Age Ain’t a Factor QR code for Portland Observer Online New Approach on Drugs Civil rights leaders applaud call for reforms Groovin’ High Steppers plan soiree See Local News, page 3 See story, page 17 ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLV Number 40 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • October 5, 2016 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Photo by C ervante P oPe /t he P ortland o bserver Portland City Hall is draped in protest banners as activists from Black Lives Matter, Don’t Shoot PDX and other civil rights groups oppose a new collective bargaining agree- ment with the union that represents members of the Portland Police Bureau. C ervante P oPe t he P ortland o bserver Advocates for police reforms to empower civil rights against racial profiling and other unjust police practices have joined together to stop, at least temporarily, Mayor Charlie Hales from getting approval of a new labor con- tract for members of the Portland Police Bureau. “You serve the community first, and then you serve the police second,” activist Jamaal Washington told May- or Hales and members of the Portland City Council last week. “We are not subjects, we are citizens and our voices are supposed to mean something.” Williams is among a large group of protestors, includ- ing members of Black Lives Matter and Don’t Shoot PDX who camped outside of City Hall last week, that pledge to continue to protest at the front doors of city government over a police contract they say rewards police officers fi- nancially without making the streets safer for minority and disadvantaged residents. The current Portland Police Association contract doesn’t expire until June 17, six months after Hales’ term as mayor is over, leaving many to wonder why the rush. Some of the activists said the next labor agreement with police officers should be negotiated with incoming Mayor Ted Wheeler, who doesn’t take office until January. by Pushed from the Agenda Mayor’s labor deal with police runs aground “Where is the fire?” Portland NAACP President Jo Ann Hardesty said, calling the contract Hales submitted as one that reflects a narrow focus on giving raises and not taking in the will or voice of the community. The proposed labor agreement boasts a nine percent raise overall for police officers over the next three years, a bonus fee for recruiting new officers, a higher starting pay for new officers, and gives retired officers who come back to duty for six years the highest pay grade available. “We’re against this because essentially they’re going to be paying more for maniac cops to come in and kill us,” said Danielle James, a local mother who also said her daughter was assaulted by a Portland Police officer after being racially profiled. “These cops don’t know our children; they don’t know that this 14-year-old black kid walking with a hoodie and sweatpants is actually an Ivy League student that didn’t just rob a store.” James argued it’s not in the best interest of the com- munity to have more officers on the streets if the police that are on duty are not adequately prepared in the way they deal with members of the black community and other minority populations. She called for a contract that expands psychological C ontinued on P age 5