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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
FEBRUARY 24, 2016 Portland and Seattle Volume XXXVIII No. 21 Opinion ...................................2 Calendars ...............................4 A & E ........................................5 Bids/Classifi eds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW 25 CENTS INSIDE: BLACK HISTORY MONTH Special Edition PHOTO BY M.O. STEVENS VIA WIKIMEDIA COM- MONS (PUBLIC DOMAIN) SEATTLE KILLING The Oregon House passed a bill last week that would make it easier for police departments to conceal offi cers’ names if they receive a “credible threat” following a controversial incident, such as use of force. House passes bill that would allow courts to hide cops’ names By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News A bill that would conceal the iden- tities of law enforcement offi cers who receive “credible threats” on their lives passed of the House last week, aft er being fast-tracked by a Portland-area Democrat at the request of Oregon State Police. House Bill 4087 would permit an offi - cer or law enforcement unit to petition circuit courts to withhold identifying information of offi cers or their imme- diate family in the event of a “credible threat of present danger to life of police offi cer or police offi cer’s immediate See OFFICERS on page 3 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Concealing Offi cers’ Identities Gerald Hankerson, the President of the Seattle King County Branch of the NAACP, described the killing of Che Taylor by Seattle Police Sunday as an “execution” and “cold blooded murder” during a press conference on Tuesday at the offi ces of the NAACP. Hankerson was joined by the family of Mr. Taylor and their attorneys Sheley Secrest and James Bible. State Seeks Information About Profi ling System created by profi ling bill last year makes it easier to fi le complaints By Lisa Loving Special to The Skanner News H ave you experienced racial profiling re- cently while driving in the state of Ore- gon? The Oregon End Profiling Act – passed last year – has rolled out a series of re- forms including a place you can file a complaint about your experience on- line anytime of the day or night, in five diff erent lan- guages. That information won’t be used to discipline offi - cers but rather to study ways to minimize racial profi ling, advocates say. It’s all part of an eff ort to drill down into the issue and eventually, create pol- icies to combat it. “What’s really unique is that we have data collec- tion, and that will really help us in the long term create a picture of profi ling so we can see who that was, what were their identities and what was the outcome of that stop,” said Adrian Martinez of the Center for Intercultural Organizing. “Anybody who thinks they have been profi led – if you or someone you know, you love, your neighbor has experienced profi l- ing from law enforcement — whether it’s police or sheriff s or campus secu- rity, you should fi le a com- plaint.” Pushed by Oregon Reps. Lew Frederick, Peter Buck- ley, and Jessica Vega Peder- son, the End Profiling Act gave power to the Law En- forcement Contacts Policy See PROFILING on page 3 Portland Playhouse event brought Black and White neighbors to talk about gentrifi cation Movie Reviews By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News page 5 INSIDE: Black History Month Special Edition T wenty people took the stage to tell the story of their Northeast Portland neighborhood. They each chose a moment in time that was important to them. For some, it was opening their fi rst business in the area. For others it was the heyday of Jeff erson High School and running around the neighbor- hood with friends until curfew. The group created a timeline of memo- ries, including many Black voices representing the old community, many White voices representing the new neighborhood. People from these eras came face to face for a dialogue about race, displacement and community. The, event, The Stories of Our Neighbor- hood, was held at the Portland Play- house Feb. 20. The organizer of this meeting, Tanisha Jones, said it was created to bring together members of the neighborhood who have been aff ect- ed by gentrifi cation and to honor these diff erent perspectives. “I think we are at a crossroads right now, where there is a lot of divisive- ness with people feeling pushed out and those who are benefi tting from gentrifi cation are thinking... how PHOTO BY ARASHI YOUNG The Stories of Our Neighborhood A Feb. 20 event at Portland Playhouse gave 20 people – including those who have benefi ted from gentrifi cation and those who have been harmed by it – a chance to talk about changes in North and Northeast Portland. can we help?” Jones told The Skanner News. The community conversation was facilitated by Resolutions North- west who use confl ict resolution See NEIGHBORHOOD on page 3
