PORTLAND’S POLICE UNION has filed a formal grievance alleging
the police bureau’s Use of Force and Performance Review Boards hearings
are humiliating to its officers, and is urging all union members to not
show up for the boards’ hearings—which review an officer’s
proposed discipline—until its humiliation issues are
resolved.

The grievance was filed on Monday, December 8, following a meeting
of the Portland Police Association’s (PPA) executive board on Friday,
December 5.

PPA President Scott Westerman lays out his concerns about the boards
in the current issue of the cop newsletter The Rap Sheet: “When
our members are subjected to unprofessional questioning where the
member is grilled, embarrassed, or berated by members of these boards,
it is unacceptable,” he writes.

The bureau’s Use of Force and Performance Review Boards were
established in 2004, following recommendations made in a report on use
of force by the California-based Police Assessment Resource Center
(PARC). Just two citizens appear on each board, alongside three “branch
chiefs,” two peer members, the review board coordinator, and a
representative from the city attorney’s office.

“What I oppose, is the calling of an officer to a board to answer
questions that have already been answered three and sometimes four
times,” says Westerman. “The vast majority of officers who have been
through these boards have felt they were presumed guilty prior to their
appearance.”

There are also concerns, despite the supposedly non-confrontational
nature of the boards, that citizen members are asking unnecessarily
confrontational questions, or simply questions that imply a lack of
training in police procedure.

Westerman asked several officers to go on record with accounts of
their experience at the review boards for this article, but all
declined. However, they relayed their experiences through Westerman: “I
felt attacked, and like the decision had been predetermined and nobody
wanted to hear anything I wanted to say”; “Why do I have to relive this
shit?” [after being asked about deadly use of force]; and “Nobody
should be subjected to this kind of crap” [following a citizen grilling
about a use of force that was found to be justified]. Another PPA
member reportedly compared their experience before the boards to the
Nuremberg Trials.

Police spokesman Brian Schmautz declined comment.

“I hope that they don’t succeed with this [grievance],” says police
accountability activist Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch. “Our
complaint, from the outside, has always been that these boards aren’t
open to the public, that the citizen members are sworn to secrecy, and
that we never find out what the outcome has been. How is any of that
humiliating to the officers involved? It’s not even a transparent
system, so it’s discouraging that the police are complaining about
it.”

Matt Davis was news editor of the Mercury from 2009 to May 2010.

5 replies on “Not-So-Public Humiliation”

  1. “The vast majority of officers who have been through these boards have felt they were presumed guilty prior to their appearance.”

    Huh. That sounds familiar. I think I’ve felt that way before. Wonder who made me feel that way? oh yeah. It was a cop.

  2. So like, let me get this straight:

    PPA Führer Scott Westerman opposes [his] officers having to answer questions they’ve already answered?!

    Officers felt as thought they were “presumed guilty until proven otherwise?!

    Westerman himself apparently asked several of his officers to go on record [for this article] with [their own] accounts about their experiences with the review board, but were soo damned COWARDLY that they declined, insisting instead that *Mien Führer* Westerman speak on their behalf?!

    WHAT?!?!

  3. You know, the reaction of these cry-baby cops is hilarious. They are publicly paid officials. I can’t cry, “Oh! You can’t arrest me in public! People will see me! I will be humiliated! I am innocent! I have not yet been proven guilty in court! WAAH!!! Don’t arrest me where people might see.” It is the same argument. While there are some terrific cops in this city, we’ve got some real idiots who deserve to be behind bars instead of wearing badges. If you don’t want to be held accountable by the public, then guess what, buddy, go find a job elsewhere.

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