Page 12
July 06. 2022
Support for Body Cams
Continued from Front
dash cams are a step in the right direction
to improve interactions between law en-
forcement and the public, especially for
Black and other residents of color.
In January, the local civil rights
group joined the American Civil Liber-
ties Union in a lawsuit calling for the
U.S. Department of Justice to investi-
gate “excessive force and discriminato-
ry policing” by the city of Vancouver
and Clark County law enforcement.
But Tolbert was cautious about the
proposal because it leaves funding
solely to voters.
“I am disappointed there isn’t a dif-
ferent way for the county to fund body
cams,” she said. “I worry that it will be
defeated at the ballot box.”
Atkins maintains that police cameras
will benefit both the public and officers,
and the sales tax funds could also be
used for more staff.
“There’s a lot more to it than strap-
ping on a camera or having it in a police
car,” he said. “It has to do with having
staff up front to run the program for
public records requests for data kept in
volumes, and we have to have people in
place to retrieve it.”
Cameras will help hold law enforce-
ment accountable, Atkins said, but with
advantages to the officers as well.
“It’s a piece of equipment that helps us
evaluate our work, and review of the vid-
eo gives us a real look at what we’re do-
ing and why and also helps as a training
tool. It will make the community more
aware and will make us all safer,” he said
“Our critical staffing levels are low
and as we grow we need to make sure
inmates are watched over properly,” he
said. “That part is essential.”
Atkins said the cameras can be a
training tool for “a clearer picture of
what we just went through so we can
get a clearer view of events.”
He said the camera’s video record-
ings also can vindicate officers when a
complaint isn’t valid. “It actually en-
forces that officers are doing the job
right,” he said.
Tony Golik, Clark County prosecut-
ing attorney, described the cameras as
essential and powerful tools that can
provide evidence beyond the confines
of police officer accountability.
“When we receive cases with body
cams, we can download and review
it in the same say we view police re-
ports,” he said.
“It’s one thing to read an officer’s
recitation of what happened, but another
thing to actually view it,” Golik said. “It’s
getting the best evidence to use through-
out the system. Prosecutors throughout
the country feel it is an essential tool.”
Judge Derek Vanderwood, presiding
judge of Clark County Superior Court,
and Judge Kelli Osler along with mem-
bers of their staff, talked about many
jail diversion programs and educational
programs to steer offenders in the right
direction and reduce recidivism that
could potentially benefit from the tax if
it is passed.
Ballots for the Aug. 2 election will
be mailed to Clark County voters on
July 15, Bowerman said.
Abortion Rights Protest
Continued from Page 3
o piNioN
Opinion articles do not necessarily represent
the views of the Portland Observer. We
welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas.
Submit to news@portlandobserver.com.
After the Overturn
of Roe v. Wade
Black women will
suffer the most
By Glynda Carr
The Supreme Court just dealt a devas-
tating blow to reproductive rights. With
its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, five Re-
publican-appointed Justices on the U.S.
Supreme Court swept away half a centu-
ry of progress and eviscerated women’s
rights and equality.
After the decision was leaked a month
earlier, we knew this moment would
come, but that doesn’t make the news
any easier to digest.
For Black women in this country,
the decision is especially devastating.
Thirteen percent of American women
are Black, but 38% of people receiving
abortion care are Black. Abortion is nec-
essary healthcare – and a lack of access
can quite literally mean life or death for
many Black women. This is especially
true for Black women who have low-
er-incomes, live in rural areas, and do
not have access to health care because of
systemic racism and discrimination.
According to CDC data, Black women
are nearly three times more likely to die
during childbirth than white women and
are more likely to face maternal health
issues. With new abortion restrictions
and bans, these health outcomes are ex-
pected to get even worse: A 2021 Duke
University study estimated the potential
death toll following a total abortion ban
and found a 33 percent increase in Black
women who died due to pregnancy-relat-
ed complications.
The states that are already moving to
ban abortion are among those with the
largest Black populations in the country.
Consider Mississippi, the state with the
highest percentage of Black residents in
the nation, and one of the 13 states with
a “trigger law” that ensured the court’s
decision would result in a near-immedi-
ate ban on abortion access. Three oth-
er states with the highest proportion of
Black residents – Tennessee, Louisiana,
and Arkansas – have these trigger laws
in place, and many other states, especial-
ly in the South, are moving to severely
restrict or outright ban abortion.
The impact of new abortion bans and re-
strictions will be felt most acutely by poor
and working-class Black women – Black
women are significantly more likely to live
in poverty compared to white women.
For these women, the overturning of
Roe won’t mean that abortions will end;
it will mean that access to critical, po-
tentially life-saving healthcare will move
hundreds of miles out of reach. It will
mean time off of work (likely unpaid)
and travel and childcare costs – expenses
Glynda Carr
that may not be possible for women liv-
ing paycheck to paycheck, struggling to
simply put meals on the table.
At a time like this, when daughters sud-
denly have fewer rights than their moth-
ers and grandmothers, it is challenging to
imagine a way forward. But the answer
is to do everything we can to restore our
rights and ensure every woman has access
to the healthcare they need and deserve, a
right afforded to them under our nation’s
Constitution. To do that, we need to elect
and elevate more Black women.
Black women have been at the fore-
front of the fight to protect and expand
reproductive rights – from members of
Congress like Reps. Cori Bush, Ayanna
Pressley, and Lauren Underwood, to our
first Black woman Vice President Kama-
la Harris, to soon-to-be-seated Supreme
Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
We must elect Stacey Abrams to lead
the state of Georgia – one of the states
that is now positioned to severely restrict,
or overturn the right to access abortion
care under the leadership of their current
Governor, Brian Kemp. And finally, we
need to not only encourage, but throw
our unwavering support behind more
Black women from all across the country
to run for office – women who personally
understand the deep impact that a lack of
healthcare and abortion restrictions have
on communities that have lacked fair
representation for far too long.
Today and every day, I stand with my
partners and allies ready to continue the
critical fight for access to affordable,
safe, legal abortions for all women, no
matter where they live, how they iden-
tify, or how much money they have. We
will not back down.
Glynda Carr is president and CEO of
Higher Heights for America, a national
organization dedicated to harnessing the
power to expand Black women's elected
representation and voting participation,
and advance progressive policies.