luly 15. 2009
PageA2
Report: Use of Force by Police Down
w ere A frican A m erican.
T he reported use o f force has d e­
creased by 40 percent. H ow ever the
report notes that th is is largely b e­
ca u se the b u reau ch a n g ed its re ­
porting req u irem en ts. O fficers are
only required to rep o rt the use o f
force w hen it ca u se s injury.
P h y sic a l c o n tro l w as th e m ost
frequently rep o rted use o f force at
56 percent of all incidents, follow ed
by the use o f ta sers at 36 percent.
T he report is a follow up from a
2007 report put out by the F orce
Task Force, a g ro u p co m p o sed o f
by J akf . T homas
T he P ok i i and O bserver
A new report released T uesday
by the O ffice o f the C ity A uditor
p rovides a sn apshot o f the use o f
force by P o rtlan d police.
A n a ly z in g d a ta f ro m 2 0 0 4
through 2006. the report show s that
c o m p la in ts re g a rd in g th e use o f
force by police have d ec reased by
58 percent since 2004.
P o lic e d is p r o p o r tio n a te ly use
fo rce on A fric an A m eric an s. A c ­
co rd in g to the report, 29 percen t o f
subjects that officers used force on
people from the police bureau, the
In d ep en d en t P olice R eview D iv i­
sion, the C itizen Review Com m ittee,
and sta ff m em b ers from C o m m is­
sio n er D an S altzm an ’s office.
It analyzed the Police B ureau's use
of force data dating back to August
2004, and recom m ended that bureau
require officers to provide more com ­
plete inform ation on incidents requir­
ing the use o f force and its ju stifica­
tion. Recommendations in the 2007 re­
port also included keeping more d e­
tailed records that are periodically
analyzed, am ong others.
After Tense Talks, 39th Renamed
Feathers
ruffled as
arterial street is
named for
labor leader
(AP) — The City Council voted last
week to renam e 39th Avenue as Cesar
Chavez Boulevard after a tw o-year
debate that brought charges o f rac­
ism and governm ent heavy-handed­
ness, and groans from residents who
wanted the late Hispanic labor leader
honored elsew here.
T here are about 650 hom es and
m any sm all b u sin e sse s alo n g the
street that runs seven m iles through
areas ranging from blue-collar neigh­
borhoods to the busy H ollyw ood dis­
trict and the posh L aurelhurst area,
none heavily Hispanic.
A city survey show ed 39th Avenue
residents w ho responded to a poll
opposed the renam ing 694-91.
W ednesday's 5-0 council vote may
leave bruises on largely w hite Port­
land, but the tone was less anti-im m i­
grant than when a 2007 attem pt to re­
name m ultiethnic and blue-collar In­
terstate Avenue was scrapped. Prop­
erty ow ners there said, am ong less
polite things, that it would cost them
heavily to change stationery, adver­
tising and more. A poll there turned
up opposition roughly equal to the
dissent along 39th.
But Hispanics are easily Portland's
fastest-grow ing minority, and noth-
Labor rights leader, Cesar Chavez
ing had been nam ed after their heroes
until now. About 25 other cities have
streets named after Chavez, and eight
states mark his birthday as a holiday.
Portland is know n as a liberal, po­
litically correct city, and many resi­
dents along Interstate and 39th av ­
enues agreed that som ething prom i­
nent should honor Chavez, but not
their street.
O thers suggested parks or bridges.
A t one point, d o w n to w n 's F o u rth
Avenue, which runs through w hat re­
m ains o f Portland's Chinatow n, was
suggested, trig g erin g w o n d erm en t
there.
The city planning com m ission had
voted 7-1 in favor o f renam ing 39th
Avenue. "We have to make decisions
that will hurt people em otionally,"
commissioner Lai-Lani Ovalles said at
the time.
P roponents o f the nam e change
THE
expressed relief.
"I'm so pleased that the com ­
m unity is being recognized,"
said Marta Guembes, one of the
leaders o f the effort. "This is
history for Portland, Ore."
In 1989, Portland renam ed
U n io n A venue a fte r M artin
Luther King Jr. after a racially
tinged debate. It remains Union
A venue today in som e m ore
traditional minds.
More recently and with less
fuss, the city renam ed a street
Rosa Parks Parkway.
The attem pt to renam e Inter­
state Avenue, cham pioned by
form er M ayor Tom Potter, ran
into other trouble when it end-
ran the process for doing so.
To launch the p ro cess, Portland
now requires the signatures o f 75 per­
cent o f the affected residents, which
would have been at least difficult on
39th Avenue, or signatures o f 2,5(X)
residents cityw ide, rarely a problem
in a town plum p with activists.
The vote came dow n to 39th Av­
en u e o v er o th e r su g g ested streets
partly because the city decided the
name lacks historical significance.
That fired up Wayne Stoll, who grew
up on 39th and ow ns businesses in
the area. He told O regonian colum ­
nist A nna G riffin he might pass peti­
tions to name ultra-trendy N orthwest
23rd Avenue across tow n after R ich­
ard Nixon.
He said 23rd, like 39th, is just a num­
ber. "None o f us in Hollywood have a
vested interest in 23rd. So we don't
have a problem talking about renam ­
ing it," Stoll said.
photo by
M ark W ashington TT he P ortland O bserver
J. W. Doncan o f Jefferson High School presents Anthony Brown
with a community award for his volunteer efforts to bring stu­
dents uplifting messages in a program called ‘Straight Talk.'
Jefferson Honors Supporters
Jefferson High School recently
honored special members of the com­
munity.
T he seco n d annual C ak e, Ice
Cream and Awards gathering paid
special recognition to co-facilitators
o f th e s c h o o l’s c o m m u n ity
Multicultural Film Festival; quilters
an d
c o n trib u to rs
to
th e
C o m m u n ity senior quilt project;
th e P o rtla n d O b se rv e r an d th e
Skanner new spapers for coverage
o f the north Portland school; and
other volunteers who have contrib­
uted to Jefferson.
The quilt honors the class of 2009
with a prominent picture of Borisshell
Washington, a senior who was re­
cently killed in senseless violence.
T he second annual celebration
was organized by J.W. Doncan, a
Jefferson reading coach and founder
and coordinator o f the film festival
and quilt project.
New Red Light Camera
in Outer South East
R eckless drivers in outer south
east Portland should watch out. Late
last month the Portland Police Bu­
reau installed a red light cam era on
Southeast Foster Road and 96th Av­
enue.
The cam era will snap a photo of
drivers w ho blow through the red
light. The Portland Police Bureau re­
views the photos, and issues a $242
citation to drivers that ran the light.
The intersection has been particu­
larly d angerous, having been the
site o f 53 red light crashes in the last
four years.
Studies show that P ortland’s red
light cam era program has reduced red
light running at intersections where
they are installed, as well as the fa­
talities and injuries caused by drivers
running them.
In 2007 Portland City Council ap ­
proved the installation of 11 red light
cam eras th ro u g h o u t the city. T he
cam era on Southeast Foster Road and
96th Avenue is the last to be installed.
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