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
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p o n rt d landobserver.
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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.
»