Page 2
March 28, 2018
Gang Enforcement Team Faulted
Audit finds lack
of accountability
reduces trust
A new city audit finds that the
Portland Police Bureau’s Gang
Enforcement Team is hindered by
a lack of accountability and trans-
parency that reduces community
trust.
In two reports issued Wednes-
day, March 28, City Auditor Mary
Hull Caballero says gang enforce-
ment officers carried out traffic
stops that disproportionately af-
fected black residents. The stops
were too broad and not limited to
criminal gang suspects, communi-
ty members said.
The gang enforcement team also
collected and shared information
about people’s gang associations,
but these practices suffered from
lack of accountability and con-
cerned residents, the auditor found.
The Portland Police Bureau’s Gang Enforcement Team carries out a traffic stop. A new city audit finds
the team is hindered by a lack of accountability that reduces community trust.
“We found that the Police Bu-
reau cannot demonstrate that these
stops were effective. This was be-
cause the Bureau did not require
officers to collect certain infor-
King March, Rally to
Commemorate 50 Years
Leaders of the black communi-
ty and advocates for social justice
will mark the 50th anniversary
of the death of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. with a march and rally.
All people who love democra-
cy, freedom, justice, equality and
peace and who desire to build
King’s “Beloved Community” are
urged take a stand by attending
the Wednesday, April 4 events,
starting at 5 p.m. at the Japa-
nese-American Historical Plaza
at Northwest Naito Parkway and
Davis Street.
The group will then march
across the Steel Bridge to the
MLK statue outside the Oregon
Convention Center for a 6:30
p.m. rally. Sponsors are the Albi-
na Ministerial Alliance Coalition
for Justice and Police Reform
and Ecumenical Ministries of Or-
egon.
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mation and also did not analyze
available data,” a summary from
the reports said.
Without this data, the Gang En-
forcement Team cannot analyze
March for Our Lives
Tens of thousands of people led
by high school students packed
downtown Portland Saturday
to take part in a national protest
against gun violence. The re-
sounding message from many
was to adopt tougher laws against
semi-automatic weapons and
ammo. The musical group Portu-
gal. The Man showed their support
by participating in the “March for
Our Lives” event and performing
at pioneer Courthouse Square.
Former Church Leader Charged
An arrest warrant was issued this
month for the former chief exec-
utive officer of Emmanuel Com-
munity General Services, a north
Portland nonprofit associated
with Emanuel Temple Church,
for allegedly embezzling roughly
$70,000 from the organization.
Clayborn Collins, 50, is facing
one count of aggravated theft.
or explain the overrepresentation
of African Americans in its stops,
Caballero found.
For one practice, designating
some people as criminal gang af-
The
Week
in
Review
the repeal of the Second Amend-
ment to allow for significant gun
control legislation. The 97-year-
old Stevens said in an essay
Tuesday on The New York Times
website that repeal would weaken
the National Rifle Association’s
ability to “block constructive gun
control legislation.”
No Charges in Police Shooting
Two Louisiana officers who fatally
shot a black man selling CDs out-
side a convenience store in 2016
won’t be prosecuted in the death,
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff
Landry announced Tuesday. The
37-year-old victim was pinned to
the pavement by two white offi-
cers when the shooting occurred.
Attorneys for the victim’s family
slammed what they called a biased
decision.
Protest Impacts Kings Game
Hundreds of outraged demonstra-
Center of Landmark Case Dies tors rallied Thursday in Sacra-
Linda Brown Thompson, who as
a young girl was the student at the
center of the landmark Supreme
Court case Brown v. Board of Ed-
ucation that declared school seg-
regation unconstitutional, has died
in Topeka, Kansas. She was 76.
Brown was in third grade in 1950
when she was denied admission
to an all-white elementary school.
2nd Amendment Repeal Sought Kansas schools at the time were
Retired Supreme Court Justice
segregated by state law.
John Paul Stevens is calling for
Established 1970
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filiates, the Police Bureau could
not show that it complied with its
own policy.
The Bureau acknowledged the
community’s mistrust of suspect-
ed gang lists last year and stop
compiling them in October. But a
second practice, making a list of
most active gang members and
associates, was still in use at the
conclusion of the audit.
If police continue the most ac-
tive list or other practices of col-
lecting information on people’s
gang relationships, we recom-
mend it should adopt a policy and
put safeguards in place to protect
people’s rights and the accuracy of
the information, the audit said.
In her formal response, Port-
land Police Chief Danielle Outlaw
agreed with the recommendations
outlined in the reports. She said the
Bureau has already made changes
to its policies and practices as a re-
sult of the audits, but said there’s
still room for enhancements.
r ePorter /W eb e ditor :
mento, Calif. to protest the police
shooting of an unarmed black man,
22-year-old Stephon Clark, who
was killed in his grandmother’s
backyard. The crowd first went
into Sacramento’s City Hall, then
moved to Interstate 5 and blocked
an entrance to the arena hosting
a Sacramento Kings game. The
basketball game eventually was
played, but with few spectators as
the doors to the arena were locked.
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