Pape 2 Portland Observer, March 25. 1982
Race factor in pre-trial release
The Equal Justice Committee o f
(he M etropolitan Human Relations
Commission has completed a study
o f p re -tria l release statistics o f the
C ity o f P ortland and M ultnom ah
County.
The a lte rn a tiv e com ponents o f
pre-trial release include: issuance o f
a citation instead o f booking, recog
nizance release from ja il, or bail re
lease.
Since 1979 the P o rtla n d Police
Bureau and the Multnomah County
S h e riff’ s O ffice have allowed police
officers to issue citations instead o f
custody whenever appropriate (ex
cept in cases o f domestic violence).
When an officer arrests a suspect,
the person is to be advised that he is
under arrest fo r the offense. I f he
cooperates the officer can issue a ci
tation instead o f taking the suspect
into custody. The suspect than ap
pears in court.
The choice to give a c ita tio n is
made by the o ffic e r, i f he believes
the accused w ill appear in co u rt.
The decision is c o ntinge nt on: 1)
w hether the offense requires cus
tody (A or B felony or domestic vio
lence); 2) whether there is need for
fu rth e r questioning about the o f
fense; 3) whether the accused needs
to be removed from the scene to re
store order or prevent further crim
inal conduct; 4) whether the accused
has community ties or possible poor
health.
I f the suspect is uncooperative or
abusive, appears not to understand
the need to appear in court, or re
fuses the citation, he is booked into
the Courthouse ja il.
I f the officer decides to place the
person in custody he is fingerprint
ed, photographed and placed in a
ja il cell.
Since 1973 the M ultnom ah C o r
rections Department has had the au
th o rity to release persons p rio r to
tria l on “ recognizance” — th e ir
promise to appear in court. A uthor
ity fo r recognizance decisions has
been given to "recog officers.”
Each person booked is entitled to
see a recog office r. The o ffice r de
term ines i f the person is charged
with a non-violent misdemeanor or
class C felony, whether he has a rec
ord o f failure to appear, whether he
needs to be detained u n til calmed,
w hether his claim s o f fa m ily and
community ties are valid.
The decision to release is based on
the discretion o f the recog officer.
Findings o f the M H R C study o f
P ortland Police Bureau arrests in
clude:
•C itation o f persons in lieu o f ar
rest has risen dramatically, to 48 per
cent in July-September 1981.
• Blacks were consistently booked
more o fte n and cited less than
whites.
•C ita tio n s were issued to Native
Am ericans in the same p ro p o rtio n
as to whites.
•H ispanics were issued citations
in greater proportion than whites.
• B ookings were fa r greater fo r
males than fo r females in all racial
groups.
•The ratio o f citations was greater
for white males than for Black, Na
tive American and Hispanic males.
•The ratio o f citations was greater
fo r w h ite females than fo r Black
and Native American females.
•T he d is p a rity between w hites
and Blacks is true o f all ages.
Although fewer minorities are ar
cent, others, 5 per cent.
Detention prior to trial was great
est fo r H ispanics, 28 per cent,
followed by Blacks, 24 per cent; Na
tive Am ericans, 24 per cent; other
m inorities, 22 per cent; whites, 20
per cent.
This dem onstrates that b a il re
quirements still discriminate against
minorities and the poor.
M H R C recom m endations in
clude:
•The Police Bureau should review
its criteria fo r citation to determine
if it discriminates against Blacks.
•The Police Bureau should man
date supervisory review o f custody
reports; officers should be required
to state reasons fo r not issuing a ci
tation.
rested by the S h e riff’ s O ffic e , the
same trends exist.
•C u ltu ra l awareness tra in in g
should be ongoing and mandatory.
•M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty S h e r iff’ s
Office should conduct a study o f ci
tation-in-lieu o f custody, by race.
D e te n tio n
Recog releases were basically the
same for all races—ranging from 68
per cent fo r Native Americans to 65
per cent for Blacks.
Bail release was greatest fo r
w hites, 13 per cent, fo llo w e d by
Blacks, 10 per cent, Native A m e ri
cans, 8 per cent, H ispanics, 5 per
• Research should be done by in
volved agencies to determine what
bail or recog criteria is most useful
in helping m in o ritie s achieve an
equal p re tra il release ra tio w ith
whites.
•A public in fo rm a tio n e ffo rt re
garding citation-in-lieu o f custody,
to aid the public to use this process.
Jail reward for corruption story?
by Harris Levon McRae
O liver Nunnie G ill has a very in
teresting story concerning the Port
land Police Bureau and some o f its
Secret Investigation Division (SID)
officers.
“ I know people who are under
cover n arcotic agents who deal
drugs, tra n s p o rt drugs and plant
drugs on innocent people,” M r Gill
said.
G ill claim s that S1D o ffic e rs
planted drugs in his house that led
to his being convicted fo r crim inal
activity in drugs.
“ SID agents were used to entrap
me and have me imprisoned in order
to suppress my knowledge o f law
enforcement o fficers’ involvement
in narcotics sales and organized
crime throughout the state o f Ore
gon. In 1975 SID agents came to my
house and said, ‘ Nunnie, this is your
last chance— i f you want to be a
dope dealer and drive a new C adil
lac, y o u ’ ll have to w ork w ith us.
W e 'll give you a ll the dope you
need, and you can keep h a lf the
money. D on’ t try to be m ilita n t or
p o litic a l, because we have agents
and inform ants all over.’ 1 refused
the o ffe r and was taken d o w n
tow n,” G ill said.
He was subsequently released on
parole, “ feeling all the time pressure
fro m the parole officers as well as
police officers. My home has been
staked out by a police car fo r the
last 15 months.”
Last year during an undercover
“ s tin g " o p e ra tio n set up by the
Multnomah County Sheriff’s office,
G ill was charged with selling a lost
wallet and its contents (a few credit
cards and blank checks) to under
cover police officers.
“ I received a phone call fro m
some people I knew, stating i f I
would transport them to their part
ners’ house, they would give me $25
fo r tra n s p o rta tio n . The house
turned out to be a police ‘ s tin g ’
operation. I was led to believe that
the tw o o f them were so indebted
th a t i f I w ould ju s t hand th e ir
friends (police officers) a package
they w ould up my favor o f taking
them there from $25 to $50. I took
the package inside, didn’ t like what
1 was firs t to ld and le ft the house
immediately. 1 told the riders to get
out o f my car and go in and handle
their own matters. One person did
w hile 1 waited in the car w ith the
other passenger. I was indicted for
theft and convicted even though one
o f the passengers (paid inform ants)
told the truth. The paid inform ant
employed in on me was never men
tioned at the grand jury hearing.”
According to Robert A. G offredi,
who represented G ill on the theft
charges, there was no evidence or no
accusation at any time that G ill in
fact stole the wallet.
"D u rin g the course o f the trial, it
was a d m itted by the state’ s w it
nesses that an inform ant was in fact
involved who in troduced and ac
companied G ill to the place where
the s h e riffs purchased the stolen
p ro p e rty. Extensive p re -tria l m o
tions were made requiring the pro
duction o f the informants. The sher
i f f ’ s officers testified that they could
not locate the inform ant. During the
tria l, it was the defendant’s conten
tion that it was in fact the inform ant
that supplied the stolen property, in
duced M r. G ill to be there and take
part in the transaction, and, in fact
G ill did not know the property was
stolen u n til h a lf-w a y th ro u g h the
tra n sa ctio n , at w hich tim e he be
came suspicious, refused to have
anything else to do w ith the transac
tion and left. The ju ry was out ap
proxim ately fo u r hours before re
turning the verdict o f g u ilty ,” M r.
G offredi said.
M r. G ill was sentenced by the
Honorable Allen Davis o f the M u lt
nomah County Circuit Court. Judge
Davis has a reputation fo r being a
very strict judge and is often very
stern in sentencing. H ow ever in
G i l l ’ s case, the C o u rt suspended
sentence and fixed a period o f pro
b a tio n to te rm inate upon the te r
mination o f M r. G ill’ s parole.
A couple o f weeks ago G ill was
picked up and put in ja il fo r parole
violation. He feels that it would be
almost impossible to submit to the
level o f supervision that the Correc
tions D ivisio n has set up fo r him ,
and he told his parole officer, Paul
Frank, so.
" M r . G ill is classified as a Type I
case under the current system; this
requires at least weekly contacts be
tween the client and the parole/pro-
b a tio n o ffic e r. M r. G ill’ s fo rm e r
parole and probation officer, James
Mason, referred G ill to Treatm ent
Alternatives to Street Crimes (also
known as TASC), a drug treatment
program. G ill kept one appointment
w ith TASC and he was set up on a
U nder questioning by Jordan,
S till said he knew there were prob
lems during the 1977-1981 period,
saw danger signals but did not know
about the crim inal activities taking
place w ithin the Bureau. Although
the same people are in charge, he
th in ks there is a better com m and
structure, strengthened discipline
and pride.
Still admitted that there have been
$159 m illion in suits filed for public
misconduct, a $500,000 increase in
insurance premiums and $100,(MX)
increase in legal staff. Many o f the
suits against the police are done by
attorneys interested in contingency
fees, he added He admitted that all
the m isconduct has not ended —
“ Those things are going to happen
sometimes."
Stan Peters, president o f the po
lice u n io n , said the com m ision
w ould underm ine the Bureau He
adm itted that he had once said he
would accept a limited form o f com
m ittee, one that did not have the
power to investigate or discipline
He threatened to file petitions to
place the matter on the ballot if the
ordinance is passed The M ayor
joined him in this.
Sid Lezak, fo rm e r federal a t
torney, admonished the C ouncil to
find ways o f settling their disputes
He was disturbed by the e ffo rt o f
the Mayor and Chief Still to make it
appear to the police that the ordin
ance was designed as a p u n itive
measure against them . He also
faulted Mayor Ivancie for not being
w illin g to ta lk to the task force
members to iron out differences and
reach a compromise.
Reverend John G a rlin g to n said
the issue is cre d ib ility and the Bu
reau has a seriously tarnished credi
bility. He said the issue is perceived
as a m inority issue because many o f
the complaints come from Blacks. It
is not an issue o f law and order, but
o f justice.
A series o f witnesses, including
B ill W yatt o f the A ssociation fo r
Portland Progress, said C hief S till
should be given an o p p o rtu n ity to
bring change before such a commis
sion is created.
Jordan repeatedly challenged op
ponents to explain why a commis
sion would hamper police work and
accused Ivancie o f providing misin
form ation to his supporters
C hris Hudson o f the League o f
Women Voters said their two-year
study showed a need for bettei po
lice -co m m u n ity re la tio n s and for
citizen input in the Bureau.
Commissioners Strachan, Schwab
and Lindberg support the ordinance
introduced by Jordan Commission
er Schwab said she w ill seek legal
advice on the ordinance that cm
powers the C o u n c il to a p p o in t a
110 cam era................................................................................................
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Help Find the Lost Savers
If you know the whereabouts of the follow ing persons, please call the
OLIVER N. GILL
random urinalysis surveillance sys
tem , w hich w o u ld require G ill to
phone TASC daily to see if he would
be required to submit a urine sample
fo r that day. That program was to
be for at least six random urinalysis
samples. G ill failed to appear three
d iffe re n t times. When G ill was in
formed that he would have to report
weekly, he became verbally abusive,
stated he would not report weekly,
and stated the system was “ mes-
sin’ ” with him.
G ill says that the only reason that
he is being subjected to a drug pro
gram is because o f the pressure that
afore m entioned S ID o ffice rs are
applying to Mason and Frank. He is
currently in the Oregon State Peni
tentiary awaiting his parole hearing.
Mayor resists police committee
(Continued from page 1 col. 6)
S till conjectured that the public
would be less likely to bring miscon
duct to notice if they w ill be second
guessed and publically exploited by
the com m ission. A lso, it w ould
erode the public image o f the police,
the M ayor and the Chief. He fears
an oversight commission would d i
lute the management a u th o rity o f
the police adm inistration. He con
siders such a commission to be ex
tremely injurious.
Mayor Ivancie said the City has to
decide whether " to fight crime or to
m o n ito r crime fig h tin g .” The city
has risen to fourth in the nation in
crime rate. " I t is not a new crisis—it
started ten years ago when the mood
changed from retribution to rehabil
ita tio n .”
He said the crim in a l justice sys
tem in Oregon has broken down and
Portland has the reputation o f being
soft on criminals.
From 1977 to 1981 (when Charles
Jordan was Police Com m issioner)
was a period o f mismanagement and
police misconduct, he said. He had
told S till to "clean house.” provide
protection and do it right. He thinks
S till has made the Bureau more re
sponsible, orderly, and efficient.
A com m ission w ould be “ the
most single devastating bar to policy
that could be proposed.” “ Do we
support the Chief or not.” he asked
other material (60* w ide)............................................. 11.10 per yd.
Lighting fixtures............................................................................ ... to 110
Kitchen utensils...........................................................................3 fo r >1.00
Pick-proof door locks..............................................................................
Place mats (set of six).......................................................................... >2.00
CHIEF RON STILL
com m ittee to in v e itig a tc any c ity
bureau. This might be her answer to
Ivancie’ s objections.
The second round w ill be held at
C ity H all, Thursday, March 25th, at
2:00 pm.
N AAC P FEDERAL CREDIT
Ralph Cooper
Burnis Brown
Deodise A. Nixon
Michael A. Reynolds
John Benjamin
R.J. Tacker
Wallace Grant
Russie Mae Write
Celia Mae Overton
Pete Henry Ricketts
Milton Walton
Ida Mae Tillman
Alma McLaurin
James E. Blanchard
Frances Blair
John Ellis
Willie B. Vernon
James Combs
Jo Ann Seldon
James E. Smyth
Deborah Jean Saunders
Julianne, Rebecca Johnson
Jeanette Amerson
James Cunningham
Curtis McDonald
Ethel B Reams
Jerry Rodgers
Madie Harden
Daniel H . Holby
Warren McGee
LeRoy Mayes
Lemuel Robinson
Mandie M. Johnson
Lucille 9. Thomas
Bobby Washington
Printess H. Morgan
Ruthann Fountains
Michael Mitchell
Bell Mary Allen
Keith Brain Hampton
Willie R Anderson
Albertina Bell
Mary P. Grice
Lydell Fuller
Oscar C. McCray
Leslie A. Westlund
James Washington Jr.
Haywood J. Broussard
Lenctra Cooke
Lenotra Brown
Annie L. Jackson
Oneita Wright
Kenneth E. Gant
Betty L. Odom
Karen Powell
Clytic Armstrong
Michael Holmes
Sandra Boxley
Louis Hupp
Mary Gilmore
Rosie M. Taylor
Lois Thornton
Percy Hampton
Alfred 0 . Wingfield
Floreatine Kelly
Värettä Thomas
Carolyn Easterly
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