April 26, 2017
The
Page 3
INSIDE
Week in Review
O PINION
This page
Sponsored by:
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pages 6-7
photo by Z achary s enn t he p ortland o bserver
Portland Police Bureau officers face off against protestors during a Jan. 20 rally decrying the
inauguration of President Donald Trump.
M ETRO
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Police Oversight Hurdles
Community fight
to keep reforms
on track
Z achary s enn
t he p ortland o bserver
Portland community leaders are
fighting to keep efforts to reform
the Portland Police Department
on track amidst a slew of delays,
complications and opposition
from the Trump Administration.
A framework for Portland po-
lice reforms was established after
a federal Department of Justice in-
vestigation found that the Portland
Police Bureau had used exces-
sive force against those suffering
from mental illness. As a result of
the subsequent 2012 court case,
by
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Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
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F OOD
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“United States v. City of Portland”
a settlement between the Justice
Department and City Hall was
reached which spelled out what
law enforcement policies, pro-
cedures and oversight measures
needed to be enacted or changed.
But since that time, the citi-
zen committee formed to track
progress has been slow going
and was essentially dissolved in
January due to constant in-fight-
ing. A new blow came earlier this
month when Attorney General Jeff
Sessions spoke out against being
involved and ordered a review of
all Justice Department agreements
with local law enforcement offices
across the country.
Rev. Dr. Leroy Haynes Jr., a
lifelong black civil rights activ-
ist, beginning with his commu-
nity organizing work in Dallas in
the 1960s, and since moving to
Portland in 1997, has been instru-
mental in the push for police re-
forms. Haynes serves as the pastor
of Allen Temple CME Church in
northeast Portland and as the chair
of the Albina Ministerial Alliance
Coalition for Justice and Police
Reform.
Following a series of officer-in-
volved killings, including those
of James Chasse and James Jahar
Perez, the AMA justice coalition
successfully joined other activists
including the Portland NAACP
and Copwatch to call for a federal
audit of the city’s law enforcement
department.
“Out of that audit, we had the
c ontinued on p age 5
Arrest in Fire Attack at Denny’s
Scott Ranstrom, the 69-year-
old man who suffered critical
injuries when an apparent strang-
er set him on fire at a Denny’s
restaurant near the Clackamas
Town Center was on life support
Tuesday at a Portland hospital,
his family said.
The attack happened last
Wednesday night when a young
man entered the restaurant and
sat in booth adjacent to the vic-
tim. Police said surveillance vid- Deshaun Swanger
eo showed the man dousing the
victim with gasoline and tossing
a lit match.
Police
arrested
Deshawn
Swanger, 24, on Friday on a
charge of attempted murder af-
ter getting a trip from one of his
neighbors. They said he was liv-
ing in transitional housing with
about 18 people.
A GoFundMe page was estab-
lished to help with Ranstrom’s
medical expenses.