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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2017)
QR code for Portland Observer Online ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLVI Number 1 Prison where we least expect it New Year’s Resolutions Jail time merges with daily life in new documentary Staying motivated key to losing weight See Metro, page 9 See story, page 5 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • January 4, 2017 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Portland Police office Joana Ortiz, assigned to patrol in the Police Bureau’s North Precinct, participates in a new Portland Police Bureau police recruitment video to help attract more minority and women police officers to the bureau’s ranks. Holistic Approach Police Bureau’s new efforts to recruit minority officers by Z aChary S enn t he P ortland o bServer The Portland Police Bureau has launched a new police officer recruitment initiative to increase the force’s di- versity and boost officer retention. The goal is to remove barriers from its hiring process in order to widen the pool of potential applicants. A newly-produced video accom- panies the effort, which features a diverse group of ac- tive-duty Portland Police officers describing why they find their jobs rewarding. “What we’re really trying to do is increase the appeal of law enforcement and the Portland Police Bureau to a diverse community,” explains police Sgt. Peter Simpson, the Bureau’s public information officer. Like so many police departments around the country, the ranks of the Portland’s police officers have been most- ly white and male; failing to look like the city it serves. “A lot of agencies struggle to attract candidates of di- verse backgrounds,” Simpson said, citing one major factor as having to do with the historical distrust of law enforce- ment in certain communities. The new recruitment effort attempts to appeal to appli- cants of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds but also to women and members of the LGBTQ community. Portland expects to fill over 70 vacant police positions in the im- mediate future and prepare for hundreds of police officers who will retire in the next few years. Officer Joana Ortiz, who is assigned to patrol in the North Precinct, appears in the latest recruitment video. She faces the camera to describe how many people stop her and remark that she is the first Hispanic woman they have ever seen on the force. “I really didn’t expect to be a police officer. I actually didn’t like police officers grow- C ontinued on P age 14
