Site Navigation

Quick Flashes PPR #93

Meetings with Officials:
Head of Sheriff's Professional Standards, Portland City Auditor

Portland Copwatch (PCW) meets with people "inside the system" from time to time. Depending on the nature of the conversations and the ability of the people to enact change, we usually share information about those meetings with our constituents and in this newsletter. For example, we reported on our meeting with the Multnomah County Sheriff in PPR #92. In May, PCW had two such meetings.

The first was with Jeff Heinrich, who was at the time the civilian head of the Professional Standards/Internal Affairs unit at the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO). With our main interest being in accountability and civilian oversight, we focused on the policy about misconduct investigations, which allows a person to file an appeal and have that appeal reviewed by people including community members. What we learned: (a) no such appeal has been filed since that policy was enacted several years ago, (b) about 75% of complaints are about the corrections officers, which is not a surprise given that's the largest percentage of MCSO sworn employees, and (c) right now data on the kinds of complaints and their outcomes are not being published anywhere. By the time we sent a follow up email to Mr. Heinrich in June, he had left the MCSO and was replaced by Stephanie LaCarrubba.

The second was with Portland City Auditor Simone Rede. Rede took office in early 2023 and oversees the ongoing work of the Audit Services Division. She was never in charge of the "Independent" Police Review or finding members for the Police Review Board, as former Auditor Mary Hull Caballero rescinded her interest in those bodies in 2022 (PPR #86). We referred Auditor Rede to the 2022 audit calling on the PPB to control its overtime spending, noting that much more has been spent since the audit was published. PCW also asked if follow up could be done on the audit of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, which could potentially be sharing improper information with the FBI. Such information has to be destroyed under Oregon law, but not federal law. Since the Auditor also is in charge of hosting the City Council agenda and the City Archives, we asked about ways information on those items might be made more readily available to the public.
Back to top

High-Speed Pursuits Endanger Community
by Philip C.

Unsafe driving is a problem in most cities and Portland is no exception. In 2023, Portland set a 30- year record of 69 traffic deaths (Willamette Week, December 26, 2023).

In January 2024, The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) relaxed their rules against high-speed pursuits, allowing the police to engage in more dangerous pursuits in Portland neighborhoods (Oregonian, December 16, 2023). The police said they felt hampered by the 2017 rules limiting their dangerous driving and Chief Bob Day argued that under the previous rules suspects knew they could evade traffic stops because the police wouldn't engage in a high-speed pursuit (Willamette Week, December 17, 2023).

Prior to the new rules, on October 6 last year Portland Officer Andrew Young, racing to get ahead of car theft suspect Gilbert Alberto Colli-Garma, ran through a stop sign leading to Colli-Garma hitting the patrol car and dying from his injuries (Oregonian, April 17).

Two people involved in street racing fled an August 2 traffic stop, crashed and died. Portland Police had stopped chasing the car, but Gresham Police pursued it (Oregonlive, August 5).

All this leaves questions. Are Portland residents more or less safe when police chase suspects through neighborhoods in 5,000 lb vehicles? How many people have to die, be injured, and property destroyed in pursuits before benefits no longer outweigh risks? How can we hold police accountable when their decision to engage in a chase causes a catastrophe? If there are no consequences for the officers, what prevents them from making the same reckless decision next time?

I don't have the answer to these questions and believe there should be an audit on high-speed pursuit policies. Police directives should be informed by data, policies that work and what most benefits the community rather than be guided by police frustration and anecdotes.

I do fear for the lives and well-being of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists who share the streets with police pursuits. As I walk around my neighborhood I see signs on my neighbors' lawns that say, "Drive like your kids live here" and I think that plea also applies to law enforcement. The police should use their creativity and tools to de-escalate rather than escalate the dangers of the road.
Back to top

Munitions Mania: PPB Claims Early Expiration for Weapons to Stock Up Against Protestors

Street Roots ran a long article on August 1 examining the claims made by Portland Police Bureau Captain Franz Schoening about why the Bureau needed to buy about $28,000 in munitions (and another $28,500 for shields) using an "emergency" ordinance in May (see protests article). It turns out that most of the munitions they bought in 2020 are set to expire in 2025, not this year as was implied at Council. The article indicates that the Bureau wanted to get ahead of possible "supply chain issues," though records of emails among PPB members did not mention that concern. It also says the police did claim the replacement was in part because of the then-recent protests about the war on Gaza. Overall, it seems as if the effort was another case where the police just get what they ask for. In 2020 when most of City Council acknowledged that Black Lives Matter, they would not have been able to sneak this ordinance under the radar.
Back to top

September, 2024
Also in PPR #93

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.

People's Police Report #93 Table of Contents
Back to Portland Copwatch home page
Peace and Justice Works home page
Back to top