Portland Police Chief: ‘We can do better’
a speech Friday at the City C lub o f
Portland.
O ne o f the first topics was the
new curfew program launched d u r
ing spring break as a pilot in north
and northeast and dow ntow n P ort
land. She defended the bureau 's
decision to target dow ntow n and
m inority areas, saying (hat is where
m ost violent juvenile problem s o c
curred last year.
"T here w as criticism last year
about not dealing with ju v en ile
Sizer reflects one year in
by S arah B lount
T he P ortland O bserver
A lm ost a year into her tenure as
head o f the Portland Police Bureau.
C hief Rosie S izer’s most com m on
reply to a host o f police issues and
com m unity com plaints is "W e can
do better.”
Fol lowing a swift and unexpected
appointm enttothe top jo b last April.
Sizer inherited problem s like racial
profiling and a spike in gang vio
lence. She has juggled these prob
lems with new ones cropping up,
nam ely the recent and question
able use o f police force.
Sizer discussed these topics with
the Portland O bserver in an exclu
sive interview last week. She also
reflected on the same issues during
Police Chief Rosie Sizer
a
a
1 070
Established in
1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Wednesday • April 4, 2007
Majority Flips on MLK Corridor
RAYMOND RENDLEMAN
T he P ortland O bserver
Becom ing a geek can get you a
free com puter. T he non-profit o r
ganization Free G eek has been
helping the com munity learn about
com puters bu, also giving fam i
lies access to technology for free.
See story, Metro section.
Secret War with Iran
A Pakistani tribal m ilitant group
responsible for a series o f deadly
guerrilla raids inside Iran has been
secretly encouraged and advised
by A m erican officials since 2005,
U.S. and Pakistani intelligence
sources tell ABC News.
Florida Repeat
The University
o f Florida wins
a back-to-back
N C A A D iv i
sion 1 basket
ball cham pion
ship and becom es the first ever
team to win the trophy with the
same starting five. See S p o rts,
p age B6.
Church Vandalized
An ex-gang out
re a c h w o rk e r
and his associ
ated w ere a r
rested T uesday
after foul la n
guage.
gang
sig n s an d the
police code for
m u rd e r
w as
spray pai nted on V ictory Outreach
C h urch on N ortheast A lb erta
Street. See sto ry , page A2.
Mundy In New Orleans
Urban League
o f P o rtla n d
P resident and
chief executive
officer M arcus
M undy
is
am ong a large
g ro u p o f O r
e g o n ia n s in
N ew O rleans this w eek to o ffe r aid
and support to residents o f the
city still recovering from the d ev
astation left by Hurricane Katrina.
on page A8
m u n i i r \ n r f IQ n
Blacks no
longer largest
population
Free Computers
continued
tp r v /p r
www.portlandobserver.com
C rln U I
Volume XXXVII. Number 14
.W eek ¡n
The Review
lice officers adm itted there was a
lack o f control, including N orth
east Precinct Lt. Steve Sm ith, who
said that to "observe, disperse, shut
dow n and escort out" youth from
gathering spots w as a "band-aid
ap p ro ach .”
Sizer said she has talked with other
chiefs across the country and they
report young individuals are fueling
arise inerirne within their cities.
© b u rlier
CAC
‘City of ! Q Roses
* C* i t v
problem s." Sizer said. “O ur intent is
to get ahead o f the curve.”
M any residents o f north and
northeast Portland voiced their frus
tratio n s ab o u t large g ro u p s o f
young people gathered am ong resi
dential streets last sum m er, flout
ing parental and police authority
and so m etim es g ettin g violent.
When the com m unity recognized
the problem o f "flash m obs," they
exposed a greater need for youth
advocates because even a few po
Portland experienced much this
decade: w ar protests, recession,
police brutality and a rash o f high-
p r o f ile
c o r r u p tio n
cases.
G entrification may not seem great
in com parison, but nobody cel
ebrates the econom ically forced
dispersal o f north and northeast
P ortland’s black com m unity.
In
Portland had an area
stretching for several m iles along
N ortheast M artin Luther King Bou
levard with more black residents
than any other ethnicity. The esti
m ated population o f 14,189 resi
dents broke dow n as 6,760 black
and 4.782 white residents. By 2005,
acco rd in g to the latest C ensus
Bureau estim ates, the same area
had 5.874 blacks and 5.906 whites
living am ong 13,421 residents.
Five contiguous census tracts
south o f C olum bia B oulevard have
several thousand residents, with
only one small tract that can claim
to be m ajority A frican American.
T hat C ensus tract is bordered by
North Russell and Frem ont Streets
in the Emanuel Hospital area where
photo by R aymond R endleman /T he P ortland O bserver
ju st 330 residents live, 172 o f them
Abrianna Williams hangs out with a friend on the porch other house in the last majority-black
black.
A brianna W illiam s has lived in census tract left in Multnomah County, a small tract bordered by North Russell and Fremont
one o f the area’s few houses for Streets with an estimated 330 residents, 172 o f them black.
nine years.
“ It’s kind o f shocking, but it was
D uringthe 1920s a n d ’ 30s, W il Broadway Bridge. But after W orld construction o f Interstates 5 and
inevitable,” she says. “ I d o n ’t feel liam s' census tract formed the north W ar II, the com m unity was forced 4< )5. Memorial Coliseum and Legacy
isolated; it's ju st different, not bet ern part o f a large, densely popu north by gentrification and urban- Emanuel Hospital.
Now the core black com m unity
ter or som ething to be feared.”
lated black com m unity east o f the renewal projects that included the
lives in small pockets o f the city like
the one around W illiam s' house.
The only other largely black area
lies near K illingsw orth Street on
the other end o f N ortheast MLK
Blvd.
Som e see the developm ents as a
type o f conspiracy to drive the
prices to levels that most African
A m ericans cannot afford. "In the
next seven years it will be w orse,"
said O rlando W oolridge on the
corner o f K illingsw orth and MLK
Blvd. “All these vacancies up and
down MLK Blvd. will be filled up
with non-m inority businesses, and
th a t's sad."
But many that serve the black
com m unity h av e n 't noticed any
significant changes. "The Census
Bureau may say one thing," says
Blazers' Boys and G irls Club m an
ager Jackie Dunbar, “but the reality
o f w hat we deal with every day is
still m ajority-black."
A tJefferson High S chool.atw o-
th ird s-b lack student population
rem ains w hile a greater proportion
o f w hite fam ilies support other
neighborhoods and programs.
"B lack students are also moving
out to districts w here they w eren't
previously there, but the services
are n 't necessarily there for them ."
Urban League education director
Howard Moriah says. "M ostly what
we have in term s o f w h at's left of
the black com m unity is a virtual
com m unity.”
The lack o f services for black
stu d e n ts o u tsid e o f north and
n o rth ea st P o rtlan d has cau sed
many com m unity-program adm in
istrators to stalw artly serve the re
m aining core as well as black t'ami-
continued
on page A8
With War Abroad, Are We Prepared at Home?
Deployments
deplete
resources
by S arah B lount
T he P ortland O bserver
As A m erica w ages w ar in Iraq
and A fghanistan, residents here at
hom e are left in a vulnerable posi
tion because o f depicted resources
belonging to the Oregon National
Guard.
Much o f the equipm ent stored in
arm ories across the state is cu r
rently overseas - equipm ent that
must eventually be replaced.
That means if a natural disaster
happened soon, the guard would
be first responders but em ergency
equipm ent may be in more remote
areas o f Oregon.
“W e have about 40 percent o f
equipm ent that we norm ally w ould
have in the state," said Oregon
National G uard spokesperson Cap-
See story, Metro section.
BY S arah B i ot nt /T iie P ortland O bserver
Staff Sgt. Bernard Herron is stationed at the Oregon National Guard Kliever Armory on Northeast 33rd Drive. The Armory is not short
on trucks since many o f the vehicles can't be used in Iraq or Afghanistan, but is short on troops because they are fighting overseas.
tain Mike Braibish. That includes
radios, night vision goggles and
w eapons.
Braibish said the equipm ent has
been required for the ongoing fight
in the W ar on Terror.
"W e make every effort to bring
equipm ent hom e." he added, "but
m ilitary necessity can override
that."
Currently just 830 soldiers out of
a statew ide total o f 6,400 are fight
ing overseas, in A fghanistan, but
the w ar has nonetheless impacted
training for possible m issions at
home. Braibish said guard m em
bers norm ally train with M4 service
ritles. better suited for urban en v i
ronm ents. hut are currently train
ing with w hat's available in Oregon
- in this case M 16 ritles.
A shortage o f trucks is not as
dire as other equipm ent. Braibish
said. O regon is about 300 trucks
short o f an adequate supply, partly
because many o f the vehicles c a n ',
be used in Iraq or A fghanistan.
He said eventually the O regon
National Guard w ill receive funding
allocations to replace lost eq u ip
ment. but “we have to fight for the
funding and make sure our voices
are heard."
According to the N ational G uard
Bureau in A rlington, Va.. the guard
will receive $21 billion to replace
equipm ent over the next five years.
continued
on pane A2