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Rapping Back #88:
Portland Copwatch member Dan Handelman analyzes Police "Union" social media (formerly the"Rap Sheet" newsletter) for the People's Police Report

Bravery in Brain of Beholder, Broadsides Burgeon

In reviewing the posts on the Portland Police Association (PPA) Facebook page over the past few months, it's notable that five of the 33 posts were directly related to the November general election. While the PPA has endorsed candidates in the past, it doesn't seem as if those endorsements showed up in their old hard-copy newspaper, the Rap Sheet, or on their various web postings until this year. The PPA also used its social media to defend the new practice of hiding the names of cops who shoot at community members (see Shootings article), stoke the fear of crime, continue "blue- washing" (highlighting "officer friendly" stories) and, surprisingly infrequently, complain about low staffing levels (see article in this issue). Maybe our last issue where we called them out on that front led to this change, or maybe it was when Mayor Wheeler told Chief Chuck Lovell that it was "bullshit." In any case, of the 33 pieces, the most frequent topic was bluewashing in 11 pieces (36%), followed by seven on crime (21%), five on politics (15%), three on officer shootings (9%) and one on property damage done to oppose a cop-friendly event (essentially an anti- protestor message). Another five (15%) were essentially about staffing, though one was disguised as an "officer friendly" story and two others about crime.

PPA President Sgt. Aaron Schmautz was quoted in most of the 15 news pieces posted to Facebook, lately seeming to be a staff member at KOIN-TV6 (with five appearances just from December 6 to December 19). It's disturbing how much influence the organization that's supposed to be advocating for fair wages and workplace rules spins so much for law and order with so little understanding of the harms police do in the community.

Our Chief Weapon is Surprise. Surprise and Fear. Our Two Chief Weapons Are....

The PPA reposted an August 24 KOIN-TV6 news story in which the local FBI Special Agent in Charge indicated that with threats being made against officers, it is only by the "grace of God" that Portlanders are "not attending a police funeral." Such charged language with no evidence behind it led Schmautz to opine that "threats serve only one purpose, to chill lawful conduct and destroy faith in institutions." That sounds like two purposes, actually. It's interesting when you read that analysis and apply it to officers threatening force on community members-- which generally chills lawful conduct (such as protesting) and destroys faith in the institution of police. Schmautz goes on to say that officer names should not be published because they have a right to live without fear, ignoring, for example, that Sgt. Greg Stewart shot and killed a man who knocked on the door of his Scappoose home in 2007 (PPR #43) and was not held accountable for it through internal and external investigations. Not that we're suggesting police should shoot people who threaten them, just saying it's way overstating the case that officers protected by the state apparatus are legitimately so afraid that they can't even have their names mentioned in public.

Schmautz was a little more specific after the Bureau released names of officers in five shootings all at once in December, claiming officers had flyers going up in their neighborhoods, family members being threatened, and people showing up at their homes. In a KOIN story on December 10 he claims that the backlash wasn't because of the Bureau's lack of transparency but rather that people were acting before there was time for police to explain the full story of what happened.

In a related issue, right after officers engaged in a shootout with Robert Connelly at an auto repair yard on August 16, Schmautz described the incident as "another terrifying, close call" where "braving gunfire, Portland Police officers ended a violent attack on our city." Media reports indicate that none of the police bullets hit Connelly, and that he gave himself up after a customer talked him down. The gunfire may have unnecessarily put other people at risk. Schmautz cautions not to "shrug off the drumbeat of violence." We're not: PPB is being too violent and it needs to stop.

Name-Calling in Defense of Understanding

Schmautz does not mince words in writing about an incident where an indigenous Coffee Shop owner's business was targeted as it geared up for a "Coffee with a Cop" event (October 6 post). He is filled with "anger and pride" as he bemoans how the effort to promote dialogue was disrupted by "six or so cowards" who broke windows at the shop and "skittered away" wanting "fascistic control over the conversation." In light of Schmautz advocating for hiding names of public officials who tried to kill community members, and who works with a Bureau that allowed officers to beat protestors while only wearing untraceable numbers, this might appear to be a bit hypocritical. Schmautz talks about the context of "livability destruction and unsustainable violence" in the community... does he want there to be sustainable violence?

The Politics of It All

The five articles that are overtly political include three about the PPA's endorsement of pro-law- enforcement City Council candidate Rene Gonzalez (who won), one opposing the Charter Amendment that will change how the government functions (which won despite their opposition), and one news article where Schmautz challenges statements about supporting law enforcement by Gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek (who also won).

The first Gonzalez piece, from September 14, talks about how community safety is "crumbling" and refers to first responders' supposed "staffing crisis." Another ran on October 20 touting police support, and a third on October 28 only featured Firefighters, who also endorsed Gonzalez over Jo Ann Hardesty, who was Commissioner of the Fire Bureau. The opposition to Measure 26-228 included a special video produced by the PPA (October 21), saying that the measure would fail to make the city safer and function better.

The October 22 article about Kotek came from Fox News, with Schmautz reminding the public that Oregon's House Speaker had criticized the PPB for its harsh crackdown on protestors near a building that had been set on fire. He calls police accountability legislation favored by Kotek a "whipsaw reaction to incidents" that reflected the "politics of the day." In other words, police accountability is SOOOO 2020, and, by implication, the death of George Floyd was a blip on the radar and not what it was: a revealing moment of institutional harms that predated his murder and have continued since.

Dogs, Good Cops, and Oh So Many Holidays

It's really not worth delving too deeply into the ten "officer friendly" articles, but here are some highlights:

--On National Dog Day (August 26), the PPA thanked the brave canines who are pushed into danger by humans and remembered Mick (who died in 2014--PPR #62) and Argus, a name we were not familiar with. Turns out that police dog was killed in 1987. Long memories.

--Two of the Bureau's three Precinct Commanders recorded videos for the Bureau that PPA re- posted on August 12 and September 8. Commander Erica Hurley expressed how she feels "blessed" to run East Precinct and talked about her officers as good, moral people. Hurley (who you may recall was fined for offering political opinions while in uniform-- PPR #86) also spoke highly of community members who send supportive letters. This sentiment was repeated (almost as if by design) in the video from North Precinct Commander Tina Jones. Jones also included footage of officers "cleaning up" houseless encampments and described officers still recovering from "night after night of civil unrest" in 2020. She stated, with no data included, that officers are having guns pointed at them at a high rate.

--There are posts for Labor Day (September 5), Veterans Day (November 11) and Thanksgiving (November 24), as well as ... National Police Woman Day (September 12) and First Responders Day (October 28)??? How many cop-related holidays are there?

--Officer David Baer won recognition on KGW-TV8 (November 1) for his use of an Instagram account to show the public what the Central Precinct Bike Squad does on a daily basis.

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Maybe the Police Are Learning SOMETHING

A post on October 23 for Domestic Violence Month included a slick video featuring people involved in the PPB's Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team, including advocates who are not officers. They apparently can take calls from survivors of violence and at their request, provide resources and information without informing on them to the police, if that is their choice. This appears to be an acknowledgment that addressing this issue is complex when trying to use this nation's messed up criminal justice system to address systemic violence that is a reflection of that system.
 

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Although there are occasional mentions of PPB being "short staffed," a Bureau-produced video posted September 22 shows 20 officers being sworn in, with comments from four of five City Council members welcoming the new hires. Another PPB video posted November 13 chronicles how police helped find a young girl who was asleep in a car that was stolen back in September. In addition to at least six officers who took time to be interviewed, it is noted that fifty officers were involved in the search. FIFTY. The surprise ending is that a TV news clip appears to indicate that the girl, who was found still asleep in the abandoned car, is Black.

Another staffing story posted on December 1 is a KATU-TV2 story about a new officer, Trey Jackson, who is 21 years old, a Portland resident, and a man of color. While the PPA pulled out a quote about how Jackson knows the city and hopes to gain people's trust, the gist of the article was that the Bureau is short by 74 officers... and the Mayor wants to hire 200 more. Sgt. Ken Duilio of the Focused Intervention Team also brought up lack of staffing in a November 25 KOIN-TV6 article about the homicide rate when it was ready to surpass 2021. No mention that four of the homicides were by PPB-- including one by the FIT.

Crime and the DA's Office

Two articles on crime include Schmautz's thoughts on a non-profit that provided bail for a suspect who then murdered the mother of his child. In the August 30 KOIN story, Schmautz seems to recognize that the nominally progressive District Attorney was upset about bail being provided. The next day, KATU-TV2 did a piece where Schmautz labeled the non-profit's actions as "hubris" that was "destructive to the community." The PPA also posted a November 17 KOIN story saying property crime is up, but not prosecutions. Schmautz reflects on the article saying the "justice system is broken and we need to fix it quickly." We might agree, but for a different reason. On October 3, Schmautz wrote an introduction to an Oregonian article about a crime-filled weekend by calling for tougher measures because of "vulnerable citizens... murdered in broad daylight," people being killed by "reckless drivers," and drugs sold to school children. "We must rise together," he writes, ignoring the many lives destroyed by police.

January, 2023
Also in PPR #88

Portland Copwatch
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065/ Incident Report Line (503) 321-5120
e-mail: copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org

Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.

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