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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 28, 2003)
(EIjc JInrtlanb ©bseruer May 28.200 3 Page A3 Marchers demand police accountability continued from Front chanting of, “No justice, no peace, with racist police,” and other say ings reminiscent o f early civil rights marches. The parade stopped briefly at the intersection o f K illingsw orth and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. w here march leaders from the A lbina M inisterial A lliance and the NAACP joined hands with the friends and fam ily o f James. The energetic drum beats and chanting o f the crow d all quieted w hile a speaker called for all po lice officers who do injustice to the com m unity to be “rooted o ut.” M archers bow ed their heads and took a m om ent o f silence for James and other victim s o f police violence before regaining momen tum and turning the com er where the crow d garnered honks from passing cars - som e o f w hich held signs o f support out o f sunroofs. The May 5 shooting occurred when Jam es tried to drive aw ay from a routine traffic stop. The officer who fired the single shot said he was partly inside the car and feared for his life. The gunfire follow ed police attem pts to bring her into custody w ith pepper spray, a stun gun and pulling her hair. T he conduct o f p o lice has cau sed o u trag e in P o rtla n d ’s African American community and the city at large. Jam es had a record for drug and theft charges and a w arrant for her arrest w hen she was shot, but local residents say her past in no w ay ju stifies her death. “Everybody does drugs once in their life,” said Bambi Thom p son, a m archer who added that she, too, has had guns pulled on her by the Portland Police. “Just because you do drugs d o esn ’t m ean you have to die for it - at least not at the hands o f the po lice.” T he fee lin g that lo cal p o lic e are so m etim es trig g e r happy w hen it com es to d ea lin g w ith p eo p le o f c o lo r w as ex p re ssed by m any rally atten d e es w ho Marchers stretched as far as the eye could see along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Saturday for the rally in memory of Kendra James and a call for better police accountability. Kenneth James, the father o f police shooting victim Kendra James, finds support during Saturday's march forjustice. P hoto ry M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver held sig n s th a t said , “ Shoot N ow , T hink L a te r,” and o th ers that called for Police C h ief Mark K ro e k e r’s resig n a tio n . D is tr ic t A tto r n e y M ike S chrunk’s decision to use a se cret grand ju ry to consider pos sible crim inal charges against the officer also angered com m unity leaders who feel the system leans to the side o f law enforcem ent. The ju ry last week failed to indict the officer and that deci sion further eroded trust in the justice system. As the crow d m ade its way towards the North Skidmore Street overpass w here Jam es was shot, the sadness grew as m archers faced the chain-link fence which has becom e a m em orial to the y o u n g w om an w ith flo w ers, stuffed anim als and balloons. Event org an izers said they w ere pleased w ith the turnout, w hich they estim ated at between 1,500 and 2,000. P hoto by M ichael L eighton /T he P ortland O bserver Flawed System Blamed continued Sen. Margaret Carter sings 'We Shall Overcome ’ at the head o f a march for justice Saturday in memory o f Kendra James, the 21-year-old mother shot and killed by police during a traffic stop. P hoto by M ichael L eighton /T he P ortland O bserver from Front Chamber o f Commerce and the Albina Ministerial Alliance met last week to make a list o f demands. The groups are calling for public hearings for all police shootings cases, a review o f the police bureau’s diversity and cultural train ing, more efforts to recruit and re tain people o f color, a review the police bureau’s deadly force policy, the formation o f an independent police review board with subpoena power and a study on the "culture o f the police department,” similar to studies in Los Angeles and Detroit. “All these questions are defi nitely w orthy o f consideration and m ost o f them are going to be looked into,” said Tommy Brooks, spokesman for M ayor Vera Katz’s office. The Oregon Senate is consider ing legislature to change state law, specifying that deadly force only be used when apprehending sus pects o f serious crimes. This bill would update O regon’s law with a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a Tennessee officer violated an unarmed teenage burglar’s consti tutional rights by shooting him as he ran from the officer. State Sen. Margaret Carter, D- Portland and Sen. Avel Gordly, D- Portland, have vow ed to work within the system to change the law and secret grand jury policies. Portland Peace Response Coali tion, usually rallying against the war at Pioneer Courthouse Square, supported Kendra James by jo in ing last Saturday’s memorial march, which began at Alberta Park in northeast Portland. "If the police officer was acting w ithin the state law w hen he brought Kendra Jam es’ life to an end, then we have to change state law,” said Mikel Clayhold, a PPRC volunteer. and go! 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