October 9, 2019
Page 5
Anniversary a Musical Tribute
Maranatha Church of God, 4222 N.E. 12th
Ave., invites the community to celebrate
Rev. Dr. T. Allen Bethel and his wife on their
25 years of service to the congregation and
serving the Portland community.
The pastoral celebration will be held at the
church on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. and a
concert to celebrate this joyous occasion will
feature National Gospel Recording Artists
Shawn Bigby, Yolanda “Yoli” DeBerry and
Lena Byrd-Miles.
Tickets are $25 and a portion of the pro-
ceeds will help offset health expenses Dr.
Bethel has faced as of late, church leaders
said.
“Please join us at this celebration or con-
sider making a donation that will make the
evening and journey a night he and his fam- Rev. Dr. T. Allen Bethel
ily won’t forget,” said Jermaine Atherton of
JAM Entertainment and a Maranatha Church Eventbrite.com (search 25th Anniversary
Celebration), via email at JAMPdx.Ent@
board member.
Tickets and donations can be received at Gmail.com or by calling 971-236-8503.
Push for Changes in Police Contract
C ontinued froM p age 3
teeth.
“The independent police re-
view doesn’t even have the power
to compel officers to testify and
also has no authority for disci-
pline,” he said.
Riley said to have real over-
sight, citizen review groups
should be able to interview offi-
cers and recommend discipline,
powers they don’t have at present.
The letter says officers should
be held accountable for using ex-
cessive force or “exhibited rac-
ism or other oppression against
targeted communities” and that
provisions in the current contract
“severely limit the scope of mis-
conduct investigations and nar- (footage from the camera) before
rowly restrict how discipline is they write their report. That seems
handled.”
ripe for abuse.”
Will Layng, executive direc-
Other concerns are the lack of tor of the nonprofit Portland Jobs
public trust, the letter states, be- With Justice, agrees that there
cause between April 2018 and needs to be a better police union
July 2019, Portland police offi- contract.
cers “killed eight people, shot at
“We need a better understand-
several more and launched severe ing of how policing has affected
assaults on unarmed demonstra- communities of color in our city,
tors.”
the role of what police adminis-
Riley said he is also concerned trators and administrators of the
that Portland cops are not required department and the city can do to
to have body cameras and current- ensure that racist and other bad
ly don’t wear them.
behaviors are held accountable,”
“That seems really strange,” he said. “That includes the con-
he said. “And assuming they get tract itself and how the city en-
body cameras, we want to make forces it. We need improvements
sure they (police) cannot review on both sides.”
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