York
Powerful
performance
comes to
Jefferson High
QR code for
Portland Observer
Online
‘City of Roses’
See Metro, page 9
Volume XLV
Number 10
Genocide
in Africa
Portland
director tackles
incendiary play
See Local News, page 3
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • March 9, 2016
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Photo by b eth n akamura /t he o regonian via W hite h ouse / Pool
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch smiles as she visits George Middle School in north Portland Thursday. Lynch was in the city to highlight community policing partner-
ships, like the school’s youth gang and violence prevention program where police officers teach skills to help students resist gangs and violence.
More work to do,
top law enforcement
official says
m iChael l eighton
P ortland o bserver e ditor
Portland is making some progress in addressing unfair
outcomes as it relates to racism in the local criminal jus-
tice system, but more work is needed, according to the
nation’s top law enforcement official.
by
Policing
in
Focus
Attorney General of the United States Loretta Lynch,
President Obama’s chief law enforcement official, recog-
nized the city’s efforts to address police issues during a
visit to the Rose City on Thursday.
Lynch said the Portland Police Bureau has improve-
ments to make in how it engages with local residents, in-
cluding Portland’s black community, but pointed to some
of the actions the city has already taken as “a positive
work in progress.”
A 2012 investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice
found Portland police engaged in a pattern of excessive
force against the mentally ill. Changes to Portland poli-
cies, training and oversight are coming as part of a nego-
tiated settlement of a lawsuit that was generated by the
federal probe.
C ontinued on P age 2