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www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • October 25, 2017
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Portland police keep the peace while monitoring an intersection, downtown, in this archive photo. As policies relating to potential conflicts between police, the mentally
ill and people of color are investigated, a new report puts a greater emphasis on officers using de-escalation practices to defuse violence.
Less Force, More Empathy
Changes due after
report finds police
use too much force
by D anny P eterson
t he P ortlanD o bserver
Some insiders within the Portland Police Bureau and
social justice advocates outside of it are hopeful for prog-
ress in officer training that will put a greater emphasis
on de-escalating conflicts between police and the public,
while others are cautious about empty promises.
A group of national consultants recently found that the
Portland Police Bureau is not training its officers enough
in de-escalation techniques as an alternative to force, espe-
cially as it studies deadly force and investigates potential
conflicts between police and the mentally ill and people
of color.
The consultants wrote in early October that Portland
Police training needed to put “greater emphasis to building
verbal communication and de-escalation skills.” To date,
however, insufficient training time and a lack of quality
instruction has been devoted to these important behaviors,
the report said.
By observing three of Portland’s annual police train-
ing cycles, the consultants noted how in many instances
police were often escalating tensions rather than defusing
them. Some of the examples involved officers trying to
get suspects to follow commands by lacing verbal orders
with profanity and a raised voice. While officers recorded
these interactions as ‘non-force,” techniques, the consul-
tants said they were the opposite.
The report said de-escalation techniques are those that
are used to calm an agitated subject, promote rational de-
cision making and gain non-fear based, voluntary compli-
ance.
“There appears to be a large-scale confusion regarding
the intent of de-escalation with the bureau and the confu-
sion has yet to be adequately rectified through training and
the evaluation of force events,” the consultants wrote.
Portland civil rights organizer Jo Ann Hardesty, who
has been working with police to incorporate communi-
ty relations into training, told the Portland Observer that
the idea of stronger de-escalation training would be “one
C ontinueD on P age 2