METROPOLITAN
Portland Obaarver, March 16, 1983 Paga 3
Suit charges police brutality
by C. Eddie Edmondson
A Vancouver, W ashington black
woman hai filed a $100,000 lawsuit
against the C ity o f P o rtla n d and
Multnom ah County for injuries she
said she received from Portland po
lice during an arrest along Northeast
Union Avenue and at the downtown
detention facility when a ja il guard
allegedly threw her against a ja il
cell
The co m p lain t, which was filed
last week, states that L o rra in e
Olive, 23, was stopped by two Port
land police o ffic e rs in the early
morning hours o f January 9. ,982.
She was traveling north on N o rth
east U n io n , accom panied by tw o
other persons. Ms. O live explained
in an interview what happened.
“ I had seen the police behind me
since I had made a stop on (N o rth
east) G rand, and the police passed
me th en ,” she said. ’ ’ They turned
around between Shaver and Failing
and followed me back onto U n io n .”
She was stopped by the officers at
Northeast Union and Prescott in an
unused parking lot there.
Jalal and Nafiaa Sherriff of iha Chuck Davis A f
ro Ansarlcan Dance Co., stopped by the Black Edu
cational C an tar. and ualng m ualc, call and re-
aponaa. taught tha youngatara about druma and
clothaa worn In Africa.
(Photo: Richard Brown)
A A A changes topic of hearings
Public hearings w ill be held the
week of M arch 21-25 to solicit input
from the community regarding pro
posals fo r changes in the way ser
vices are provided to the elderly in
Portland and M u ltnom ah C ounty.
There will be presentations, discus
sions and testim on y taken on the
following proposals:
1) T ra n s fe r o f A rea Agency on
A ging fro m the C ity H u m a n Re
sources Bureau to the C ounty D e
partment o f Hum an Services.
A task force has recom m ended
that the A rea Agency on Aging
( A A A ) be moved from the C ity o f
Portland Hum an Resources Bureau
to the M u ltn om ah C ounty D epart
ment o f Hum an Services on July I,
1983 so it can be better coordinated
w ith C o u n ty health and m ental
health services.
2) Area Agency on Aging adm in
istratio n , instead o f state adm inis
tration, o f M edicaid long-term care
services (nursing homes, etc.) for el
derly and disabled persons.
Senate B ill 955 con so lid ated
health and social services for elderly
and disabled adults into one State
branch, the Senior Services Division
and allows a shift from State to lo
cal ad m in istratio n. The P o rtla n d /
M u ltn o m a h R eorganizatio n Task
Force recommended that the Port-
la n d /M u ltn o m a h A A A take over
a d m in is tra tio n o f lo n g -te rm care
programs on July I , 1983.
3) Services fo r the elderly which
the Area Agency on Aging will pro
vide during 1983-84.
ESD Building; Wednesday. March
23, 7 -9 p .m ., P o rtla n d B u ild ing ;
F rid a y , M arch 25, 10 a .m .-n o o n ,
University Park.
She said she was asked for her dri
ver’s license and car registration by
the two policemen. No question was
raised relative to autom obile insur
ance, she said. Police also searched
her car, Ms. Olive said, and told her
they were lo o k in g for drugs and
weapons. None were found.
Before letting her go, the police
men handed her a traffic citation for
failing to have proof o f automobile
insurance. A t this point, police and
M t. O live agree, the tore the ticket
into piecet, the police loo kin g on.
Police contend that M t. Olive ituck
her hand out the window and let the
piecet drop to the ground; she con
tends the threw the piecet behind
her into her back seal and a couple
o f piecet went out her p a rtly lo w
ered w indow th ro u g h w hich the
ticke t had been handed her. M t .
O liv e sayt p olice pulled her d o o r
open. Both agree she was told by the
police to get back out o f the car.
T h e m other o f tw o young c h il
dren said the policem en beat and
seized her before telling her she was
under arrest. A t one tim e, the re
c a lle d , (he o ffic e rs o f the law
slammed her body against the wall
o f the building on (he vacant p ark
ing lot. Police deny they grabbed or
beat Ms. O live and contended in
stead she attempted to assault them.
They defended themselves by physi
cally restraining her durin g which
time she might have suffered her in
juries, they allege.
T he 125-p ou n d, ta ll, slender
w om an recalls losing and gaining
consciousness during her arrest. She
remembers being dragged by the o f
ficers into the M u ltn o m ah C o u nty
deten tion fa c ility because she was
unable to walk due to her injuries.
She became fully conscious in a ja il
cell, she said. There were no other
persons around despite her calls to
anyone.
" It's a telephone in the cell,” said
Ms. Olive who has no prior record.
“ So I telephoned a friend o f mine
(collect). I was talking to her on the
phone when two people came to the
(cell) door. One was a black matron
(guard) and the other was a (m ale)
sergeant (guard).”
According to Ms. Olive, the w om
an guard rem ained by the opened
jail cell while the male guard, who is
white, came inside, snatched the tel
ephone receiver out o f her hand and
slammed her against a cell wall.
" I w ent head f i r s t , ” she said,
“ and th at busted my head open.
And when I felt my head busted, I
said, 'Y ou guys done gone and bust
ed my heaad open.' They didn’t say
nothing.”
M s. O liv e was taken to another
cell w here her head was w rapped
with gauze and taken for treatment
to an area hospital. Jail guards re
quested and (he h ospital d id not
take pictures o f her injuries, or, for
that matter, treat her for any other
injuries she had received that night
except for the head injury.
’ ’ T h e y refused to take X -ra y s ,
they just sutured up my head,” she
said.
A fte r she was returned to M u lt
nomah C ounty detention facilities,
she was given papers to sign for re
lease on her own recognizance.
Last summer M s. O liv e went to
trial in circuit court. She was acquit
ted o f littering, but a ju ry found Ms.
O live guilty o f resisting arrest. She
was Fined $250 and given a suspend
ed jail sentence. The orginal charge
against her that January night over
a year ago, o f operating a car w ith
out p ro o f o f insuran ce, had been
dismissed before tria l because M s.
Olive was insured at the time.
The A A A writes an annual plan
to id e n tify needs and provide ser
vices. Among the programs that can
be included are: Senior Center, con
gregate m eals, h om e-delivered
meals, transportation, legal afd, in-
home support, productive services,
day care, adult foster homes, nursing
homes, in fo rm a tio n and re fe rra l,
etc.
C ity C o m m issio ner M arg a re t
Strachan, and County Commission
ers w ill preside at the hearings.
Hearings are scheduled at the fo l
lowing times:
Monday, March 21, 2-4 p .m ., U r
ban League, King N eig h b o rh o o d
F a c ility ; T uesd ay, M arch 22, 2-4
p .m ., P A C T ; W ednesday, M a 'c h
23, 10 a m .-noon, M u ltn om ah Co.
Jefferson reunion planned
M el R enfro, Nancy Ryles, W en-
dall W yatt, A rt Eckman, John H el
m er, J r ., N a te Jones, and T e rry
B a k e r. . . .These are ju s t some o f
the more notable graduates o f Port
la n d ’ s Tho m as Jefferso n H ig h
School. And by this time next year
many more o f the school’ s alums
w ill gather to celebrate the school’s
75th anniversary.
W a rn e r (C h u c k ) L o n g , a vice-
president w ith U .S . B ancorp who
was senior class president in 1959, is
spearheading the o rg an iza tio n o f
the gala celebration tentatively set
for June o f 1984. He is looking for
Jefferson grads who are interested
in forming a committee to plan (he
a f f a ir w hich is expected to draw
over 3 ,0 0 0 people to the N o rth
Portland school for a day-long cele
b ra tio n . He estim ates that there
could be well over 15,000 graduates
o f the school scattered all over the
state and the n a tio n . Interested
alums should contact him by m ail
at: U .S . B ancorp, 555 SW O ak
(P L 2 ), Portland, Oregon 97204. He
is enthusiastic about the possibilities
for the diamond jubilee.
Jefferson, Portland's third oldest
high school, was organized in 1909
and moved into the building which
s till
houses
the
School
of
C ham pions in February 1910. Jef
ferson has a long and proud tra d i
tio n o f a th le tic and academ ic a c
complishments.
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