3'lir ^Jortlanh Observer
O ctober 19, 2011
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L aw &< J ustice
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M ETRO
Police Openings Draw Crowd
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In past, competitive process yielded few minority hires
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Arts
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INllllAISHtNI
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O ctober C alendar
H ealth
C lassifieds
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Just 10 m inutes after the P o rt
land Police opened online reg is
tratio n for 24 new p o sitio n s last
w eek, over 300 p ro sp ectiv e o f
ficers su b m itted a p p lica tio n s,
officially closing the recruitm ent
process for the q u arter with only
the first 200 ap p lican ts to be
c o n sid ere d .
“The process is very co m
p e titiv e,” said Lt. Vince Elm ore,
o f the P ortland Police Bureau
for 22 years. “ A p p lican ts are
com peting w ith people across
cou n try to get ap p licatio n s in
q u ick ly .”
The P ortland Police has h is
to rically been c ritic ize d for the
lack o f d iv ersity on the force,
in c lu d in g w o m e n , A f r ic a n -
A m erican s, L atinos and oth er
m inorities.
D esp ite b u reau c la im s o f
progress, over the past six years
there has been little to no significant
percentage changes in hiring mi
norities, with less than 1 percent
increases for women and blacks,
and a 1 percent increase for Latinos
and minority women.
According to 2011 bureau fig
ures, of 956 swom officers, 151 or
15.8 percent are women, 35 or 3.7
percent are African-Americans, and
32 or 3.4 percent are Latino. Whites
make up the majority of 819 law
enforcement workers, or 85.7 per
cent of the police force.
In Portland, African-Americans
compromise 6.4 percent of the popu
lation, and Latinos make up 8.8 per
PHOTO BY CARI H a CHMANN/T h E PORTLAND OBSERVER
Cara Sweeney is a recruitment officer for the Portland Police Bureau.
cent, which is nearly double and
triple their lack of representation on
the police force.
Elmore said the bureau is work
ing to increase diversity within the
organization. Even if the numbers
do not reflect change, the police
assure us that progress is being
made.
“The Portland Police should re
flect our community,” Elmore said.
“The bureau should look like the
people we service.”
This year, the bureau hired 43
new officers. Three are black, six are
Hispanic, one is Asian, and one is
Native-American. O fthe43,fiveare
women.
One month ago, the police hired
the first Hispanic female in 10 years,
the first African American female in
about five years, and of the last four
people hired, police say 35 percent
have been people of color or women.
Historically, police say minori
ties and women have not been inter
ested in becoming a police officer,
but police are doing more to educate
and encourage them to have a com
petitive advantage.
Right now there is only one of
ficer o f color working with gangs. In
response, police said, “It is not
about the color of your skin, but
experience.”
Recruitment officers said that
about 50 percent o f prospective
officers are recruited out o f state in
continued
on page 4
Roosevelt Teacher
of the Year
O pinion
Spanish teacher Elena Garcia-Velasco, who teaches at
pages 20*21
Roosevelt high school in North Portland, was named
Oregon’s new teacher of the year on Thursday.
el
O bservador
Recognized for her teaching skills and ability to con
pages 22*23
nect well with students, Garcia-Velasco is known through
out the educational system as someone who transforms
the lives of her pupils, especially students from the
F o o d
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Latino community.
Garcia-Velasco was awarded $5,000 and will travel to
Washington, D.C. to meet President Obama with the
other state winners.
Roosevelt High S ch ool’s Elena Garcia-Velasco
has been named Oregon teacher o f the Year.