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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2004)
Page A4 Jîortlanh ©bgeruer April 07. 2004 O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRt )DL'CTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART W ITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. 503-288-0033 • FAX5 0 3 2 8 8 -0 0 1 5 • EMAIL: news&poniandobserver.com subscriDtion@ixniandobserver.com asls®Dortlandobserver.com The Portland Observer—Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication—is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Repre sentative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver. Police Who Don’t Serve the Public The following is u Portland Observer editorial: We would be better served if officers involved in deadly shootings would have the cour age to stand before the commu nity and explain their actions. How about an apology when an unarmed motorist is killed under the mistaken belief that he was about to use a weapon he didn't have. In both the James Perez and Kendra James deaths, the of ficers involved in the killings are so effectively being sheltered from public view. Jason Sery, the North Pre cinct police officer who shot and killed Perez March 28 is going to court to block his testi mony in a public inquest. Scott McCollister, the police officer who shot James May 5 has never faced the public to ex plain his actions. It’s no coincidence that the victims were black and the of ficers where white. Racial pro filing in our community and ag gression by some police offic ers to the very people they serve are facts. Our African-Ameri A Tragic Loss of Human Life Ecumenical Ministries of O r egon is deeply concerned about the fatal shooting of an un armed African American man, James Jahar Perez, on March 28 place over the last couple of years, including the death o f Kendra recent police shooting by the M ultnom ah C o unty D istrict lames that occurred under similar Attorney’s office. This will be the . . . first such inquest in nearly I lllS incident IS two decades and has the en dorsement of Mayor Vera in north Portland. We regret the especially disturbing in lossofhum anlifeandacknowl- r i • i f. Katz, state lawmakers and edge the pain the Perez family light QJ additional p()llC€ Portland Police Chief Derrick Foxworth. In addition, EMO and our community are experi- shootings that have taken encing. We offer our sincere is very encouraged by and condolences to the both the p la te OVCT the nlSt COUple su p p o rtiv e of C h ie f family and the community for \ea rs Foxworth's ongoing dialogue this tragic loss of life. between the Portland Police This incident is especially dis- circumstances less than a year ago Department and the local commu- turbing in light of additional po EMO joins the many other voices nity in order to respond to the lice shootings that have taken pleading for a public inquest of the concerns of the entire community. St. Andrew Nativity School “Educating For Excellence, Transforming Lives ” •Tuition-free, private education for middle school stu dents of all faiths •Springboard Saturday admissions program begins April 3 • f amilies must qualify for the Federal tree and reduced lunch program A C C E P T IN G A P P L IC A T IO N S FO R I N C O M IN G 6 T H G R A D E B O Y S A N D G IR LS CALL N O W 503-335-9600 xlO for d etails A Catholic, Jesuit middle school dedicated to preparing stu dents from low-income families to be successful in college preparatory high school and eventually college. 4925 NK 9th, Portland OR, 97211 - www.nativityportland.com can community is rightfully frus trated by this injustice. Where are the good cops? In situations like these, we don’t feel like we have any. The uproar over the lack of police accountability does have one silver lining. It has galva nized our community. The rally downtown on Sunday, like the rallies for justice in the death of Kendra James, drew a rainbow of support and showed that this deserved uproar is not just a black issue but a human rights issue. We wholeheartedly support the Portland NAACP in its de mands for a top and bottom Justice Department review of the Police Department while also supporting Chief Derrick Foxworth. Foxw orth has show n bold, steady leadership w hile a sk ing for patience to bring all o f the facts before the pub lic. He rightfully met with P erez’ fam ily to update them on the investigation. He de serves the chance to im p le m ent needed changes in the departm ent. betters to the (3Lditer.■ Nothing Has Changed I attended Sunday’s inspiring rally organized by the Coalition of Black Men and am outraged over the unjustifiable killing of James Jahar Perez. Ten months ago, it was Kendra James, be fore that, Jose Santos Mejia Poot, a Mexican immigrant. Obviously nothing haschanged. If you are brown, immigrant or African American, things have gotten worse with respect to police use o f deadly force. But I believe that things can improve; which compels me to speak out and get involved. We need to defend ourselves from a police institution that maims or even kills us because we are a threat to Portland’s wealthy. We are a threat be cause we demand economic and political justice. Demands such as a well funded and quality e d u catio n , a living w age, healthcare, and that big busi ness pay up so that we aren’t taxed to starvation. We demand not to be racially profiled every time we drive our cars. We demand jobs, the right to organize, the right to repro ductive choice, and the right to marry if we are lesbian or gay. As a socialist feminist, I think the only kind of system that can support anything different is a socialist economy, where hu man needs and equality, not prof its are what matter. The Freedom Socialist Party has long advocated an indepen dent elected civilian police re view board with the authority to discipline police. This board should be publicly funded but not connected to corrupt city government and big business interests. In the mean time, Multnomah County officials should open the grand jury pro cess to the public so justice can be brought to the murderers of James Jahar Perez. Eduardo Martinez Zapata, Freedom Socialist Party o f north Portland Cops Killing Citizens Again The natives are upset and it’s the Kendra James thing all over again. As usual it’s two sided, us versus them. An unarmed man reaches for his seat belt to finally comply with an orderand is riddled with bullets, according to a woman coming out of the cleaners. The cops admit they once again were not able to secure the scene before making choices again to shoot an unarmed man. The irony is police knew the man, were curious about the newer version of car he was driving(profiling)and pulled him over with an excuse of not using his signal 100 feet before a turn. You’d have to be right on him from the get-go to know exactly where that 100 feet started out! Sounds like profiling to me. This was a shooting in cold blood. Why would a cop reach into the car after you tell them you have no I.D.? Why would a police officer try to pull a man out of a car while he still has his seat belt on instead of asking the man to take it off? Portland police ignored the requests we made last year out of the Kendra James review hearings. We demanded proper police procedures when dealing with occupants of a car. Again the deadly encounter involved one motorist and two Portland police officers. Again two officers were not able to extract a human being out of a car without deadly force! This morning, I happened to hop off a bus just as three Port land police officers were trying to capture three black male sus pects. As I watched, a black man approached me and mut tered something about keeping an eye on the police, so they don’t kill another innocent man. Well, the white cop came un glued. He tried to use his power to violate my freedom of listen ing and responding to what I saw. He told both of us to back it up, that we were interfering and threatened me with arrest. Ain’t that the way it is with the guy s with the guns. Tromping all over the Constitution! Teresa Teater Police Shooting Breaks Heart I woke up with my heart bro ken again. A nother young person’s life taken for what rea son? A young man only 28 years old had been shot and killed by Portland Police. To me, it was another murder uncalled for because of poor training and no concerns foryoung black Ameri cans in the city. We need to get together and file a class action lawsuit against Portland Police for poor training of officers, es pecially poor training on traf fic stops. I believe to many police officers are trigger- happy and abuse the power behind the badge.Even though the police department is led by a black chief, it does not change what is really happen ing on the street. When I look back over the years of policing in Portland, one of the first things that comes to mind is when offic ers tossed a dead possum on a black business. These men where still able to keep their jobs. What a joke. I am afraid for my sons and your sons and daughters. It could happen to anyone. What a nightmare for any family. Murder is not something that just goes away. L et's get it together Port land. We as a people need to make a stand and fight for better Portland Police. Reba Advertise with diversity in ortUntil (Obsrruer Call 503-288-0033 ads(s portlandob server.com
