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Mav 6 , 1992...The Portland Observer...Page 3
Bureaus and Community Leaders Join Forces To
Strengthen Relationshios
Open Letter to the Citizens of
Portland from Chief Tom Potter
I would like to take this opportu
nity to express my most sincere appre
ciation to Portland’s citizenry for the
manner in which our community re
sponded to events last week in Los
Angeles. I would like especially to
compliment community leaders who
urged restraint in expressing anger and
frustration to the Rodney King verdict.
As a police professional I was both
angered and embarrassed by the jury’s
decision. The actions of those police
officers reflect on all police. The
Rodney King beating will be a land
mark for police in America, and is
causing many communities, including
Portland, to examine police policies,
practices, and the overriding issue of
police accountability. The Portland
Police Bureau recommits itself to be
ing accountable for all it does, while
providing the best police services to all
our citizens, regardless of color or sta
tus.
Portland is different from Los An
geles. The last several years has seen
the building of trust between the Port
land Police Bureau and the community
we serve. Yes, we still have a ways to
go, but the trust and communication we
have been working towards has created
a win-win for Portland’s citizenry and
its police this last week. It provides us
the opportunity to continue to examine
the issues of racism and its searing
effects on the lives of its victims. We
have an opportunity in Portland to work
together to eliminate racism wherever
it manifests itself, and to further our
goals to ensuring opportunities for all
of our citizens to a quality education,
decent jobs, and neighborhoods free
from the fear of crime, gangs, and the
debilitating and dehumanizing effects
of drugs.
The Police Bureau is committed to
a long-term partnership with the com
munity. We know the police cannot do
the job by ourselves, and to have a safe
community, the police must have a
strong partnership based on mutual trust,
communication, and commitment. The
events of the last week have tested that
partnership and, thanks to the efforts of
our citizens and police officers, has not
only survived but grown. Community
policing works.
The city of Portland is working
with our citizens an a number of fronts
to address the issue of racism in Port
land, but we must redouble our efforts.
But for a moment we can take pride in
our community, its efforts to date, and
help each other create the future we
want for ourselves and our children.
Thank you, Portland.
Community Residents And Civic Leaders Unite In An Effort
To Ease Tention In The Wake Of Rodney King Verdict
Don’t Believe Your Eyes
The Rodney King Travesty
Continued from front page
taped beating of King spoke for itself.
However, somewhere between March
3,1991 and april 29,1992 justice had a
terrible miscarriage. On April 29th the
four “peace” officers that were indicted
in the King beating where acquitted on
all counts. A mistrial was declared on
the case involving on officer. The taped
beating of an African American motor
ist was determined to be justifiable use
of force. A nation was stunned, and the
African American community was told
once again that Human Rights are not
for you. This verdict would have even
embarrassed the racist regime of South
Africa!
Stunned by the verdict, many people
took to the streets in protest and in a
matter of hours Los Angeles was en
gulfed in flames. People of all ethnic
backgrounds were shocked and riots
broke out in several cities across the
United States. The anger and disen
chantment with a system that has failed
African Americans repeatedly left the
“City of Angels” looking like a “gate
way to hell”.
While I don’t condone the rioting
and the looting, I do understand the
frustration. I’ve seen this scenario played
over the years time and time again. I
only hope that the “lily white” jury can
live with themselves after rendering a
verdict that is tantamount to capital pun
ishment when it comes people of color.
The United States Justice Depart
ment must vigorously pursue this case
and rightfully charge the officers in
volved with federal civil rights viola
tions for the wrongful and brutal beating
of Rodney King.
Meanwhile the signal from the
courts of this land is justice for all,
except for people of color. If you saw the
Rodney King beating on tape, the court
said “ Don’t believe your eyes”!
Uniformed Savages
Acquitted In Televised
Rodney King Beating
Continued from frontpage
Commission that will do a job that is
imperative in these times. And we all
understand the economic, social and
moral pressures under which we are all
operating, here as well as in Los Ange
les. We are well aware of an inept and
uncaring administration, as well as a
do-nothing congress, bogged down in
its own shortcomings. But, an adequate
description of all the social ills that are
driving this rather sick machine would
Statement from Commissioner Mike
Lindberg Regarding Rodney King Verdict
I am still in shock. I will probably
never be able to express the disgust I
feel over the decision handed down by
the jury in the Rodney King case. It was
an insult to the intelligence of every
citizen of this country. It was yet an
other gaping wound ripped in the body
of what is supposed to be justice in this
nation. When I heard the news, I felt
like I had just awakened in South Af
rica or been thrown back in time to
1957 Mississippi. I strongly support
the U.S. Justice Department prosecu
tion of those officers for violation of
Rodney King’s civil rights.
African-Americans and other mi
norities have long and legitimately con
tested the inequalities and discrimina
tion in our criminal justice system.
After a decision like this, how do you
stand up and make a case for believing
in justice in America? I am ashamed.
We should all be ashamed. Our chil
dren have seen the videotaped beating
of Mr. King. Who among us could look
a child in the eye and explain how the
officers could be found not guilty of
anything.
My sympathy goes out to all of the
innocent victims of the rioting in Los
Angeles. Obviously, I condemn the vio
lence, but I cannot pretend that I do not
understand the rage. I also appeal to all
Portlanders to not allow the shameful
verdict in the Rodney King case to
undermine the work we have done to
establish a positive community-polic
ing atmosphere in our city. I lake some
heart in the fact that our community
produced a jury which rendered a just
verdict in the murderof Mulegeta Seraw.
it Better for Less
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