Feds extend deadline for Portland police reform plan
PORTLAND, Ore. – The City of Portland is getting some extra time to draft a plan about how to reform the police bureau.
In September, the Department of Justice found the Portland Police Bureau engaged in a “pattern or practice of excessive force against people with mental illness.”
The feds required the city to enact reforms and gave city officials until October 12 to come up with a plan about what those reforms would be.
However, on Friday morning the DOJ and the city said they agreed to extend that deadline.
Once a negotiated agreement is reached, it will be presented to the city council, according to Gerri Badden with the Department of Justice. The plan approved by the city council will then be filed in federal court and will be legally binding.
The city has already laid out a series of preliminary steps for the police bureau to take:
- Establishing policies that give officers clear guidance when dealing with people who have a mental illness or who are perceived to have a mental illness. Specifically, the city will lay out techniques for officers to de-escalate encounters stemming from non-criminal welfare checks or for low-level offenses.
- Having more specially-trained officers and civilians to deal with crisis situations
- Having a system to identify gaps in policy, training and supervision
- Expediting investigations about possible misconduct while still doing a thorough job
- Creating a body to ensure community oversight of reforms
Read more about the DOJ report and reaction from city officials
drug test all police once a month and/or every time they use a weapon.
But hey, a bunch of paper pushing feds know police work better than the police themselves right? I find it funny that the feds focus only on large police departments in liberal cities. Go figure.
And who is the head of the Portland police bureau? The incompetent mayor Sam adams
The Portland Police Bureau has used every tactic possible to delay any kind of reform or accountability for the past 30 years. Nothing new here, move along.
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This just gives the Police Union more time to negotiate with the city and insert weasel words into the final agreement so that there will never be any accountability in this "legally binding agreement"; it's always worked in the past. That's how Frashouer, Nice, Burton, Humpherys, and 20 other criminal cops have consistently avoided any prosecution, discipline, or simple accountability for their criminal conduct.
The Portland Police Bureau has used every tactic possible to delay any kind of reform or accountability for the past 30 years. Nothing new here, move along.
The best way to "reform" the Portland Police Bureau would be to keep the politicians out of it. Civilian oversight is OK, but politicians sucking up to the media and various community groups is not.
I applaud the requirement of "creating a body to ensure community oversight of reforms."Â To succeed, the Police Bureau needs a working partnership with the community they are charged with serving and protecting.