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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2021)
C AREERS Special Edition Page 16 April 21, 2021 FBI Team Ups with Portland on Guns My Top 10 Films for 2020 New task force investigates gun crimes In response to a persistent and concerning rise in local gun vio- lence, Multnomah County Dis- trict Attorney Mike Schmidt and Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug joined area law en- forcement partners last week to announce a new initiative to co- ordinate and focus local and fed- eral law enforcement resources on investigating and prosecuting gun crimes in Multnomah County. The Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and Gresham Police De- partment entered into a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Depart- ment of Justice—to include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explo- sives (ATF)—to deputize a small contingent of local law enforce- ment officers to focus exclusively on investigating gun violence and crimes involving firearms. The federally-deputized offi- cers will be assigned to the Metro Safe Streets Task Force, officials said. All of agencies involved have agreed that community and law enforcement programs designed to prevent gun violence before it occurs are critical to solving this public health crisis. The new gun violence focus does not seek to preempt or re- place any existing or proposed prevention-based gun violence reduction efforts. Rather, this new initiative is focused on investigat- ing shootings after they occur and, where appropriate and supported by evidence, charging those re- sponsible in state or federal court. Officials said because the pur- pose of the collaboration between law enforcement is to interdict gun-related harm in our commu- nity, local law enforcement dep- utized under this new agreement will play no role in enforcing im- migration law nor performing any crowd management duties at First Amendment demonstrations or events. Participation in the Metro Safe Streets Task Force is meant to give local law enforcement a greater ability to coordinate investiga- tions across both the federal and state judicial systems; access fed- eral forensic testing and analysis resources; access needed equip- ment such as vehicles, addition- al police radios and computers; and receive funding for overtime costs not currently funded by local agencies. Management of the Metro Safe Streets Task Force will be shared among the Special Agent C onTinued from P age 9 Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt in Charge of the FBI in Oregon, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Seattle Field Division, the Multnomah County Sheriff, and the chiefs of the Portland Police Bureau and Gresham Police De- partment. The frequency of gun violence in Portland and greater Mult- nomah County demands an imme- diate response to quell the stagger- ing statistics, officials said. Officials said the greatest poten- tial for building stronger commu- nities and controlling violent crime will be achieved by increasing the number of neighborhood organi- zations actively involved in these same efforts, by them developing programs for young people in our community and having dedicated staff to work against violence. is, to my mind, a wholly successful film adaptation of the August Wil- son play. It benefits from an ab- solutely stunning cast--Chadwick Bozeman in his final role and Viola Davis both deserve Oscars for their performances, and the supporting cast members (especially Colman Domingo and Glynn Turman) are equally fine. Legendary blues singer Ma Rainey (Davis) gets more screen time than she has in the play, and the film grounds the action in the physical settings that drive the story, offering contrasting windows into the southern venues where Rainey was most under- stood and venerated away from the white gaze and the Chicago record- ing studio where she and her band are a commodity to be exploited by white supremacy. 7. I can’t help wondering if “The Dissident” failed to garner awards recognition and a spot on any lists of the year’s best films for the same reasons that it failed to secure a streaming platform on Netflix--that our government and business interests are reluctant to assist in bringing attention to the implications of the murder of jour- nalist Jamal Kashoggi for the world community and for the U.S. specif- ically. This excellent documentary really awakened me to the causes for concern, and does a masterful job of connecting dots that to this day have garnered shockingly few repercussions for the Saudi gov- ernment. 8. “Crip Camp” forever changed my perspective and made me ashamed that I knew so lit- tle about the legal and civil rights history it imparts. The film begins with exploration of a camp in the Catskills, Camp Jened, where, from 1951 to 1977, disabled ado- lescents had experiences of free- dom and access that were unheard of in their otherwise sheltered lives and likely would even be hard to come by today. stories like this are so underexplored never ceases to amaze me; we are so fortunate that LeBrecht and 9. “The Father” left me shak- en and disoriented--and, yes, I am recommending it. Although there have been some good films about people experiencing dementia, this is the first one to approach the subject from the vantage point of the person in decline--here, an 80-year-old man named Anthony (an astounding Anthony Hopkins). 10. “David Byrne’s American Utopia” is a work of sheer delight. Director Spike Lee is really in his wheelhouse here, offering us a way to experience in film a Broad- way concert show that Byrne cre- ated with a mesmerizing group of 11 musicians from all over the world.
