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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2023)
February 22, 2023 INSIDE L ocaL N ews Page 3 Reconsidering Police Qualifications Oregon joins debate over police education requirements s ports page 5 M etro o piNioN c Lassified /B ids page 6 page 9 pages 10 Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a member of the National Newspaper Association--Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association PO QR code Publisher: Mark Washington, Sr. Editor: Shawntell Washington Office Mngr/Clasfds : Lucinda Baldwin Admin Coord : Quayuana Washington Creative Director: Kenya Anderson Advertising Mngr: Tony Washington CALL 503-288-0033 • FAX 503-288-0015• news@portlandobserver.com ads@portlandobserver.com• subscription@portlandobserver.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 Subscribe ! 503-288-0033 Attn: Subscriptions, PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208 $45.00 for 3 months • $80.00 for 6 mo. • $125.00 for 1 year Name: Telephone: Address: Fill Out & Send To: (please include check with this subscription form) or email subscriptions@portlandobserver.com Amid a renewed nationwide focus on police qualifications fol- lowing the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, an Oregon lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require law enforcement officers to complete at least two years of higher education. Police departments have wres- tled for years with officer educa- tion requirements. Many say that raising them would worsen cur- rent staffing shortages and make it harder to recruit candidates from diverse backgrounds. But reform advocates say that continuing ed- ucation past high school can equip officers with critical life skills that could help improve their interac- tions with the public. “You’re learning, you’re read- ing about other communities, you’re reading about other peo- ple, you’re getting a sense of re- spect for people who you do not know, communities that you do not know,” said Democratic Ore- gon state Sen. Lew Frederick, the bill’s chief sponsor. A Portland Police officer watches protesters rallying at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse on Sept. 26, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner) The bill, which was introduced last month, would push back against the recent trend of low- ering police hiring standards by requiring two years of higher ed- ucation for departments with less than 50 officers and a bachelor’s degree for departments with more than 50. It would apply to police, corrections, parole, probation and reserve officers. The bill would set police education requirements in state law. Generally, these require- ments are determined by munici- palities or individual departments. The Portland Police Bureau in Oregon is among the agencies that have struggled to recruit. The city was gripped by months-long pro- tests in 2020 following the racial justice demonstrations sparked by Floyd’s death, and has seen record numbers of homicides the past two years. The police bureau only requires a high school or GED diploma. But that minimum requirement, it says, doesn’t necessarily result in hiring candidates with less educa- tion. While testifying against the Oregon bill on Tuesday, PPB Capt. Greg Pashley said that about 70% of the bureau’s sworn employees have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and that 46% of applicants have a two-year degree or higher. Another hearing for the Oregon bill has yet to be scheduled. Is Covid Over? Third anniversary of Oregon’s first case approaching We are approaching the third anniversary of the first COVID-19 diagnosis in Oregon on February 28, and the federal government recently announced its plan to end the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11. Dr. Katie Sharff, Chief of In- fectious Disease for Kaiser Per- manente Northwest, is available for interviews to talk about her diagnosis of the first patient in Oregon; how far we have come and what we’ve accomplished as a community and health care system; advances in health care knowledge and delivery; and what the future may hold as we move forward. Dr. Sharff has been on the front lines of the pandemic from the beginning, treating patients and studying emerging data, and meeting the pandemic challenges not just as a healthcare provider, but as a community member and mother of two young children. “COVID-19 will never real- ly be over, even with the public health emergency ending. But we are in a much brighter situation than we were a year ago,” said Dr. Sharff. “Science is always evolv- ing, and we cannot predict what will happen, but we have made great medical advancements in the past three years. The public should be reassured that vaccines and therapeutics do work at prevent- ing severe disease and hospital- ization. New variants will emerge and we will need to be dynamic in our response moving forward and Dr. Katie Sharff, Chief of learn from our prior experiences - Infectious Disease for Kaiser both the successes and missteps.” Permanente Northwest
