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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2019)
September 25, 2019 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 45,000 community cor- rections professionals nationally. She currently sits on the organization’s exec- utive committee of past presidents. Preuitt sat down with The Skanner to talk about her role overseeing the 600-person department, and to discuss how she When I was a PO, we didn’t have the tools we do today to do this work, and to be able to understand our history gives me a really clear vi- sion for our future believes the role of PO has changed for the bet- ter over the course of her career. This interview has been edited for space and clarity. The Skanner News: As a former parole and probation officer, what insight do you bring to your new position? Erika Preuitt: One of the things that I think is really important to note is that we stand on the foundation that we believe that people can change their behavior. And I think the unique perspective I bring from coming to the depart- ment starting as a parole and probation officer working with justice-in- volved women and gang members, is really un- derstanding the power of stating that we believe people can change, be- cause I’ve seen people be able to change their be- havior. The unique perspective I bring is not only wit- nessing people changing their behavior, but really understanding the prac- tices we engage in, and how they’ve evolved over literally the last 26 years. When I was a PO, we didn’t have the tools we Climate havior, and look at those ways they can turn their behavior to be more pos- itive? I look at it from the perspective that we are about public safety, but our public safety impact really is a long-term im- pact. Because when we help a person change their life, and help them to restore their family, we help our communities grow stron- ger. So it’s really a multi- plying effect. TSN: How have the tools for POs changed since you began your ca- reer? EP: When I was a pa- role and probation offi- cer, we did not have the evidence-based practices that we have right now. And so as I was coming through our organiza- tion and through my ca- reer, I’ve been able to see our profession shift and change. I came in as a PO, and I was given a file cabinet of probably about 100 cas- es, and I was given some training on de-escala- tion, and I had a really experienced field train- ing officer. Read more at TheSkanner.com Patton Square Park Playground Reopens On Sept. 14, Patton Square Park friends and neighbors hosted a grand reopening party for the park’s playground at N. Interstate and N. Emerson. The Friends of Patton Square Park and the Overlook Neighborhood Association rallied supporters and fundraising. Together with dedicated Parks System Development Charges (SDC) funds as a match, together they were able to expand the play area with new play pieces, as well as add an interactive, natural landscape feature to allow more seating and nature play opportunities. DA cont’d from pg 1 for district attorney candidates that they intend to use as a sort of measuring stick for future candi- dates and, when they’re elected, future DAs. Among its demands: stop targeting Black, brown and indigenous communities; decline to prosecute individuals with mental health issues; and commit to ending mass incarceration. “That is part of a national move- ment to change the role of what the district attorney should be,” Madeline Carroll, an organizer with the group, told The Skanner. For the last several decades, she said, prosecutors’ performance has been measured with metrics like the number of convictions they achieve – rather than reduc- tion in crime, a reduction in the number of incarcerated people or an increased sense in safety among community members. One of the groups under its umbrella, Pacific Northwest Fam- ily Circle, was founded in 2017 by Irene Kalonji, the mother of Christopher Kalonji, who was killed by Clackamas County dep- uties in January 2016, to support families who have lost loved ones to police violence. Searching for solutions to police violence, they realized that some of the entities that could hold police account- able – such as police unions or police chiefs – are largely out of citizens’ hands. But as elected officials, DAs answer directly to voters. “We learned before Shaun “ The coalition also intends to hold DAs accountable once they’re elected – and to raise awareness of DA races, which tend to be lower-profile elections. In Oregon, they coincide with May primary elections, when turnout is usually far lower than in November general elections. That is part of a national movement to change the role of what the district attorney should be King, before the ACLU started their They Report to You cam- paign that district attorneys were not being held accountable for their actions. Certainly our fam- ilies have learned that again and again,” said Maria Cahill, an or- ganizer with Pacific Northwest Family Circle. Inspired in part by elections in other parts of the country – like the election of Larry Krasner in Philadelphia in May 2017 – Pacif- ic Northwest Family Circle began talking to an anti-racist group called Showing Up for Racial Jus- tice – about how to replicate those successes in Oregon. Often, candidates for prosecutor run unopposed, and many start as appointees, stepping into the role after a predecessor leaves of- fice, then running as incumbents when the election rolls around. Alternatively, a district attor- ney will announce impending retirement a short period before the filing deadline for the next election, creating a glide path for whichever candidate the retiring prosecutor has shoulder-tapped to run — and a short campaign season should a contender step up, Cahill explained. Read more at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 Earth’s snow and ice, called the cryo- sphere, are also being eroded. “The world’s oceans and cryosphere have been taking the heat for climate change for decades. The consequences for nature and humanity are sweep- ing and severe,” said Ko Barrett, vice chair of the IPCC and a deputy assistant administrator for research at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration. The report found: • Seas are now rising at one-seventh of an inch (3.66 millimeters) a year, which is 2.5 times faster than the rate from 1900 to 1990. • The world’s oceans have already lost 1% to 3% of the oxygen in their upper levels since 1970 and will lose more as warming continues. • From 2006 to 2015, the ice melting from Greenland, Antarctica and the world’s mountain glaciers has accel- erated. They are now losing 720 bil- lion tons (653 billion metric tons) of ice a year. “ The consequences for nature and hu- manity are sweep- ing and severe • Arctic June snow cover has shrunk more than half since 1967, down near- ly 1 million square miles (2.5 million square kilometers). • Arctic sea ice in September, the annu- al low point, is down almost 13% per decade since 1979. This year’s low, reported Monday, tied for the sec- ond-lowest on record. • Marine animals are likely to de- crease 15%, and catches by fisheries in general are expected to decline 21% to 24%, by the end of century because of climate change. “Climate change is already irrevers- ible,” French climate scientist Valérie Masson-Delmotte, a report lead author, said at a news conference in Mona- co, where the document was released. “Due to the heat uptake in the ocean, we can’t go back.” But many of the worst-case projec- tions in the report can still be avoided, depending on how the world handles the emissions of heat-trapping gases, the report’s authors said. The IPCC increased its projected end-of-century sea level rise in the worst-case scenario by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters) from its 2013 projec- AP PHOTO/TOM COPELAND “ do today to do this work, and to be able to under- stand our history gives me a really clear vision for our future. And that future really is about, how do we con- tinue to connect with youth and adults that are on our caseload, to help those to be able to take a critical look at their be- PHOTO COURTESY OF PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION Preuitt In this Friday, Sept. 6, 2019 file photo, storm surge from Hurricane Dorian blocks Cedar Island off from the mainland on NC 12 in Atlantic Beach, N.C., after Hurricane Dorian passed the coast. tions because of the increased recent melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Read more at TheSkanner.com