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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2023)
Page 6 January 25, 2023 Oregon Stands with the Asian American Community AC Art Nakamura shaking hands with Chief Lovell New Assistant Chief Appointed Ceremony held for Police Buerau Police officers stand outside a ballroom dance club in Monterey Park, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. A mass shooting took place at a dance club following a Lunar New Year celebration, setting off a manhunt for the suspect. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Portland leaders and Asian Americans mourn victims It was the first kick off to the Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park since before the pandemic, with large crowds filling the streets in the majority Chinese American city near Los Angeles for live entertainment, carnival rides and food. The celebrations were interrupted by tragedy after a gunman entered a ball- room dance hall and opened fire, killing 10 people and wounding 10 more. Violence against the Asian and Pacific Islander communities has gone up since the COVID-19 pandemic began, provok- ing racist attacks on people wrongfully blamed for the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders in Oregon’s Asian American community mourned the loss of the vic- tims of the Monterey Park mass shooting while still celebrating the Lunar New Year here. Many community members came out to the Milwaukie Community Center for the North Clackamas Parks and Recreation’s first Lunar New Year festival. “The shootings highlight the damage that can come from racist and xeno- phobic rhetoric. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, racism against Asians and Asian Americans became in- creasingly normalized,” wrote Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, in a joint letter with 23 other officials. “Politicians like for- mer President Donald Trump continue to blame the pandemic on Asians and Asian Americans, regularly calling COVID-19 the ‘China virus’ and the ‘kung flu.’ Words matter and these racist sentiments have consequences.” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler wrote on twitter “the mass shooting in Monte- rey Park is absolutely devastating. I am mourning the lives lost and am keeping close communications with Portland’s Chinese American community as they celebrate the Lunar New Year. We must unite to stop gun violence.” In a special ceremony, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) appointed a new Assistant Chief and Commander, pro- moted a Captain, while also hiring offi- cers, Public Safety Support Specialists and professional staff members. The new Assistant Chief is Art Na- kamura, who will oversee the Investiga- tions Branch. AC Nakamura previously was a Commander in charge of the Spe- cialized Resources Division. AC Na- kamura takes over for former AC Jami Resch who resigned from the Bureau on January 13, 2023, to become the Deputy Chief of Springfield Police Department. In addition to this appointment, Cap- tain Rob Simon was appointed to Com- mander and assigned to North Precinct. Lieutenant Greg Pashley was promoted to Captain and assigned to the Personnel Division. The Bureau now has 800 sworn mem- bers. This includes all ranks from Chief to the 541 officers. Of those officers, 102 are in training. There are currently 308 patrol officers. PPB is building back from its lowest number of sworn members, which was 773 in September 2022. This was the fewest sworn members since 1989. The lowest number of members at the rank of officer was in May 2022, when there were 509 out of 609 authorized. While these officers are being pre- sented their badge today, it will be some time yet before they are fully trained and working in patrol cars. The training process for a new hire is 18 months, in- cluding the Basic Police Academy at the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in Salem, a PPB Advanced Academy, and field training with a coach. Also hired today were 6 new Public Safety Support Specialists (PS3s), who are non-sworn, unarmed members in uni- form who serve alongside sworn officers who handle non-emergency matters. PPB now has 47 PS3s, and has hired as many as budget allocations allow. Today, the Bureau also hired five Po- lice Records Specialists and is now ful- ly staffed after several months operating with vacancies. The Bureau also recog- nized a new Police Desk Clerk, Force Audit Analyst, Digital Forensics Exam- iner, and Police Review Board Coordina- tor (all professional staff members) who have been recently hired. The Portland Police Bureau still has sworn vacancies and continues hiring both lateral and entry level community police officers. It's an exciting and re- warding career, with excellent benefits. Salary ranges $75k-$107k per year plus pay incentives. Benefits are 95% paid by the city.
