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O pinion
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or
represent the views o f The Portland Observer
Inquest Jury: Police Reforms Needed
Portland Bureau can do better at training and minority recruitment
t o r r’s
'S n note:
o te : T
h e follow
f n i t n w i ing
no
E d d i ito
The
statement is from the inquest ju ry
which heard three days o f public
testimony in the March 28 police
shooting death o f Jam es Jahar
Perez, an unarmed African-Am eri
can motorist:
As members of a randomly se
lected jury, we differ in gender,
ethnicity and age. After hearing
nearly 40 witnesses under oath, we
write as one to state our observa
tions about the death of James Jahar
Perez.
We do express our deepest sym
pathy to both the Perez family and
to the two police officers involved
in this tragedy. The Perez family
lost a loved one and has many
iin:ancwz*r»»i1
unanswered nuoetinnc
questions. Tk»
The r>ffiz’_
offic
ers did not come to their shift that
night expecting this would happen.
Now they must deal with psycho
logical problems that can drive of
ficers in their situation from the
profession they intended to make a
lifelong career. We hope theCity of
Portland will ensure that the Perez
family and the officers receive any
help they may need to withstand
the emotional toll they have suf
fered.
As to public policy, we realize we
have no special expertise for draw
ing conclusions. Nevertheless, al
though our verdict was limited to
four narrow questions and based
upon the facts presented to us, we
I'o r more info: u u w .kn ih d .o rg
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offer I'/sma
som e F
broader
thoughts and observations in the
hope that this regrettable incident
may result in positive change.
It seems to us, from the detailed
information we received about the
events that led to Mr. Perez’s death
a.
..
—
...
involvement.
police officers’ ability to articulate
While again noting our lack o f racially neutral reasons for traffic
specialized knowledge, wecanonly stops like this one. We think the
wonder what the end result would officers in this case suspected that
have been if tactics and training illegal drug activity was afoot. This
called for the officers to back off suspicion was ultimately confirmed.
and radio for support when Mr. Yet, they seemed surprisingly un
able to directly state that suspicion.
There is an understandable ten
sion between a com m unity’s need
for aggressive law enforcement -
using technical traffic violations as
a tool when necessary to ferret out
suspected criminal activity - and
the need for law-abiding members
of a community to know they are
not being targeted for improper rea
sons. We understand from you,
C hief Foxworth, that the Portland
Police Bureau has a process to ex
and from the general knowledge we Perezchose toclearly affirm his lack amine these kinds o f traffic stops
have of the circumstances o f the o f cooperation by putting up his for racial neutrality. We further
shooting o f Ms. Kendra James last tinted window. While not wishing understand there are active recruit
year, that the Portland Police Bu to engage in second-guessing, we ment measures to draw officers from
reau needs to make a fundamental firmly feel the need for the best afullspectrum ofPortlandcitizens.
re-examination o f its tactics and minds to re-examine existing policy We urge that these efforts and the
training for officers in traffic stops and the implementation o f policy results be shared with the public.
o f uncooperative motorists - par through training.
We also urge that consideration be
ticularly those suspected o f drug
We were concerned about the given to having an independently
za
I here is an understandable tension
between a community's need for
aggressive law enforcement... and
the need for law-abiding members of
a community to know they are not
being targeted for improper reasons^
elected police commissioner.
We learned a great deal about
the risk police officers face and the
training these men and women re
ceive. The public at large should be
similarly informed so that citizens
may better understand the dynam
ics o f policing a com munity made
up o f all kinds of people.
We encourage the Portland Po
lice Bureau to follow up with ex
perts, such as the ones we heard, to
test the effects o f cultural differ
ences on the reactions of both po
lice officers and suspects in real life
situations todetermine ifother kinds
o f training are necessary. We also
endorse C hief Foxw orth's planned
expansion o f taser availability and
training.
Inclosing, we have learned much
from our service on the inquest
jury. We hope the Portland Police
Bureau and the community will
benefit as we have.
Shonnet Brand; Donna Byrd;
Samuel Hand; Sarah Jensen;
Arsenio Medrano; Marcelino
Perez Jr.
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‘We Will Build Public Trust
E d ito r’s note: The fo llo w in g stressfu l and so m ew h at over-
statement is fro m Portland Police whelmingexperience for them. This
C h ief D errick Foxworth in re letter contained some observations
sponse to issues raised in the letter that also represent some common
by jurors in the Jam es Jahar Perez community concerns.
inquest:
I want to thank the inquest jurors
for issuing this letter and for their
commitment to the inquest process.
They are community members who
served on the first inquest in 20
years and I’m sure it was a very
lattò (©bficrtu v
or above national standards.
W e acknow ledge that there have
T here is a com m on tendency been reported cases o f racial pro
to intertw ine racial profiling and filing that have occurred in some
p re-tex t stops. T h ese are tw o police agencies in this country.
separate subject m atters. Pre-text
I cannot say that out o f the hun
stops are w hen an o fficer m akes dreds o f thousands o f contacts
a law ful stop o f a person in order Portland Police Officers make ev
to investigate a potential crim e ery year, that racial profiling has
unrelated to the stop. T his is a never occurred in Portland. How
valuable tool for o fficers, w hich ever, racial profiling is not, and will
is used to respond to crim inal not, be tolerated in the Portland
activity or behavior in order to Police Bureau. If anyone feels they
reduce crim e and im prove neigh- have been the subject o f racial pro-
The Portland Police Bureau does
not train, teach, endorse, support or
condone any type o f racial profiling
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**AII classes are free of charge!
— Portland Police Chief Derrick Foxworth
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In regards to training, the Port
land Police Bureau has always, and
will continue toeonstantly develop
and review its training, because we
want to offer the best training to
Portland Police Officers possible.
As I said in the inquest, the Police
Bureau has had considerable com
munity input into our current poli
cies and training, and now we will
look at the best practices on a na
tional level to ensure we are aligned
R a c ia l and Ethnic A p proach«« to C om m u nity H o a lth
Coniaci AAHC at 503-413-1150 or visit our web silt at wwwjahc-portfand orç
filing, then I urge them to corn'-
forward to the Independent Police
Review Division with their com
plaints.
The Police Bureau will continue
to look for ways to better com m uni
cate and educate the public in why
we do what we do. In doing so, this
will create and enhance the public’s
understanding and trust in their
police.
Jurors’ Concerns are Helpful
E ditor ’s Note: The fo llo w in g
statem ent is M a yo r Vera K a tz's
answ er to the concerns o f ju ro rs
in the Jam es Ja h a r Perez inquest:
Thank you for your thoughtful
letter o f M ay 5, regarding your
im pressions and reco m m en d a
tions developed as a result o f
your service in the public inquest
reg ard in g the d eath o f Jam es
Jahar Perez. You certainly did not
have to take this additional step
after your ju ry du ties w ere d is
charged. Your desire to be part o f
a constructive dialogue around
the issues raised exhibits a high
degree o f civic responsibility.
As you note in your letter, some
o f y o u r s u g g e s tio n s a re , o f
course, already being considered.
We review on an ongoing basis
how our already stringent police
training can be im proved. The
C ity is com m itted to recruiting
officers from all segm ents o f our
com m unity and we have review ed
and the com m unity they patrol.
C learly, the shooting deaths
of K endra Jam es and Jam es Jahar
Perez have raised questions that
n eed to be a d d re sse d . C h ie f
Foxw orth and I w elcom e those
questions and we w elcom e the
type o f thoughtful recom m enda
tions you have developed.
Y our com m ents regarding the
scars left by this tragic incident
reflect how seriously you u n d er
took your duties. Thank you for
your valuable service.
The inquest, for all its lim ita
tions, greatly inform ed our c o m
m unity, not only about the case
at hand, but also regarding such
our com m itm ent to a com m unity issu es as p o lic e tra in in g and
policing approach that em p h a policy. It w as very helpful and
sizes the im portance o f personal has established a useful p rece
rela tio n sh ip s betw een o fficers dent.
The shooting
deaths o f Kendra
James and James
Jahar Perez have
raised questions
that need to be
addressed.
,
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In regards to racial profiling, I
w ant to e m p h asize the definition:
It is the use o f race as the sole
basis for ju stify in g traffic stops
or oth er police action. T he P o rt
land Police Bureau does not train,
teach, endorse, support o r co n
done any type o f racial profiling.
This is a practice that contradicts
o u r o rg an iz atio n al valu es and
com m unity policing philosophy.
in
cl 1 P o r tla n h (©bserlu'v
Call 503-288-0033
or
email: ads@portlandobserver.com