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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2015)
News ACLU continued from page 1 “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ernie F oster Founder/Publisher B oBBie D ore F oster Executive Editor J erry F oster Advertising Manager C hristen M C C urDy News Editor P atriCia i rvin Graphic Designer a rashi y oung D onovan M. s Mith Reporters M oniCa J. F oster Seattle Office Coordinator J ulie K eeFe s usan F rieD Photographers 2015 MERIT AWARDS WINNER The Skanner has received 20 NNPA awards since 1998 Racial Profiling Before HB 2002 B was passed, Oregon law already prohibited profiling on the basis of race. The new definition includes age, ethnicity, color, national origin, language, gender, gen- der identity, sexual orientation, political affili- ation, religion, homelessness or disability. McCullough said this expanded definition is important because many different populations are profiled. The ACLU of Oregon’s stance on profiling is that it is a false assumption that membership in a group means criminality, and that this assumption is often based on implicit bias and stereotypes. HB 2002 B also funds the Law Enforcement Contacts Policy and Data Review Committee, which began its work on racial profiling in 2001. The Law Enforcement Profiling Work Group will analyze profiling complaints and make recommendations on profiling patterns which may reduce profiling in the future. body-camera bill that became law. One provi- sion was that cameras needed to record con- tinuously when police interact with a suspect instead of allowing officers to pick and choose Before HB 2704 was passed, a bystander need- ed to announce to the officer that he or she was recording. McCullough said this was not only inconsis- ‘It should not be a crime to pull out a phone, hold it up, and record an officer who is engaged in misconduct’ Body-Worn Cameras recording times. Body cameras should be used only during legitimate law enforcement purposes and can- not use facial recognition or other biometric matching technology to analyze recordings. These were added to the bill to protect people from excessive surveillance and invasion of privacy. The legislation also made rules concerning the ownership and release of video footage. Even if third-party vendors supply the camer- as, they do not own the film. Creating the rules for police body-worn cam- eras required negotiation among competing concerns, McCullough said. “Police body cameras have significant po- tential as a tool for accountability by capturing video footage of misconduct,” she said. “Body cameras are also a surveillance tool and pose significant risks to privacy.” The ACLU of Oregon participated in a work group that added many provisions into the “It should not be a crime to pull out a phone, hold it up, and record an officer who is engaged in misconduct,” McCullough said. But the rules about recording police in Ore- gon were unclear. National courts have agreed that the right to record the police is protected by the First Amendment, but in Oregon, recording police conversations violated an eavesdropping law. Recording Police tent with constitutional rights but dangerous to interfere with an officer who is actively en- gaged with a suspect. HB 2704 affirms the right to record the con- versations of police officers who are perform- ing official duties openly and in plain view. It doesn’t allow people to trespass to record or to record whispered conversations of officers. Cell Phone Privacy It is a routine procedure to search a cell phone during an arrest. With the aid of forensic cell phone data extraction devices, an officer can crack cell passwords, bypass user locks, recover deleted files and access data right there on site. “As technology advances, our digital foot- prints expand, containing more and more data about the most intimate aspects of our lives,” McCullough said. Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com SEI continued from page 1 The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 E-mail: info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicit- ed. The middle school students are exploring what building their own business to solve a community problem would look like — so- called “social entrepreneurship.” Nadya Okomoto, a 17-year-old senior at Catlin Gabel who start- ed her own non-profit, Camions of Care, distributing feminine hy- giene products to houseless wom- en several years ago will serve as a facilitator for BOSSI, working with peers not much younger than her. The possibility of creating one’s own business, Okomoto said, is not something most kids her age think about.“I think that’s my favorite part about working with SEI, is that they are so aware about the issues that are happening in their community and they’re aware of the injustices. But they’ve really never considered their ability to create change, and I think that’s why this program is so empower- the nonprofit bar Oregon Public House Stephen Green. The Small Business Adminis- tration will also come in to share with the aspiring business-owners ‘That’s my favorite part about working with SEI, is that they are so aware about the issues that are happening in their community’ ing,” said Okomoto. As for the adults, they’ll have an array of area-professionals come in to share their expertise.Leaders include Joy Davis of Design+- Culture Lab, Tique Box founder, Paige Hendrix, startup mentor Dwayne Johnson, and founder of opportunities for government con- tracts, something Hicks said is an underutilized resource by Blacks in business. Hicks points out that often fund- ing opportunities for startups are small due to the high risk that comes with new ventures. testament to the staying power of the Black United Fund and wom- en’s history.” Sheng said being in what is now branded an “arts district,” individ- nature, depicting these Black his- toric figures has been a welcomed shift from his normal work. While he and Nichols draw to- ward the finish line, he said it’s “A lot of folks shy away from that because it’s like, ‘The gov- ernment, that’s scary,’” Hicks said. “Catering [is an option] -- they hold workshops and events. There’s lawn care for their public events, there’s a lot of opportuni- ties for the people to have the gov- ernment as one of their custom- ers and I don’t think that’s well known.” Overall, Hicks said the pro- gramming being offered by SEI this summer is about sharing re- sources and knowledge, and pos- sibly create some new ways of thinking about Oregon entrepre- neurship. “It’s up to them what- ever business they come up with — whatever idea they’re looking at,” Hicks said. Mural © 2015 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE- SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To view The Skanner website on your mobile device, scan this QR code • Local news • Opinions • Jobs, Bids • Sports • Entertainment • Music reviews • Bulletin board • RSS feeds continued from page 1 women like those honored in the mural has enabled organizations like the 27-year-old nonprofit she heads to continue carrying out its mission as an economic power- house stabilizing Black communi- ties in Oregon. Intersectional creative change agency Vox Siren and social justice art agency Art Uprising helped spearhead the project. Zoe Piliafas, who founded both organizations, said after passing the Black United Fund building on Christmas Day last year she was inspired to approach the orga- nization to create an artistic proj- ect that would honor its history.” “I think when we think about history, and the history that has not been addressed, women of color have been ignored in public spaces, and I think that’s time that that changes,” said Piliafas, who is White. “I think it’s moreover a Page 2 July 22, 2015 The Portland Skanner ‘Women of color have been ignored in public spaces, and I think that’s time that that changes’ uals and organizations approach her organization “all the time” with offers to redecorate it. But Vox Siren’s commitment to keep- ing people of color at the forefront of the project won out. Artists Eatcho and Jeremy Nich- ols, both local artists of color— have been responsible for getting the painting wrapped in the next coming weeks. For Eatcho, a muralist whose work is usually more surrealist in worn on him emotionally but physically too. ““When you’re out there work- ing on a mural and it’s 25 feet high to 100 feet across, it’s 100 degrees outside and you’re on a giant scaf- fold and you’re going back and forth, people just want to talk to you because they see a lot of color and they think a lot of things,” he said. “But really I’m having just as much of a time of work and en- durance as it seems. So I’m work- ing, just like a house painter, or a laborer, a construction worker. So when I’m up there I’m not only feeling [emotional], but I’m also having feelings of, ‘Man I’ve got to grab this paint. I’ve got to make sure my water’s up there, I’ve got to move my body, I’ve got to keep focused so I don’t fall off this two floor scaffold and die.’” As the Alberta area, and the neighborhoods continue to gen- trify, Piliafas said monuments like these become pertinent for both residents both new and old. “Portland and the state of Ore- gon has a racist past, and we don’t recognize that, [but] there are many of us in the city now that are deciding that we can collectively do better,” she said. Read the rest of this story at www.theskanner.com
