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Matt Davis

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

Trust Me, I’m a Rent-a-Cop

Downtown’s Private Security Police: Like Regular Cops, But Without the Oversight
Avatar photo Matt Davis

The Portland rent-a-cops patrolling downtown look like real cops. They have similar uniforms, and many carry real guns. They share some of the same duties. In fact, they could easily be—and often are—mistaken for police officers by the average person on the street. There is one critical difference, however. Unlike the real cops, they’re only […]

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Forcing the Issue

Police Chief Tightens Use-of-Force Policies
Avatar photo Matt Davis

The Portland Police Bureau plans to make more than a dozen changes to its use-of-force policies, after a report last week raised concerns about citizen complaints. The biggest concern raised in the report, issued last Tuesday, April 24, by the bureau and the Independent Police Review (IPR), is that citizen complaints in regards to officers’ […]

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Labor Pains

Businesses and Day Laborers Face Off
Avatar photoAvatar photo Matt Davis and Amy J. Ruiz

Under the red neon sign of Wentworth Chevytown at E Burnside and Grand—near a Plaid Pantry and a Subaru dealership—day laborers congregate each morning, hoping an employer will pull up and offer them a job. Both the city and area businesses turn a blind eye to the immigration issue—many day laborers are in the country […]

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Buying Your Rights

Portland Business Alliance Willing to Pay for a Sit/Lie Ordinance
Avatar photo Matt Davis

The Portland Business Alliance (PBA) has volunteered to give city council $150,000—and all the council has to do in return is make it illegal to sit or lie on downtown’s sidewalks. The PBA is apparently hoping this extra money will make up for the council’s failure to fund a day-access center for 150 homeless people, […]

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Where There’s Smoke

Is Southeast Portland Club a Magnet for Trouble?
Avatar photoAvatar photo Matt Davis and Amy Jenniges

Last Saturday night, March 31, Martin Garza stood outside Mardi Gras, his all-ages club on SE 146th, directing DJs inside, greeting kids as they poured out of their parents’ cars, and fielding cell phone calls in both Spanish and English. Once the doors opened and security guards patted everyone down, teens—some accompanied by their parents, […]

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Belted

Broken Arm, Punched Face: Another Cop Lawsuit
Avatar photo Matt Davis

A 58-year-old woman is suing the City of Portland and a Portland police officer for excessive force, alleging he punched her in the face and broke her arm following a traffic stop. The suit, filed on Monday, March 26, requests a jury trial and $97,500 in lost earnings, $2,500 in medical expenses, and “non-economic damage […]

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Portland’s Private Police

Who Oversees the City’s Armed Rent-a-Cops?
Avatar photo Matt Davis

If you spend time downtown, you’re apt to run into someone in a uniform who can—among other tasks—issue you a citation, and may even be carrying a gun. However, it’s not necessarily a police officer. There’s a one-in-four chance it’s an officer with Portland Patrol, Incorporated (PPI)—a private security firm employing 17 armed former police […]

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Kinder, Gentler Zones

New Stats Suggest More Balance by
Avatar photoAvatar photo Scott Moore and Matt Davis

In the wake of a police report suggesting that African Americans were being excluded at a higher rate than Caucasians in Portland’s Drug-Free Zones [“Black Exclusion Zones,” News, March 8], the police bureau has released new, significantly more balanced numbers, claiming the first stats were a mistake. According to the bureau, an error in the […]

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Disturbing the Peace

Anarchists Break off from PDX Peace March
Avatar photo Matt Davis

More than 10,000 people marched through downtown Portland on Sunday afternoon, March 18, calling on political leaders to “stop the war, and bring the troops home.” March organizers said they were pleased with the turnout, but more importantly, that so many people took direct action for peace—hundreds of people gathered in the South Park Blocks […]

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Tipping Point

Cop Union Softens Stance on Racial Profiling
Avatar photo Matt Davis

New numbers released at the mayor’s Racial Profiling Committee last Thursday, March 15, coincided with a softened party line from the union on the controversial issue—and a first look at Police Chief Rosie Sizer’s plan on how to tackle it. The new Racial Profiling numbers showed African Americans made up 24 percent of bike and […]

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Double Jeopardy

Cops Receive Two Lawsuits in Nine Days
Avatar photo Matt Davis

Portland Police and the City of Portland are facing two excessive-force lawsuits filed in just nine days—one seeking $3 million in damages alone. On February 26, an amended excessive force suit seeking $3 million in damages was filed by lawyers for Pastor Mary Overstreet-Smith—great-grandmother and legal guardian of Sir Millage, the severely autistic 15-year-old boy […]

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