Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 1980)
Blacks and the Police in Portland PART IV By Joyce Boles Editor's Note: The shortage o f Blacks in the P ortland Police 'ureau has been a subject of public discussion fo r years. Why w on’ t Blacks become cops? Why won’ t the bureau hire more Blacks? How are the 12 Black officers now treated? What lies ahead?) Trying to get Black officers in the bureau has been the target of special recruiting fo r a number o f years with very little success. In 1968, Chief McNamera attempted to by pass civil service by hiring six Blacks to f ill vacancies created by disabilities. This move was met by fierce union opposition on the same grounds as the current union op position: alleged lowering o f stand ards. Louis DeGiovani, the union president, was quoted as saying the union position did not mean racism. “ We want negroes on the force, but not at this cost.” At the time, the papers stated, there was a six percent concen tration o f Blacks in the population, which would have meant 30 in the bureau had all things been equal. A 1971 article reported that Portland had the lowest proportion o f Blacks in the bureau, seven out o f 715 men, or less than 1 percent, o f 18 cities in a national survey. The article said the number o f Blacks had ranged from a low o f 6 in 1968 to a high of 10 in 1965 in the previous 10 years. A 1968 recruiting e ffort failed, with 20 prospective applicants, o f whom three showed up to take the test and none passed it. Me- Namera’ s program fo r hiring six te m p o ra rily died, the one man having been hired, fired after seven months for multiple reasons. On the basis o f p o p ula tion the bureau should have had 35 in 1971, it was noted. Another effort in 1974 was also a failure. Lt. Robert Schwartz was in charge, and he was quoted as saying that after the bureau spent $11,723, it hired five m inorities, o f whom three walked in the door by them selves. A goal o f hiring thirteen was not met, making the effort a failure. A t that time, among the 735 officers there were five Blacks, four Spanish Americans, two Indians and two Chinese. In October, 1974, another effort with $50,000 in federal money was launched w ith Tony Newman, Joseph M u rillo and Joe Lane (an Indian) working on it. A February, 1975 article had a picture o f M urillo and Lane along w ith C hristy Rushing, who all claimed that time was healing all the 1960s wounds. A bout 34 m in o rity persons were lined up at the time to take the test, including 18 Blacks, six Indians, six Spanish Americans, and six Asians.’ Despite all that, today there are 12 Black police o ffic e rs on the bureau, a fact o f which C om missioner Charles Jordan, one o f the few Black police Commissioners in the country, is well aware. This low number is what is behind his push for the change in civil service procedures that mean two hiring lists, one o f white males and the other o f protected groups. “ People say that i f Jordan can’ t do som ething, then what hope is there?” says the Commissioner. Jordan is certain the change will withstand a court challenge. So is Freddye Pette. Similar action has been successful in other cities, they say. Jordan goes on to say that he thinks Stan Peters is fighting the change only because he has to, that it is his role as union president to fight it, but that knowing he is in a no-w in situ a tio n he doesn’ t like doing it. Peters, however, is emphatic in the justice of the union position, the union says the change is in violation o f the city charter and should be stopped. There are several steps to becoming a Portland police officer, according to Harvey McGowan of the civil service office, the man who wrote the most recent test and who designs most exams. First, he and the director o f personnel, Capt. Schwartz, talk over the situation. This is before the test is written. In general, when a city bureau wants to hire, it sends the civil ser vice office a notice o f vacancy. Civil service then goes through its lists, picks the correct list, and certifies the top three names o f three names of three is one opening, the top four if there are two openings, the top five if there are three, and so on. Bureaus have different methods HARVEY MCGOWAN o f proceeding from that point, says McGowan. They are supposed to consider the top three. What the word consider means varies from bureau to bureau. Some w ill go through a fairly structured interview process. Others already know whom they w ill hire and w ill not even make contact with other persons on the list. The police bureau, generally speaking, hires straight down the list, along the way turning down many more white males than either females or Black males, says McGowan. disappointed and angry about it.” If it happens again, he notes, fv; will never do any recruiting again for the bureau. C hief Baker agrees. “ That last one was not good. They changed the test and God only knows why. It was slanted toward having too much prior police experience.” Stan Peters disagrees: “ Every ap plicant fo r that exam ination received the same booklet with every question on the exam and every question on that exam came out o f that booklet. ( If we say not to give) an advantage to an ex-police o f fic e r,...le t’ s make police officers restricted from that, then that’ s not fa ir, either. Thats the same as favoring somebody for their race, which is equally unfair, says Peters. Furthermore, says Baker, nobody questions the fairness or unfairness o f the five Veterans Preference points allowed in the City Charter. Looking at the current list, Baker says: "L e t's look at number four. A 94.6 score. Subtract five, and we would move him to number 30. If we took the number 30 per son... who had an 89.6, and subtrac ted five from his score, that would make him 84.6 and that would have moved him to 87. He would have dropped 57 points on the list.” XX. 1 Some persons, once on the list, may be ejected through failure o f their background exams, something the police personnel o ffic e does. Others may fa il either the psychological or the physical exams. Some w ill fail the physical agility test, others the oral interview. M cGowan says he personally makes sure that the oral interview brings a candidate face-to-face with a woman on the panel, or a m in o rity , depending on the ap p lic a n t. “ I f there’ s not enough women and m inorities on a par ticular day to go around, then 1 sure make the interview panel STAN PETERS consist o f all males w ill see all male Peters disagrees, saying the VPPS candidates (hat d a y ,’ ’ he says. are written into the charter and o f “ When a woman comes in, she will fer compensation to a man who has see a woman sitting there. When a served his country. While not ad m inority comes in, he w ill always dressing the issue o f whether or not see a m in o rity .’ ’ McGowan notes the VPPs “ lower standards” for the that women and m inorities rarely bureau, Peters notes that the fail the interview exam. disability preference points award The interview panel consists o f 10 extra points. “ But for a person to one person for civil service and three take four years, nine months, and persons from the bureau who have 28 days like I did and spend in the been specially trained for the assign service, and leave him go someplace ment, he adds. else and now come back and say I This year, 733 persons turned in wanna compete with people who applications, o f whom 37 percent, have had those same four years, or 273 did not appear for the written nine months and 28 days to test. O f this, 70 Black persons sent develope their careers, th a t’ s not in applications, but 34, or 48 per fair, either, says Peters. cent, did not appear for the written In the next test, according to test. O f the 36 Blacks taking the Ford, there is a strong possibility test, five passed. O f the 617 whites some o f the material w ill come from who sent in applications, 35 percent, suggestions from him and Det. or 217 did not appear. O f the 400 Janisse. Ford believes Blacks do less whites taking the test, 219 or 54 per well on the test than whites because: cent passed. “ I guess you could say cultural bias. D w ight F ord, who w orks in It doesn’ t make any kind o f d if m inority recruiting, thinks he knows ference what kind o f bias it is. It is why so many Blacks failed to appear excluding a group from the process for this year’ s test: “ When I was out o f getting a job and being police o f recruiting, it was my understanding ficers. I f the union and command that the test would be reading and put as much energy into supporting judgment, reading comprehension, new ideas as they do in fighting, memory and observation, and o f then perhaps the street o ffice rs course I was out there selling people would have a better perspective on on that. Two weeks before the exam the change, and be better able to they come out w ith a test deal with it themselves...A lot o f preparation m anual w ith the people don’ t realize the overriding Oregon Criminal Code and bureau factor o f how all this came about, rules and regulations and no one how Blacks in the co u n try, this ever told me about that. So I am out country, have been discriminated telling people one thing and civil against and denied due process for service is doing another. So people years and in many instances still are. were sort o f saying you kind o f lied A lot o f white people and white o f to us about the exam, why in the world should I ever bother to take ficers can’ t relate to that because it? My credibility wasn’ t worth a they don’t feel they are... they don’ t (feel directly responsible)...They plug nickle.’ ’ feel, hey, I didn’t do it, it ’ s too bad Ford believes there are a lot o f it happened, but why should I have qualified Blacks in Portland who to pay for it?” would like to be police officers but In response to the union position, who were discouraged by what ap says F ord: “ T hey’ re not te llin g pears to be at best a failure to com them how Blacks have been held municate, at worst duplicity. back fro n t educational o p p o r McGowan was responsible for tunities, and how we’ re not really that, says Ford, but he adds that lowering standards if we have a dual McGowan thought he was writing a job-related exam. The results in list. The test is not really ..Because I dicated this was the tendency o f the think they want to paint a blue pic test. O f the top 25 on the list, 20 ture to patrol officers to get their were persons with prior police ex support, lt might strike me as funny perience, most o f whom tended to because it sure as hell struck me funny that no one from the union be white Oregon-born males. ever came and asked Black officers Has Ford done anything to see how they fe lt about the dual that this doesn't happen again? “ Yeah. I jumped up and down. I list...When I first heard about it, I made it known that I am very, very said oh, there has to be a better way, 1 this is going to cause problems if Blacks come into this bureau this way...l think the union had better learn to deal with its constituents. A ll o f us. 1 think any time they use money that 1 pay every month in dues to fight something that indirec tly is hurting me, as a Black officer and as a Black human being without first consulting me, it’ s awful ironic and shows a high degree o f stupidity in someone...I’ m just saying that dammit, why didn’ t you come talk to me about it and maybe we could decide to work something out and present it to people in a way that we could all sit down and live with it. If you don’ t get this through, we’ re going to be looking at quotas...No one wants that, I don’t think.” But cautions Bob Janisse: "W e don’t want to appear to be trying to divide the Blacks from the whites in the department, that’ s not the way you do things. You have to deal w ith people d ip lo m a tic a lly . We d on’ t want to resort to name calling.” Both Ford and Janisse are cautious about what they say. Ford met the reporter’ s tape recorder with one o f his own. Janisse is reluc tant to say anything that would an tagonize anyone in the department. “ I ’ m very concerned about the ef fect of your article on me. I ’ m not very popular in the department right now.” Janisee testified at the hearing on the rule change before the civil ser vice com m ission. Am ong other things, he denied Stan Peters speaks fo r him. He also doubted the bureau’ s com m ittm ent to a f f ir mative action, and said the progress so far is “ disgusting” to him. He also cited a recruiting snafu which found the local recruiters at Black colleges in Washington, D.C., while they were out fo r the summer — evidence of uncoordination. Blacks on the departm ent are deeply concerned that reason be abandoned fo r fear and name calling. Ford believes the tension in the air can be felt, and has heard covert remarks about attempts to "g e t” any Black recruits hired o ff a second list. “ The word is out that we're going to hire a bunch o f dummies,” he says. Portland Observer July 24. 1980 Pane 3 $100 total move in to vets. low down FHA, FHA 246, and conventional terms also, model open Sat. & Sun. noon to 5 p.m. 92nd Ave. at Burton Road. Vancouver, Washington. Call for a showing anytime. This Model - 4 bedrooms with family room, 2 baths, brick fireplace, w/carpets, double garage, appliances, 10X20 concrete patio. Energy et ficient with 10 year Home Owner Warranty. Price only $58,800. Other Models priced from $48,500. HAZEL DELL BRANCH 716DN.E. 99th Street Vancouver, W A 98666 Phone 206-574-1522 Vancouver or 503-241 3723 Portland, OR M INN EHA HA BRANCH 47 St. Johns Road Vancouver, W A 98661 Phone 206-694-8577 Vancouver or 503 223-8229 Portland, OR Racing car driver Juan-manuel Fangiao of Argentina won 24 Grand Prix races before he retired in 1958, and was W o r ld C h a m p io n fiv e tim e s in th e 1950s. GREAT BUYS! 0 E 3 h o m e fu r n is h in g s W ASHERS A N D DRYERS TWO-CYCLE WASHER Stock No 14 209 w ith tra d « Standard Capacity, single speed washer with two cycles — Regular and Permanent Press. Three water levels let's you match the water level to most size loads. Features include: three temperature combinations, Filter-Flo system, unbalanced load control system and durable porcelain enamel finish top, lid tub and basket. BUY BOTH DW IGHT FORD for only «498 W IT H T R A D E C h ie f Baker says that the p ro bation ary tim e o f the new recruits w ill be watched “ very closely...to presume that this guy’ s a dummy because he came o f f a separate list so we’ll get him, now there’ s b ig o try . I f you want an example o f bigotry, that would be real b ig o try .” As when females came abroad, notes the chief, special efforts w ill be made to be sure they are treated fairly. COMMERCIAL DRYER Standard capacity dryer with two cycles — Regular and Permanent Press. Three drying selections — Normal, Low and No Heat Fluff. Removable, up-front lint filter. “ On" indicator light. Durable por celain enamel finish clothes drum. with »red* Stock No 15-210 In 1963 Sidney Poitier be came the first Black actor to receive an Academy Award for best actor for his role in Lilies o f the field . •218 Buy Now on Smith's EASY TERMS In terested in c u rren t books ab o u t A fric a n Liberation? Visit: JOHN REED BOOKSTORE In the Dekum Building 5 1 9 S .W . 3rd Avenue Sixth Floor Or call: 227-2902 » » home furnishings 30th and S.E. Division 234-9351 Shop 9 to 9 Tuesday thru Friday Saturday 9 to 6 (Closed Sunday and Monday)
