Public Meeting of Law Enforcement Profiling Task Force on 1/16
The panel wants to hear from the community about how police profiling affects them. The meeting will be held in Cornelius, OR
Law Enforcement Profiling Task Force
Monday, January 16, 2017
5:30 pm — 8:00 pm
Centro Cultural Center
1110 N. Adair Street, Cornelius, OR
The meeting is being billed as a “listening session”. Most of the task force’s meeting in 2016 did not allow public comment. It will be co-hosted by the Attorney General, Representative Susan McLain, and Unite Oregon.
They will present a summary of the work performed by the Task Force. After the presentation attendees can make brief statements. The panel wants to hear from the community about how police profiling affects them. You may bring or send in written testimony instead of your oral statement. You may also submit written testimony along with oral statements. The Task Force panel requests that comments are no longer than five minutes.
Law Enforcement Profiling Legislative Agenda
The Oregon Attorney General and the task force recently release their legislative agenda. They dumped it on December 14th, just before the holiday season going into full gear. Such a move by government agencies and politicians usually indicates it a low priority. The legislation would expand officer education and training. The education would include profiling prevention, plus understanding and overcoming implicit bias. The proposed legislation would also set up a statewide process to collect traffic and pedestrian stop data. It would improve police accountability by requiring the collection and publication of the data.
Publication of the data would improve understanding of how police interact with the public. Making use of that data would depend on how it is published and how the public can access it. Oregon has a spotty history on open records access.
The draft legislation includes a strong statement about reforming Oregon’s drug sentencing laws. . The task force will continue to work on expanding the proposal. The goal is to cut sentencing for non-criminal drug users.
Data Collection and the Portland Police Contract
Some speculate the task force recommendations are behind Portland Police and former Portland Mayor Charlie Hales heavy handed tactic in passing the new police contract. The current contract, passed over community objections, shields Portland Police for three years from any legislation passed in Salem.
