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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 1979)
Black United Front investigates police brutality The Black U nited Front has charged the Portland Police Bureau with racism and w ill hold a public meeting Thursday evening, Novem ber 8th, to discuss methods o f ad dressing the problem o f police brutality. Stating that the organ izatio n receives more and more complaints each week, Ronnie Herndon, BUF co-chairm an, said racism in the Police Bureau has been well documented. " I n 1971 the city signed a consent decree in U.S. District Court that was designed to curb overt acts o f racism by Portland Police; during the six month period between Oc tober 1974 and April 1975 four Black men were killed by Portland Police;a 1978 report by the city’ s own Office o f Justice Programs showed when P ortland Police o ffic e rs had the discretion o f arresting a citizen or giving them a citation, a much higher percentage o f Black citizens were arrested than white citizens; perhaps the most devastating statistic is ac cording to our unofficial figures sin ce 1970, 5844 o f all people killed by P ortland Police have been Black even though we make up only 5% o f the city population.” Emphasizing that BUF plans are not related to and not an expression o f lack o f confidence in Police Commissioner Charles Jordan’ s ef fo rts to investigate charges o f b ru ta lity , H erndon said, ‘ ‘ C om missioner Jordan is not the issue - police b ru ta lity is the issue. The Commissioner is working inside the system, using City policies within the C ity Charter. We s till have to do something in response to the com plaints we receive from citizens.” Stating that the problems appear to be getting progressively worse, Herndon explained, “ Women are being pulled out o f th e ir cars; teenagers are b ru ta lize d . We are devising a way to receive and document these complaints. We will use all appropriate means to stop these actions.” Stating that several attorneys have volunteered to assist, he indicated that methods might in clude contempt o f court procedings against the city, civil suits, a federal class action su it, and possibly a request to the U.S. Attorney for a federal investigation o f the Police Department. The Front w ill also distribute fliers to inform citizens what to do if stop ped, harassed or arrested, and what to do if they witness improper police behavior. Herndon revealed that Charles Merton, attorney who successfully sued the City for Robert Probasco, wrote the City Commissioners and others on M arch 2nd, rem inding them o f the agreement signed in federal court in 1971. Merton ad vised that he had been informed that C ity records o f the case had been destroyed and police officers not in formed about the restrictions im posed on them by the Consent Decree. He had read about young Blacks* accusations o f police brutality and assaults. Reminding the City officials that Judge Belloni retains the right to determine whether certain police o f ficers should be removed from duty in the Black community, Merton ad vised that i f reports o f beatings, harassment and racial slurs continue, steps w ill be taken to fin d ap propriate o fficia ls in contempt o f court and to bar offending police o f fers from duty in the Black com munity. PORTLAND OBSERVER Commissioner Jordan met with a group o f Albina business people on Tuesday morning and a number o f leaders o f community organizations Tuesday evening to hear their con cerns and suggestions. The general tenor o f both meetings was in repor ting to (he Commissioner (hat many allegations o f police b ru ta lity are being made by responsible citizens and that a serious situation exists. Jordan has said that he w ill prosecute any police office charged with brutality or abuse if enough in fo rm a tion is provided to build a case. The BUF community meeting w ill be held at 7:00 p.m. at King Neigh borhood Facility. Volume 9 Number 44 November 8,1979 10c per copy U S P S 9 5 9 680 ■ American State goes downtown V .F . Booker, president o f American State Bank, announced that the bank w ill open a branch in dow ntow n P o rtla n d by m id- November. “ Ten years ago many people doomed us to an early death. Now we are opening our th ird branch, this one dow ntown." Booker emphasized that few Black banks have been established down town, most restricted to the Black com m unity. The three dow ntow n Black banks are San Francisco, W ashington, D.C. and R ichland, Virginia. Also, few Black banks have branched -- none on the West Coast. No Black bank - even the older, well established banks — has more than six per cent o f the Black depositors. F ollow in g a philosophy that a bank should provide convenience to its customers by going where they are, the bank opened a branch in Southeast Portland three years ago that is targeted toward family rather ! ' a' com m ercial accounts. The Second and Y a m h ill Branch w ill provide full services to commercial, ind ustria l and personal accounts. Fhe Head O ffic e w ill remain on Union Avenue. M s. Ju ne Young to o k tim e out fro m her busy s c h e d u le to v is it w ith c h ild re n a t th e B la c k E d u c a tio n a l C e n te r. T h e c h ild re n w e re v e ry in terested in her experiences during her trip to Arica. (Photo Richard J B row nl Young pushes 'Year of the Child' By Stephanie L. Michael Former U .N . Ambassador A n drew Young has been recognized as the African-American minister from Georgia, in essence “ a man for all seasons.” In taking a comparative look at his counterpart, his w ife, Jean Childs Young, she too is “ a woman o f all seasons." Mrs. Young, who heads the U.S. National Commission on the Inter national Year o f the C hild (IY C ), was in Portland on Friday, touring the city's educational centers and lec turing. Her visit was sponsored by the Metropolitian Family Service. Mrs. Young, the mother o f four children, is an educator, a specialist in child development as well as an ac tivist in the movement for civil rights and social change. Over the years, she has made a lifelong committment to children as a teacher and a mother. As head o f the IYC, she is working in a total volunteer capacity when at her o ffic e at the U.S. Mission in New York or while out on the road. "M y job is to supervise efforts to encourage and coordinate national projects and events that benefit children. I have to educate persons to what their social responsibility is to development and educational fa cilitie s . The p u b lic school system must get involved if we are truly serious about solving some o f these problems. For instance, urban areas gel quite a bit o f aid, but it still doesn’ t service all needy children. The services provided are s till not pervasive enough, centers keep p rim a rily serving those isolated needs and s till meeting very small groups. The waiting list at Providen ce C hild Center indicates a need for a more extensive service. There needs to be a doubling o f their faculty and facility to help more children in the Portland area. But I must say that the center, the faculty and the work they have performed, is beautiful!” Stating the International Year o f the Child should be a continuing ef fort in the framework o f our society, Mrs. Young says when the concerns (Please turn to page 9 col. 2) CODA abandons King location By Donald Fuller CODA Director, Jim Robbins, has apparently taken steps to meet the concerns o f the King Improvement Association. “ CODA is definately com m itted to meeting (the drug abuse needs) o f the N .E. C om m unity.” Robbins indicated that release from the leased building near the corner o f Union and Killingsworth is being investigated, an assignment o f the liason o f CODA staff and review o f the proposed program is in process at this time. Robbins explained that central staff offices were in the process o f change from the downtown offices on S.W Fourth to the new offices I near N .E. 21st Avenue, but that move did not constitute the program for N.E. Portland. "T h a t money has been set aside except for two staff positions." No new -money w ill be made available this year, however, and the N.E. program will be worked out, but will not locate in the King neighborhood. A nalysis The drug-free stipulation o f the King Improvement Association was “ too d ifficult to change" according to Association Chairperson Anna Madden. "W e were told that a letter was in the mail last week. Fhe letter dated O ctober 5, I979 was ‘ received’ November I, I979.” W hile the response was “ not tim e ly ,” this represents im provement in the CODA effort at ef fective co m m un ity relatio n s. O f course, that would not take much, considering ..but then the letter goes on to say that CODA w ill not appeal the vote against the methadone clinic. The reason? It seems that it is too d iffic u lt to make the program acceptable to the alert King Com munity, so now the plan is to use the C o a litio n o f N ortheast N eigh borhoods to make a decision fo r some other neighborhood through the active push o f Ed I eek as Chair man o f that body. As an advocate of (Please turn to page 2 col. 6) " I here are many downtown com panies who have indicated that they would like to do business with us if we were located downtown," Booker explained. I lie new branch is located in the designated historic area and w ill eventually involve some restoration o f the building. Because ol the extensive rem odelling, the Grand Opening will not be held until after the first o f the year. Application for a fourth branch will be filed during the next year. American State Bank is one o f the leading m inority banks in growth, expanding in ten years from less than $1 million to more than $14 m illion A rc h ite c tu r a l d ra w in g o f n e w A m e ric a n S ta te B ank b ra n c h at Second and Y am hill. D o w n to w n in deposits. ASB was listed in Black Enterprise as ranking 28th in assets among the 49 Black banks. Booker was recently re-elected President o f the Western Region of the National Bankers Association, and Vice President o f the national o rg a n iza tio n , which includes th n a tio n ’ s ninety-one m in o rity am woman owned banks. Kevin Berry files Bar complaint The Oregon Bar Association is in vestigating charges filed by Kevin Berry, who alleges (hat two attorneys failed to act in his best interest. W ill Aitcheson was retained by Berry and his fa m ily to defend him against charges o f disorderly conduct and in terfering with a police officer, and to file a police brutality suit against the City. Berry and three other young people were arrested on January 17, 1979, on Union and Shaver after the police stopped to break up a suspec ted lig h t. The young people state that they were not fighting and that they were brutalized by the police during their arrest. Mrs. Mary Berry, Kevin's mother, took the other young people and their parents, as well as Kevin, to Mr. Aitchison’s office to discuss the case and “ he advised that we had a good case and should sue the police department.” In his co m p la int to the Bar Association, Berry alleges that at some time prior to his August 17 trial date, and without his knowledge, the case was trasferred to a former law partner, Burton Bennett. D istrict C ourt files show that the transfer was made in June. Kevin also alleges that he was not informed o f the trial date until the day prior and that there had been no discussion o f the case with the new attorney. Mrs. Mary Berry, Kevin's mother, stales that since they had never discussed the case with Bennett and had not retained him, they did not want him to represent Kevin. She says that Bennet told her he had gone over the police records and would talk to them in his office before the trial. ‘ ‘ In our meeting w ith him the following morning he went over the police reports, p o in tin g out discrepancies, and said he could put on a good defense." Mrs. Berry also questioned the fact that none o f the witnesses had been called to testify and says that she was to ld none would be needed. Mrs. Berry states that they went to the Court House directly from the at torney’ s office, expecting a jury trial. After leaving them alone for awhile, their attorney returned and said he had made arrangements. He then advised Kevin to plea "n o contest” . Berry alleges that his attorney ad vised him that he would not have a chance with the police officers' word against his and that he might end up with a $250 fine and a year in ja il. In his reply to the Oregon Bar Association, Bennett wrote that in January, when the incident occurred, he and Aitcheson were representing Mrs. Berry in another case and that they were asked to represent Kevin in connection with his arrest. Because A itch ison was handling the other case, it was thought appropriate that he handle Kevin’s case. Regarding the facts o f the case. Bennett wrote “ despite extensive in vestigation and in q u iry " they were “ not able to develop any evidence which would in any way controvert the allegations contained in the police report." Slating that he has discussed the matter thoroughly with Kevin, his parents and his older brother, Ben nett advised the Oregon Bar Association that he based his advise on the police report which accused Berry o f fighting, jumping at police o ffice rs, screeming at the police, disobeying their orders, and refusing at least ten chances to disperse. “ I believe that under the circum stances, a plea o f no contest to the disorderly conduct was completéis proper and in the best interest of Mr. Kevin D. Berry. I do believe that Judge W alker was lenient in im posing no ja il term , no fine and requiring two yars bench warrant o n ly ." Mr. Atchison asked for an exten sion o f time in replying to the charge because he is representing one ol the young men arrested with Berry and cannot release co n fid e n tia l in fo r m ation u n til a lte r his tria l. Mrs Berry states that his explanation to her was that he transferred the case because his representing both Kevin and the other man would be a con please turn to page 2 col. I)
