Loathe as I am to keep linking to Nick Budnick’s stories over at the Tribune, I have to give the guy credit when it comes to dogging the Police Bureau and District Attorney patch. I’ve been out of town for four days, but Budnick posted this important update to the James Chasse story last week, […]
Cops
Posted inPolitics
The Next Police Commissioner Is…
… “definitely” not going to be Amanda Fritz or Charles Lewis. That’s about all the news coming out of Mayor-elect Sam Adams’ office on the who’s-it-gonna-be drama. Which makes sense: With a decision on the matter expected by the 31st–but probably sooner–the outcome of the Fritz-Lewis runoff won’t even be known.
Posted inPolitics
Assigning the Police Bureau: What Sam Adams Should Do
Commissioner Randy Leonard took himself out of the running for Police Commissioner last night, citing the ongoing drama between himself and Police Chief Rosie Sizer. Now Mayor-elect Sam Adams has to figure out what to do. Who should head up the Police Bureau? Here’s my suggestion. Adams should watch the Parent Trap (1961 edition) and […]
Posted inPolitics
There’s Been ‘Ongoing Drama With No Seeming End,’ Around the Police Commissioner Appointment, Says Leonard.
I just spoke with Commissioner Randy Leonard, to get more detail about his decision to withdraw his name from consideration for the Commissioner-in-Charge of the Police Bureau. He says the past few months, since Mayor-Elect Adams asked him to prepare an assessment of the Police Bureau, and to consider whether he’d want to run the […]
Posted inPolitics
BREAKING NEWS: Commissioner Randy Leonard Takes His Name Off the Police Commissioner Short List
Commissioner Randy Leonard, widely expected to be named the next commissioner in charge of the police bureau by Mayor-Elect Sam Adams, has withdrawn himself from consideration, citing an “unfortunate dynamic”–his terse relationship with Police Chief Rosie Sizer, and the media “debate” over that relationship. There’s been no debate here at the Mercury. But the Oregonian’s […]
Posted inCops
82nd Ave Neighbors Plan Prostitution Town Hall
Blatant prostitution along 82nd Avenue has both local residents and Council Commissioner Randy Leonard hot and bothered. After the expiration of the prostitution-free zone along the Ave last September, Leonard has been meeting with police officials to figure out other methods of ending the sex work–in Leonard’s view, the city should use a service coordination […]
Posted inNews
The Crap Cannon
This month’s Portland cop paper, the Rap Sheet, carries a syndicated Fox news piece about a new crowd control device, “rumored” to be used against “protesters” at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The cannon, reads the piece, blasts low frequency noise at protesters… “Also called “Brown Note,” it is believed to be an infrasound […]
Posted inNews
Making Progress, or Being “Whitewashed?”: Racial Profiing Committee Stumbles On
The mayor’s racial profiling committee was thin on the ground yesterday following last month’s supposedly energizing retreat at the Doubletree hotel, leaving its members to ponder the committee’s long-term viability. “I was quite disappointed with the end result [of the retreat], quite frankly,” said the committee’s co-chair, Jo Ann Bowman of Oregon Action. “If we […]
Posted inCops
City Council Tosses Half a Million Bucks at Police Overtime Problem
This morning, Police Chief Rosie Sizer hit up the city council for $510,776 to cover cop overtime. This is about “making hard choices,” Sizer says, as she tries to juggle a short staffed police force with things like cops’ vacation requests and “the visits that will occur with the fall election cycle,” i.e. providing security […]
Posted inNews
Limo Rage: Stretch Driver In Spat With Vespa
A limo driver lashed out at a city employee riding a scooter last Thursday night, in a road rage incident on SW Taylor and Broadway. The scooter rider, Mary Volm, happens to be the spokesperson for the city department that regulates taxis and towncars but ironically, not limousines (the city has not yet bowed to […]
Posted inPolitics
Council Agrees to Amend Cops’ Agreements with Other Jurisdictions, to Increase Oversight
The city council tried to push through a set of intergovernmental agreements between the city and TriMet, to continue to allow officers from other agencies–the Hillsboro or Milwaukie police department, for example–to patrol MAX. But members of the IPR’s Citizens Review Board have big concerns about this legislation, because it continues the status quo–currently, as […]