Portland State Universityâs (PSU) student union is tired of waiting for campus police reform in the wake of Jason Washingtonâs death.
Washington, a 45-year-old Black Navy veteran, died after being shot by PSU police officers James Dewey and Shawn McKenzie in front of the Cheerful Tortoise, a bar near campus, last June. A Multnomah County Grand Jury cleared the officers of any legal wrongdoing in September, but Washingtonâs death set off a campus movement at PSU, with many students calling for the universityâs police departmentâcalled the Campus Public Safety Office (CPSO)âto be disarmed. CPSO officers have carried guns since a 2015 decision made by the PSU Board of Trustees.
In October, the private campus security firm Margolis Healy visited PSU to gather community input on whether the campus police force should continue to be armed, and get a general sense of changes that can be made at the CPSO. CEO Steven Healy promised skeptical students that a report would be finished and made public within six weeks.
âWeâve been having these discussions ever since campus security was armed, so this doesnât feel very different than anything weâve done in the last five years,â Kaden Burdick, a fourth-year PSU student and active member of the PSU Student Union, said at the first PSU listening session hosted by Margolis Healy. âWe didnât ask you to come here, we donât know who you are⌠I donât trust the fact that the idea of disarmament will be considered at all.â
About three months have passed since Margolis Healyâs first PSU listening session, and a report has yet to be released.
On Wednesday, the PSU Student Union released a statement aimed at PSU President Rahmat Shoureshi and the universityâs board of trustees. It noted that Margolis Healyâs report is taking longer than expected.
âSeven months have elapsed since Jasonâs murder, and still no one has been held accountable,â the statement reads in part. âWe have not seen any effort by the Board of Trustees to meet or even acknowledge the demands of the Student Union and the requests of the Washington family.â
The student unionâs statement included four short-term demands: the release of all drafts and communications regarding the Margolis Healy report; immediately scheduling of a special board meeting to review the report; a public meeting with Shoureshi after the report is released, led by the student union and activist group Disarm PSU; and a community-involved plan to respond to the report and implement changes to CPSO policy.
The statement also reiterated the unionâs three long-term demands regarding the CPSO: disarming officers, firing Officer Dewey (McKenzie left voluntarily for months ago), and establishing a permanent memorial for Washington.
Itâs worth noting that PSUâs board of trustees originally scheduled a special board meeting to review Margolis Healyâs report for Tuesday, Feb 5.
When the Mercury inquired about the meeting, which had been posted to the boardâs webpage, and asked for a copy of the Margolis Healy report, PSU responded on Jan 25 that the report was not yet available, and the meeting would need to be rescheduled. PSUâs student union tweeted about the meeting being canceled on Jan 29.
Margolis Healy has delayed their report of their findings regarding campus safety, Jason Washington, and #DisarmPSU
The board has postponed their special meeting on February 5th
We will keep the community updated as we learn more.
â PSU Student Union (@PortlandStateSU) January 29, 2019
Healy told the Mercury in an email that the report could be expected within the next two weeks.
âThe delay is simply a product of ensuring weâre providing the best possible report addressing all of the critical issues,â Healy wrote.
When reached for comment on the student union's statement, PSU spokesperson Kenny Ma responded with the following:
âThe Margolis Healy campus safety report and recommendations are still being developed and will be made public when the report is submitted to Portland State. Students, faculty, staff, community members and the news media will be able to review it prior to when the Board of Trustees holds a special meeting with the Margolis Healy consultants to discuss the report. That special board meeting will be scheduled and posted once the safety report is submitted.â