AUGUST 10, 2016
Portland and Seattle Volume XXXVIII No. 45
News .............................. 3,8-10 SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE:
Opinion ...................................2
Health Wellness & Nutrition:
Calendars ........................... 4-5
Bids/Classiieds ....................11 BACK TO SCHOOL
Community
Criticizes
CRC Changes
New process would
merge CRC to Police
Review Board – and close
its meetings
By Arashi Young
Of The Skanner News
D
uring a tense town hall meeting
last week, police accountability
advocates railed against the pro-
posed changes to the Citizen Re-
view Committee. The move would end
public meetings and merge the CRC into
the Police Review Board.
Kristen Chambers of the National
Lawyers Guild testiied that closed
meetings would push the citizen com-
plaint process farther away from com-
munity or independent police over-
sight.
“The fundamental problem with
AP PHOTO/LM OTERO
See CRC on page 3
Ahmed Mohamed speaks
about receiving death
threats in Dallas, Monday,
Aug. 8, 2016. The family
of Ahmed Mohamed, who
was arrested after bringing
the homemade clock to
school, and charged with
having a hoax bomb, iled
a federal lawsuit Monday
against Texas school
oicials and others, saying
they violated the 14-year-
old boy’s civil rights.
UMOJA
FEST
Some boys cool of in the water feature in Judkins
Park during the annual Umoja Fest, Aug. 5-7 at the
Park. The Seafair sanctioned event has been around
for almost 70 years and features a Children’s Day,
the Heal the Hood Basketball Tournament, a variety
of vendors and lots of music and entertainment. To
see a slide show with more photos from Umoja Fest,
visit theskanner.com.
Report Blasts
Baltimore
Police Over
Racial Bias,
Force
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
PHOTO BY M.O. STEVENS (CC BY 3.0)
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
Proposed changes to the Citizen Review Committee
for police oversight would involve the committee
at the beginning of a police complaint instead of an
appeal. The CRC would also be able to hear deadly
use-of-force complaints.
Federal investigation launched after April 2015 death of Freddie Gray
found pattern of unjustiied stops, egregious violations by oicers
By JULIET LINDERMAN
and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
BALTIMORE (AP) — The
Justice Department and
Baltimore police agreed to
negotiate court-enforce-
able reforms ater a scath-
ing federal report released
Wednesday criticized of-
icers for using excessive
force and routinely dis-
criminating against blacks.
The report, the culmi-
nation of a yearlong in-
vestigation into one of the
country’s largest police
forces, found that oicers
make a large number of
stops — mostly in poor,
Black neighborhoods —
with dubious justiication
and unlawfully arrest citi-
zens when oicers “did not
like what those individuals
said.”
“These violations have
deeply eroded the relation-
ship between the police
and community it serves,”
Vanita Gupta, the head of
the Justice Department’s
civil rights division, said
during a news conference
alongside the city’s mayor
and police commissioner.
The federal investiga-
tion was launched ater
the April 2015 death of
Freddie Gray, a 25-year-
old black man whose neck
was broken while he was
handcufed and shackled
but let unrestrained in the
back of a police van. The
death set of protests and
the worst riots in decades.
The report represents
a damning indictment of
how the city’s police of-
icers carry out the most
fundamental of policing
practices, including traic
stops and searches.
“It doesn’t matter, if
you’re Black you’re going
to get stopped. It’s crazy
out here,” said Anthony
Williams, who is Black. He
was with his kids and once
saw oicers chasing a teen-
ager for smoking weed.
“There was ive of them.
They jumped on him. I had
to tell my kids they were
Family of Teen
Arrested for
Hosts Talk ‘n Taste Series
Homemade Clock PreSERVE
Each event will include health information,
Sues School page 10 social activities and healthy soul food
Kam Calls ‘The Fight
Within’ a “Touching Tale
of Redemption”
page 7
25
CENTS
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
A
frican American seniors and
their families will have the
chance to relax, take care of
themselves and learn more
about their health during a series of
Talk ‘n Taste events at the June Key
Delta Community Center in North
Portland.
The PreSERVE Coalition, which
sponsors all events, is a coalition of
groups and individuals from a va-
riety of sectors to provide cultural-
ly competent advocacy for African
See PRESERVE on page 3
just playing.”
Donald Whitehead said
oicers would oten jump
out of the car and grab peo-
ple “for no reason at all.”
“One day I was walking
down the street to the store,
and one of them jumped
out on me and forced me
to empty my pockets. They
were looking for drugs.
I don’t do drugs,” he said.
“They just harass people.”
Police
Commissioner
Kevin Davis said six oi-
cers who committed egre-
gious violations have been
ired this year.
“Fighting crime and hav-
ing a better, more respect-
ful relationship with the
See BALTIMORE on page 3
A series of Talk ‘n Taste events will be held at
The June Key Delta Community Center in North
Portland.