BUF plans picket
Arbitrator reinstates 'possum tossin' cops'
t h i n k it
if is the wdrst
»...I..« decision since .1 the Dred
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i ri
. . . that said
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Scott M
Decision
Blacks have no rights a white must respect. It says that the police can do
anything in the Black community that they want and very little w ill be
done,” Ronnie Herndon, Co-chairman o f the Black United Front said o f
the Arbitrators decision to reinstate former police officers Craig Ward and
James Gallaway. ” Deppe and Dugan are admitted felons yet Deppe got a
light work release and Dugan got a $30,000 settlement. This is one o f the
worst cases I ’ m aware o f and they were given a slap on the wrist - a thirty
day suspension. This has shown the futility o f trying to obtain justice in this
country; the system was not set up to give justice to Black people.”
Officers Ward and Gallaway were fired by Commissioner Charles Jordan
after they admitted to throwing four dead opossums in front o f the Burger
Barn Restaurant on March 12th. The P ortland Police Association
challenged the action and the case was ultimately referred to binding ar
bitration under the union contract.
Opinion was almost unanimous:
Piwto Loving: “ This action shows the Black people o f this city (hat the
City is racist.”
_
A Z ; " I only ask the question, if the police officers had been Black and
the business owner white, would the outcome have been the same?”
Mattie Spears "The business owner should file charges against the police
officers involved.”
Edna Roberston: “ The reinstatement is a slap in the face to the com
munity and to the city at large.”
Kathryn Jenkins: “ The police officers arc to set an example for others
and at this point they have been a poor example.”
Tha Black Unltad Front will sponaor a plckat of North Pracinct at
noon on Saturday. Paraona who wlah to join tha plckat ahould
aaaambla at Cathadral Park, under tha St. Johna Bridge. North
Pracinct la located at tha aaat and of tha St. Johna Bridge.
Donald J. Sevetson, Conference Minister, Central Pacific Conference,
Umed Church o f Christ: " I n light o f the arbitrator’ s decision it becomes
imperative that the leadership o f our city makes it clear that acts o f racist in
timidation by public servants will not be tolerated in Portland.”
hreddye Petett, Executive Director, Urban League o f Portland
reinstatement is a disservice.”
7 Portland.
” T h .
The
A rb itra to r Gary L. Axon o f Ashland, Oregon based his decision on
testimony and briefs provided by the C ity and by the union. The deter
mination was made in large part on the fact that the two officers had clean
[J !? p ‘ -hai- the di#ci.p,ine was not in kecP'n8 with prior police discipline,
that I olice Commissioner Jordan did not interview the officers or their
supervisors, and that the other officers involved were not disciplined. The
Arbitrator also determined - based on the testimony o f Jordan and the o f
ficers -- that the act was not racially motivated.
Axon ruled that the penalty was too hash and that since the City Charter
does not provide for a penalty greater than 30 days suspension other than
termination, the officers should have been suspended for 30 days without
P? r‘ TKi y 8rC '° bc provided back Pa>- with any earnings deducted. Both
"J 1 '? haVC workcd for thc un>on since their termination. The decision o f
the Arbitrator is final.
For excerpts from the Arbitrator's report please see page 9.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
August 13. 1981
Volume XI Number 43
28C Per Copy
After hours anyting goes
by Ron Sykes
Shirleen Foley, 23: "W hen the
regular clubs close and I 'm not tired
o f partying, I go to the afterhours. ”
*
•U
a
Photo: Richard J. Brown
Pill poppin' poison
Grassroot News N .W .—We have
people who sell the drug usually mix
been conditioned in our society to their own batch and each purchase sedative act like they are drunk with
no alcohol signs. They fall and slip
believe that there’ s a p ill for every
will represent a different degree o f
and talk like their mouth is full o f
ill. You can take a p ill to prevent the drug.
bubblegum.
pregnancy or in itia te fe rtility . Jn
I his drug does not create energy
Most o f the reds and yellows that
terms o f drug abuse the intake o f
in the body, but whatever is stored find their way to the streets are ob
uppers and downers requires a cold
up is released by hiding the feeling
tained by someone selling their
hard look into the legal and illegal o f tiredness and the need for sleep
prescription, or in rare cases are
traffic o f drugs.
It w ill decrease the appetite, which written by a script doctor.
T ra d itio n a lly , amphetamines,
cuts down the norm al supply o f
Barbs are not a drug to play
barbiturates and tranquilizers have
energy from food. The biggest
been prescribed by physicians to danger however is that prolonged around with. I hey are thc most ad
dicting o l all the legal, and most
cure or treat symptoms brought on
use by people who drive might cause illegal, drugs. One might lake them
by illness, stress or injury But oc
hallucinations or sudden blackouts.
to go to sleep. You w ill find that
casionally you will find these drugs
I he chemicals that make up am
being sold on thc streets, in the phetamines arc not addicting in the sooner or later one pill is not strong
enough, and a cycle o f addiction is
parks and in the bars. The problem
same way as heroin or barbiturates.
arises when there is prolonged use, But with continuous use. they can building up. When the monkey
m ixing o f drugs and poor become habit-forming. When they jumps on your back you can’ t kick
it alone. A process called detox is
q ua lita tive status o f drugs taken
stop using amphetamines, users
w ithout the benefit o f medical have reported they feel Jumpy, necessary and withdrawal is slow.
I his same process is required for
supervision.
nervous and very depressed. Also
Amphetamines fa ll under the speed can make users older and tranquilizers such as Valium and
Quaaludes i f long-term use
classification o f stimulant. The type
long, heavy use o f speed can cause
sold o ff the street are speeds. These heart, liver and kidney damage. So produces addiction. I f withdrawn
too soon, convulsions will occur and
aren’ t always the little white Speed Freaks—beware!
you
w ill have a close encounter o f
’ ’ crosstops” but can be the small
Another drug type that is misused thc kind you don’t live to tell about.
black capsules called ’ ’ black is barbiturates. They come in a
beauties.” The grassroots reasons rainbow o f colors, from Reds
When people are dropping
for taking these uppers are either to (Secobarbital) to Yellow Jackets downers, the possibility o f overdose
lose weight or to gam more waking (I entobarbital) and blue dragons is greater than with any other drug.
hours.
(Amobarbital) along with rainbows You can take two and later on take
“ When I take a couple I get this (lu r n a l) . I his drug can be very two more because you’ re high from
rush in about fo rty minutes and I harmful if misused and is addictive the first two and forgot. Also, if you
beg people to let me clean their if used long enough.
are taking street downers, you must
house,” a user explained the effects.
I he high is obtained by taking never mix them with alcohol or
For about four or five hours I run these sleeping pills and remaining other drugs. A lcohol w ill just in
around and take care o f business awake. " I remember when I first crease the effect o f reds and you
and then I come down. I t ’ s a real dropped two reds. I always heard could get so high you’ll lift yourself
hard down. I don’ t feel like eating about craving certain foods and this from this world.
but when I do I feel better I like to and that. A ll I was able to do was
A concluding caution might be
get o ff but the comedown is a climb upstairs and fall into bed,”
added.
II you’ re going to buy dope
problem.”
a young woman described her first
from the streets, then you have to
What makes the use o f uppers in tro d u ctio n to downers. People
take the drugs, pills, blow or smoke
d iffe re n t from downers is that who are able to stay awake on this
all at your own risk.
O LC C
regulations
require
legitim ate clubs to close at 2:30
a m., but OLCC does not regulate
after-hours. Therefore, after 2:30,
it ’ s boogie time at the after-hours.
Portlanders flock by the hundreds
to the "C h a rlie ’ s,” ’ ’ M abel’ s ,”
“ B ill’ s.”
"S h a k e y ’ s,”
and
“ L u c ille 's ." o f Portland—all fic
titio u s
names
fo r
obvious
reasons—some of Portland’s better-
known after-hour houses.
C h a rlie ’ s”
is
the
most
prominent. The inebriated beware.
You must negotiate a flight o f stairs
55 strong. Due to a Mexican-
American shootout, the owner has
retained a doorman who checks for
membership cards, which arc as
easily attained as tea in China. To
gain entrance, you must have a
membership card or a black face.
Not to say that ’ ’Charlie’s” doesn’ t
cater to all races—quite a few whites
have membership cards—but when
you are underground, you cannot
refuse service to anyone, regardless
o f age, color or creed.
"C h a rlie ’ s " is unique in that it
does issue membership cards. I f you
come before 3:30 a.m ., you must
have a guest or permanent member-
to "C h a rlie ’ s” the faint-of-heart
—
cannot survive. The action is
everywhere. As you walk in, there’s
a bar to your right attended by two
male bartenders. There are two
scantily clad cocktail waitresses
working the fioor. serving 20 tables
surrounding the dance floor.
The dance floor is elevated. Red,
blue and green lights bounce merrily
o ff thc faces o f judges, prostitutes
and pimps all at the same time, get
ting down on the dance floor. This
is after-hours at its best.
Lee Wilson, 38: "W hen the clubs
close, I want something else to do,
so I go to after-hours to continue
my h ig h .” "C h a rlie ’ s” is nicely
decorated, well managed and
ship cards. A fte r 3:30, the club is
open to all. Joyce Brandon: “ I like
to party with friends because I ’ m a
late starter. I f you work nights and
get o ff late, you go to after-hours
because it is thc only place to go to
have drinks.”
Who frequents these illegitimate
establishments? Mona Richmond,
19: ” 1 go to after-hours to catch a
man.” On any given night you can
sec members o f the higher
e che lo n — le g is la to rs , ju d g e s ,
assistant district attorneys—to drug
dealers, pimps, gamblers and
prostitutes. Anything goes. You can
do anything in after-hours that you
can do at any club in Las Vegas.
Once you have gained admittance
organized,and has the sort o f a t
mosphere that puts ' pimps
and
r -
---------
legislators on the same plane.
The after-hours clientele accepts
as "norm al” all o f the activities that
occur w ith in the confines o f the
establishment. Illic it drugs flo w
freely—cocaine, marijuana and the
almightly dog, heroin. You ask for
it; you got it. And if you don’ t ask
for it, you are invited.
Remember, there could be highly
respected officials on the premises
and they are usually to ta lly
disregarded. On one occasion,
however, the owner o f "C harlie’s”
was overheard chastising one o f his
regulars, a young lady o f 25, dressed
u t u to p
age J
(Please t turn
page
5 cc
col. 1)
Party ends with police action
Julius Jefferson blames the police
for inciting an incident at his home
early Saturday m orning, August
8th. ” 1 am absolutely positive they
were trying to start an incident."
" I t was like a fear factor -- that if
people keep coming here someone is
going to get hurt.”
Jefferson said he has never had a
problem with the police before and
did not pay much attention to
allegations of police harassment.
According to Jefferson, he has
large parties nearly every weekend
through the summer for his children
and their friends. He says he has
never had a complaint from neigh
bors or thc police, but had suspen
ded the parties for a month because
o f a fight at a previous party. Friday
night was thc first party since thc
suspension.
Jefferson described the party as
having about 300 participants in the
house, the yard and the street. Thc
police came by at one point and
gave a number o f parking tickets
but Jefferson said no problems oc
curred.
Around 3:00 a m., the Jeffersons
called the police to pick up their
nephew, Erie. I his young man, age
15, was on probation in California
lo r robbery and had been sent to
them. Because he would not keep
his probation rules and was involved
in several thefts, Mrs. Jefferson had
asked his probation officer to return
him to ( alilo rn ia . The day before
he was to leave he ran away, so she
tailed the police to report him
missing This was July 28
On the night o f August 8th, Eric
returned home, so the Jeffersons
party on the NW corner, also a great
called thc police to come and get deal o f illegal parking which
him so he could be returned to
blocked 13th Avenue and Emerson
C a lifo rn ia . The o ffice rs arrived
Street “ creating a large tra ffic jam
shortly, during thc party. " I f two
and disrupting the neighborhood” .
o ffice rs had come and had acted
The o ffice rs slopped to w rite
properly, they would have had no tickets and the congestion eased. As
p ro b le m ," Jefferson explained.
they started to leave, Gross was hit
"B u t they brought eight cars. Four in the back o f the head with a rock.
officers came into the house. They
They ordered the crowd to disperse
started telling me to end the party
and called for cover.
and send people home, but they
A t 3:00 a.m. another car was
d idn’ t give me time to do it. They
dispatched to check on shots fired
were very hostile.”
and a large crowd. O fficer Jenson
Jefferson reports that as they
advised Butler and Gross that
were taking Eric to the car, hand nothing could be done because o f
cuffed, he was pushed. The crowd
thc large crowd.
threw rocks and bottles. The police
A t 3:44 Butler and Goss were
responded with clubs, knocking
called to pick up a runaway. They
people down, shouting for them to were hesitant to go, but were ac
disperse. Jefferson said one young companied by four other cars and
man who asked fo r an o ffic e r’ s Sergeant Moose. They decided to go
name was pushed down and struck.
"a s low key as possible” and to
Jefferson said he was shocked by leave q u ickly. A ccording to the
the behavior o f thc police and tried report, a fte r they arrived at the
to get one officer’ s name. "W e had house and handcuffed Eric,
a heated conversation but he refused Sergeant Moose asked Jefferson to
to give his name." Jefferson did not close the party and Jefferson said he
see any name tags.
would in a few minutes.
I he story told by thc police re
As they returned to the car a
ports differs substantially.
" I asters Choice" coffee jar struck
O fficers Butler and Gross re Gross’ elbow. Some o f the young
ported they first arrived at the Jef people ran and others began to
ferson home at approxim ately I
throw objects. Gross and Moose or
a m. when they "observed a large
dered the crowd to disperse and
crowd o f black youths playing dice "p h y s ic a lly walked remaining
and shooting craps at NE corner o f juveniles out o f the area" as they
in tersectio n .” They shined their
continued io throw objects.
light on the crowd and told them to
O fficers J. B. Hudson and I D
disperse alter which several youth
Kochever responded ,o a call to
yelled obscenities "flipp in g us o f f .
cover Gross and Butler. They had
"A s is normal" on weekends, the
been present during the earlier in-
report continued, there was a large ( Please turn to page 12 col. I)