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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2003)
Romancing the Expos Stadium plan inches Portland toward major leagues Remembering Clive Charles Soccer legend dies after struggle with cancer See story in Sports, Page B6 i/ ‘Citv of Roses’ See story in Sport#’ Pag€ B6 jJvrrtlano d^hsertier Established in 1970 n n rtla n h c ^n WWW, p o n rt d landobserver. com Committed to Cultural Diversity Volume XXXIII • Number 35 Wednesday • August 27, 2003 Scathing Report Blasts Police Bureau Experts say city needs policies that support human life Sleepless Summer Underway G etting aju n ip on the traditional p o st-L a b o r D ay p re sid e n tia l c a m p a ig n se a so n , D em o crat H ow ard Dean is prom oting him s e lf like a rock star w ith an eight- city road trip that began S atur day, w ith a stop in Portland. The trip iscalled the “Sleepless Sum m er T our,” a sw ipe at President B u sh ’s lengthily vacation at his ranch. Muslim Militants Suspected of India Blasts A p air o f car b om bs rip p ed through lunchtim e crow ds in India’s financial capital, Bombay, on M onday, killing 44 people a n d w re a k in g h a v o c a t a crow ded jew elry m arket and a po p u lar historic landm ark. Po lice w ere focusing their investi g a tio n o n M u slim m ilita n t groups. B ut victim s from the explosions w ere alm ost certain to include both M uslim s and H indus. Priest's Killing Planned The suspect in the prison cell slaying o f defrocked pedophile priest John G eoghan hated ho m osexuals and planner! the kill ing w eeks in advance, a prosecu to r said M onday. Jo sep h L. Droce, a fel low inmate in the maxi - mum security Souza-1 laranowsk i C orrectional C enter in Shirley, even tore apart a book to m ake a tool for jam m ing the door o f G eoghan’s cell, W orcester Dis trict A ttorney John J. C onte said. treatment Targets Tumor T h o u sa n d s o f b re a st c a n c e r patients are opting for a w eek o f radiation instead o f the usual six w eeks, thanks to new m ethods that target cancer-killing beam s at the tum or site instead o f the w hole breast. Judge Upholds Fines In Fatal Nightclub Fire photo by J aymee R. C uti /T he P orti ani » O bserver Der.ise Stone and four other members o f the Citizens Review Committee announce their resigna tion from the police watchdog group, which oversees complaints about the Portland Police Bureau. Police Watchdogs Resign Auditor rejects change despite mass resignation by J aymef . R. C uti /T he P ortland O bserver C ity officials have no plans to overhaul a citizens review team , despite the resignation o f five o f the nine members. The C itizens R eview C om m ittee, w hich oversees com plaints about the Police B ureau, lost five m em bers T hursday w ho resigned in indignation, calling the com m ittee a “public sh am ” and a m ockery o f attem pts to restore public trust in governm ent. The com m ittee w as created in 2001 to process com plaints about the Police B ureau. It replaced an internal police investigation com m ittee. C ity A uditor G ary B laekiner, w ho supervises the citizen review team , said that the resignation o f the review te a m ’s chair H ector Lopez, co-chair D enise Stone and m em bers Mia B utzbaugh, T.J. B row ning and D ouglas M ontgom ery lj»st its punch because the resignations cam e one m onth before the expiration o f three o f the m em b ers’ terms. “T he m ayor is happy with the work the C RC does,” said T om m y Brooks, a spokesm an for M ayor Vera Katz. “A lot o f the folks that quit w ere not happy with the old system and are not happy w ith the new system , and th e y ’ll probably never be h appy.” D enise Stone, form er vice ch air o f the com m ittee, said that w hile the com m ittee had a strong w orking • (AP)— E xperts hired by the city have found m ajor problem s w ith the w ay the Portland police investigates officer-involved sh o o tin g s. The findings, issued in a report M onday by the Police A ssess m ent R esource C enter, a Los A ngeles-based nonprofit agency, w ere based on a study o f 32 police shootings and tw o deaths o f people in custody that occurred from January 1997 to June 30, 2000. The experts said their I lie African \iiierieiin exam ination supported Albina M inislrial the statem ents o f a se n io r o fficer w ho told Alliance sa\ s it’s about them: “’I’here’sn o admin In release a "shocking' istrative review in this report n il the police organization. People are afraid to ask hard ques shooting death of tions. People are afraid K endra .lames. to hurt feelings.” See story, pugc IT. T o m inim ize the inci dence of p o lic e shootings, the experts call for 89 changes in bureau policy, tactics, investigations, internal review s, and w ritten report and case-filing requirem ents. A m ong those, the center suggests the bureau revise its deadly force policy to underscore the bureau’s “reverence for the value ofh u m an life” and its view that deadly force should be used “only w here no other alternatives are reasonably available.” Die report recom m ends that the bureau develop a new review system ; create a civilian oversight audit o f police shootings and custody deaths; end P o rtlan d ’s practice o f w aiting three days before interview ing officers; stop untaped “pre-interview s” o f officers before taping their statem ents; and prohibit police from firing at m oving vehicles. C h ie f M ark K roeker said he agreed w ith 92 percent o f the recom m endations and w ould subm it them to C om m unity Police ( hganizational R eview T eam for further discussion. T here has not been a Portland officer indicted for use o f deadly force since an on-duty officer shot and killed his girlfriend’s husband in 1969. A nd, from w hat the c en te r’s experts could glean, all shootings and in-custody deaths during the 3 1/2 years review ed w ere considered ju stified by the bureau. continued y y on page ,43 A ju d g e w ould not postpone collection o f a $ 1 m illion fine on Owners o f T he S tation nightclub for fai 1 ing to carry w orkers ’ com- p e n s a tio n in s u ra n c e b e fo re February’sdeadly fire. The blaze killed 100 people, including four clu b em ployees, and injured nearly 200 others. continued y y on page A3 Protesters Square Off in North Portland Deficit Swells to S480B The federal governm ent is head ing tow ard a record $480 billion deficit in 2004 and w ill rack up alm ost $ 1.4 trillion in red ink over the next decade, according to analysis by the C ongressional B udget O ffice. C B O D irector D ouglas H oltz-Bakin added that deficits over the next decade could m ore than double if the B ush adm inistration tax cuts becom e perm anent and C o n gress fails to control spending. Police keep thousands of protestors from the north Portland campus of the Univer sity of Portland where President George Bush was raising money Thursday for his re- election campaign. Bush’s visit was followed three days later by Democratic challenger Howard Dean's presidential campaign stop in the Rose City. See stories and additional photos, page A6. (AP photo) Harvest Party North Portland kids gather around Asha Gebibo, an East African woman who is an expert in agricul ture, as she cuts greens grown from the St. Johns Woods community garden. The St. Johns W oods com m unity o f north Portland shares their bounti ful harvest from 2 p.in. to 7 p.tn. Saturday, Aug. .30 with a Back to School I Iarvest Party. The event will entertain with gam es, aw ards, A fri can dance perform ances, a Native Am erican Roots Rock and fresh food. St. Johns W oods G arden Project, i I in partnership with Janus Youth Pro gram s and C ascade M anagem ent, is a multicultural project fighting hunger by helping low-income families grow their own food and take leadership in the community. Celebrate the fruits o f the bounty at St. Jo h n ’s W oods A partm ents, 8652 N. Swift Way. Form ore inform ation, call 503-286-2099. »
