October 5, 2016
Page 5
Pushed from
the Agenda
Computer
Science
Introduction
C ontinued FroM F ront
evaluations for police currently on the job
and weeds out cops who may not be good
for the profession, providing as an exam-
ple, a person bullied throughout life who
becomes a cop and holds a superiority
complex over the residents they serve.
James’ brother Maqueal, from his
standpoint as someone who witnessed the
Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, said of
Portland’s police and community interac-
tions, “We don’t get any peaceful sleep
because we know we have to wake up and
deal with the same old mess on our plate.”
Another issue that riled up the activist
citizens was a proposed policy on body
camera footage that would allow officers
to review the video prior to writing inci-
dent reports. Hales accepted the terms in
private negations with the union, going
outside a pledge he made to allow the pub-
lic to weigh in on the contract, the advo-
cates said.
Talks between Hales and the activists
broke down last week after the mayor
suddenly moved a scheduled meeting be-
tween the groups from City Hall to the
Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church,
a historically black congregation in north
Portland.
The lack of enthusiasm for the con-
tract continued the following Wednesday
during a City Council meeting.
The mayor amended the body camera
proposal to say “substantial public input
will be required prior to finalization of the
policy,” but verbiage stating the police
union still has the final decision on vid-
eo viewing hadn’t changed, drew wide-
spread condemnation from the activists.
Many approached the podium with
heated words for the mayor and city com-
missioners. Comments by David Kif
Davis of Multnomah County Copwatch
led to Hales storming out of the cham-
bers, leaving the audience in the dark for
around 20 minutes.
With much of the public’s testimony
being not having enough time to read and
fully comprehend the contract, Hales fi-
nally decided to postpone the council’s
vote for at least until Oct. 13. He also
agreed to open this week’s agenda for
more discussion on the issues.
“You’re just pretending to listen to
us,” McKelvey said at the podium. “We
all know what you’re going to do once
this meeting is over.”
Nevertheless, the activists saw triumph
in the delay.
“We view this as a victory for our move-
ment, says McKelvey. “We have won the
battle but the war is still to come.”
Monday, Hales issued a statement say-
ing there was understandable confusion
about the collective bargaining agreement
and offered to address the concerns.
He said the agreement was needed to
fill officer vacancies and that it reinforc-
es accountability and transparency in the
Police Bureau. He also asked residents
to read the contract on the City Auditor’s
website along with a draft proposal on po-
lice using body worn cameras.
Kids from local Boys & Girls Clubs
had an opportunity to dive into the world
of computer science and spend the af-
ternoon with those working in the field,
during a special after-school visit to
Google in Portland last week.
The kids took part in a hands-on
computer coding activity, listened to a
computer science career panel featuring
Google employees who work on popular
A hands-on computer coding experiment is part of the fun when from the Boys
and Girls Club visit Google of Portland.
C ontinued on P age 8