The City of Portland Needs Public Input on Police Chief
The City is currently in the process of hiring a police chief and is seeking feedback from the public on the characteristics to select. The survey for input is here: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/omf/73470 and requires you to enter a name, email address, and zip code (other fields are optional). If you do not want to use their form, you can also email your feedback to mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov.
Responses are due by June 12, 2017.
Individual testimony in your own words is always the most effective form of input when communicating with elected officials. Below we have curated some talking points we think may be useful/relevant as you respond to the survey. At the bottom of the page we have also provided sample answers if you’re short on time.
What are the most important personal characteristics of a Portland Police Chief?
- Preference for being a member of marginalized communities.
- Demonstrated courage to take action that goes against entrenched police culture, including courage to speak up when officers or the bureau have committed wrongdoing.
- Emphasis on upholding and celebrating the rights, liberty and dignity of community members.
What professional experience or background should the Portland Police Chief have?
- Leading changes in law enforcement policies or programs that resulted in demonstrable decreases in use of force and systemic bias.
- Experience transforming a law enforcement organization or department with innovative and data driven policies and programs.
- Empowering successful engagement in citizen or community review organizations to build accountability.
What are the key challenges facing the Portland Police Bureau?
Over policing/misallocation of funds.
- Broken-windows policing disproportionately of poor and marginalized communities. This form of policing leads to mass incarcerations and deportations.
- Training that focuses on de-escalation, with violence as an option of last resort. Excessive force or failure to attempt de-escalation should have disciplinary consequences.
- View Portland’s drug epidemic as a public health issue rather than a war.
- Strengthening Sanctuary by ending broken windows policing and disciplining law enforcement officers who assist ICE.
- Police responses to protests has been violent and biased. PPB’s use of warrior costumes and military-style equipment communicates a hostility to Portland citizens and their constitutional rights. PPB’s indiscriminate, violent responses to protests needlessly injures people.
Community relations/trust
- Lack of Accountability
- Lack of meaningful citizen engagement and independent oversight
- Resistance to change despite evidence in support of that change
What should the top priorities be for the Portland Police Bureau?
- Ending its failed focus on hyper-punitive measures and instead maintain public safety in ways that respect and enhance people’s rights, health and communities.
- Community policing can not have the effect of being an armed occupation of communities. Rather community policing should be an unarmed collaboration with historically targeted communities.
- Law enforcement should minimize harm, prioritize de-escalation, be de-militarized, cage humans reluctantly and sparingly, and end policies and tactics that result in racially disproportionate outcomes.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
- Mike Marshman does not have the personal characteristics or professional background to make Portland a safer city. We need a reform candidates from outside of PPB to make the substantial cultural and structural changes this city needs.
- The police contract should be renegotiated to include increased civilian oversight, accountability and transparency. Until then, the police must be reform-minded within the existing circumstances.
- Remove SRO’s armed presence in our schools.
- Thank you for recognizing Portland’s history of racism and systemic racism in the job description for this position.
Reference materials
Empower Portland/Portland Copwatch Samples
Ted Wheeler’s campaign platform on criminal justice
Article on posting of the position
Spat between Mayor and Police Union over mentioning racism in the position description
Problems in PPB
Not meeting requirements to report compromised officers
Department of Justice settlement
SAMPLE RESPONSES
What are the most important personal characteristics of a Portland Police Chief?
Our next Police Chief should reflect the diversity of the City and be ready to enact the major reforms needed to correct the culture of our Police Bureau. They must have the courage to speak up when officers or the bureau have committed wrongdoing. Furthermore the chosen candidate should be comfortable reimagining what policing in our city looks like and refocus on upholding and celebrating the rights, liberty and dignity of community members.
What professional experience or background should the Portland Police Chief have?
Portland’s new police chief should have a history spearheading changes in law enforcement policies or programs to create demonstrable decreases in use of force and systemic bias. In previous positions, the candidate has used data to enhance officer accountability and criminal justice outcomes more transparent to the public. They should be ready and able to empower civilian engagement and community review of the Bureau’s operations.
What are the key challenges facing the Portland Police Bureau?
The city can use this hiring as a turning point to change the direction of the Portland Police Bureau, which has faced many challenges including three shootings this year. One challenge is the over policing of Portlanders. This takes many forms including:
- Our reliance on broken-windows mentality that disproportionately targets poor and marginalized communities leading to mass incarcerations and deportations;
- Tendency to escalate encounters. PPB must emphasize de-escalation with violence as an option of last resort. Excessive force or failure to attempt de-escalation should have disciplinary consequences.
- Continuing the failed War on Drugs. There needs to be a shift in viewing Portland’s drug epidemic as a public health issue.
- Limiting and degrading our value for “Sanctuary.” Broken windows policing and minimal accountability for law enforcement officers, who assist ICE, makes our community less safe.
- The violent police response to protests has dampened and curtailed free speech and assembly rights and has turned peaceful gatherings into war zones.
Another challenge facing the Bureau is a lack of community relations and trust. This is shown through a lack of police accountability and a deep resistance to (even court ordered) citizen oversight. Repeated history and other evidence demonstrates a need for change.
What should the top priorities be for the Portland Police Bureau?
The PPB must move away from its emphasis on mass incarceration. Our city is impoverished when neighbors, friends, and family are removed from their communities and interred in remote facilities (often lacking any form of rehabilitation). Deemphasizing mass incarceration will enhance our community’s health and people’s rights. “Community policing” is not a silver bullet and should not be implemented as an armed occupation of our neighborhoods. To do effective community policing, they must build relationships with historically targeted communities and the police presence should be an unarmed, community-driven initiative. Law enforcement should minimize harm, prioritize de-escalation, be de-militarized, cage humans reluctantly and sparingly, and end policies and tactics that result in racially disproportionate outcomes.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
When selecting Portland’s next Police Chief, the PPB must look outside their ranks in order to escape the challenges of their past. Substantial cultural and structural changes must be made and Mike Marshman does not have the necessary personal characteristics or professional background to make Portland a safer city. The PPB must be reform minded until the time comes when the police contract can be renegotiated to include increased civilian oversight, accountability, and transparency.
The PPB must stop over policing on campus behavior through the use of School Resource Officers. These officers must be removed to avoid the school to prison pipeline and the risk of deportation. The acknowledgement of Portland’s racist history and the systemic racism in the job description for Portland’s new Police Chief was encouraging and I hope the City takes this opportunity to lead the Bureau to a better place in police and community relations.
