News

Respect and trust in the Portland Police Bureau is at an all-time low. Citizens are fed up with disengaged police management, an impotent police review board, and cavalier cops.

Voters are dissatisfied and city hall is unresponsive.

A dozen specters of unfinished business loom over the Bureau, some deserved, some perhaps not. There have been repairs over the years, mostly patchwork, but transformation is not yet conceivable, much less on the table for discussion.

So what constitutes reform for the Portland Police Bureau?

1. The four tasks of the police commissioner are straight-forward and simple. The police commissioner directly supervises the chief of police, and provides them with resources and information. The commissioner oversees contract negotiations between unions and the Bureau. The commissioner speaks to the city about the relationship between the Bureau and City Hall. The commissioner speaks to officers at every level about the concerns of citizens. We need a police commissioner who understands their job and does these four tasks everyday.

2. The death of James Chasse spurred the City to find funds to provide additional mental health crisis training for police officers. Understanding how to manage persons who have acute mental illness or who are using alcohol or drugs, needs to be integrated within ongoing police training. This integration of mental health crisis training must be a top priority of the Bureau. Many police officers joined up to catch bad guys – not deal with people who are drunk, on drugs, or who are mentally ill. But the vast majority of person-to-person crimes and property crimes are committed by people who are impaired. Working with and around persons who are impaired is police work. Skills managing people who are drunk, loaded and mentally ill are paramount importance. Officers who develop those skills should be cherished.

3. Use of force by police officers is fairly rare, as are car and weapons accidents, but too often there are lingering questions about the behavior and capacity of the officers involved. These concerns can be answered with comprehensive urinalysis and blood alcohol testing by an independent agent before the end of shift.

4. The oversight and process for a police officer to claim an injury or disability is antiquated and redundant to a better system almost all other civil servants in the state use – Oregon Workers’ Compensation. Discussion should begin immediately to move the Bureau disability claims process to a more dependable, predictable, and transparent platform.  If this transition is delayed, a performance audit of the police disability fund is needed to determine at minimum the status of all persons listed as disabled. For workers who are ready for light-duty the city should be ready to employ them in both the bureau and other divisions.

5. We know police officers are vulnerable to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and ignoring PTSD is both dangerous and a legal liability. One out of five soldiers returning from current wars have a PTSD diagnosis. How do cops lose their money, jobs, homes, kids, wives, lives? PTSD. Officers and commanders need to embrace the facts – mental illness is real, treatable and survivable.

6. Recruitment must change and improve. Portland needs police officers willing to learn, listen and co-
exist within our community, not stand outside and bark orders. We need to reach out and recruit in successful police forces in other more diverse communities. Then we need to be welcoming and ready for the difference they bring with them.

7. Police use profiling tools. The police commissioner must be capable of assuring the community that recruitment of diverse officers is ongoing and sincere, that officers from diverse groups are represented at all levels of the Bureau, that oppression is not the business of the Portland Police Bureau, and intolerance will not be tolerated.

8. Abundant and predicable police overtime creates a strong disincentive for officers to help in recruitment or training. The Bureau needs to bring overtime numbers down by charging full cost for event security and by meeting recruitment goals.

9. The Portland Police Bureau is too complex for one person to provide comprehensive civilian oversight. As commissioner I’ll immediately begin discussions within the Council to shift from a single commissioner to a five-member commission lead by the mayor.

10. Right now, the most effective way to cause change at the Bureau is through litigation. This will remain true until there is an independent police review process with 1) the power to compel testimony and, 2) the power to remove an officer from duty. Cops are human and humans make mistakes. The future Portland Police Bureau needs the capacity to make the amends warranted by the mistakes individuals make; quickly, sincerely, and with the goal of resolving mistakes and preventing future mistakes. These amends will not replace legal representation, but will reduce the risk of lawsuits. Sometimes the best thing to do is apologize.

11. We the People give the police a great power – force. The use of force is a privilege – never a right, never to be taken for granted, never to be violated. Revoking the power to use force is a decision made by an elected, civilian administrator. That decision must be respected, and officers, paid employees, should not stall or quibble.

A printable PDF of this post is available here.