last week I was taking a breather,
sitting on a public parking lot curb. Cop
came up and asked for my ID, ran my
name. He took me to jail because I have
two warrants for illegal camping. They
were so full they set me loose after six
hours. We have to be careful where we
camp. I feel totally profiled by cops and
storeowners. I try to stay clean-looking, you
don’t want to lose the little bit you have.
You gotta watch your back all the time.
This place (Street Roots) is a blessing.”
- Todd W. Starbucks on MLK Jr.
Boulevard
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“If you look scruffy, you get profiled. I
had to leave my student ID on the table in
the library when I went to PSU because
the students were always calling the cops
on me, so many times, they would come
and it got so bad. You can’t change the way
you look.”
- Chris Van Dam
Hollywood Trader Joe's
“Are you serious? All my life people are
Above, vendor Paulette Bade at work at Sixth Avenue in Downtown Portland.
watching me, thinking I’m shoplifting,
committing a crime. If you are white, they
don’t watch you like th at Things haven’t
changed at all. Not one b it”
- Francine
“I haven’t
personally been
profiled, but I watch
the police circle the
block where I sell
10-15 times, such a
police presence
there where there
are lots of homeless.
They are circling
constantly.”
- Kerry Anderson
10th Avenue and Columbia Boulevard
“New York is even worse. It’s nicer here.
I try not to do things that gather attention.
I don’t linger. Police came up on me one
Sunday, it was 4:30 a.m. I’d left the shelter
to have a smoke. They silhouetted me
against the wall. I knelt down, put my
hands on my head. They didn’t take me in,
but I was nervous for an hour after th a t”
- George McCarthy
Walgreens, Northeast Grand Avenue
“I definitely feel
profiled. When I sleep
outside, Clean & Safe
(security officers) wake
me up and I have mere
minutes to get all my
stuff together before
they call the police, but
I have to urinate. I said
I need to go to the
Cory
McKelvey bathroom and they said
no, they were going to
take all my stuff. Once they threw me down
on a car because I urinated at the base of a
tree because I just woke up and they didn’t
give me time. I tried to walk away but they
sent two patrol cars after me and arrested
me for indecent exposure.”
- Cory McKelvey
Laughing Planet on
North Mississppi Avenue
“The bike cops are running everyone’s
names at theS tente on6tn/They are
harassing people who don’t look normal,
some are trying to fight back.”
- Allen Butera
Lloyd Center Green Zebra
“I see i t Usually happens before tourist
season when they try to clean up the town.
One day I was sitting on a bench and they
took my name down, I felt like they were
harassing me. Seems likethey go for
people of a certain color, with backpacks,
dirty, maybe they have a dog. I’m homeless
but I try not to look homeless.”
- Michone Nettles
Northwest Sixth Avenue and Taylor Street
“There’s a difference between homeless
that are year round versus homeless
traveling through when the weather is nice.
The travelers travel up from the West
Coast starting about now, they camp and
party and leave needles everywhere. They
are thieves. It makes all of us look bad.
Police and city park rangers come and
sweep. They know where they are.”
- Kevin Harrison
Southwest Clay and Park Streets
“When you are homeless and carrying
your bags around, you feel you are being
watched. I was over by Burnside Projects
and police would drive by and ask for ID,
run my name. It’s very scary because you
know you are not wanted for anything but
they still question you all the time.”
- Paulette Bode
Southwest Salmon and Park Streets