MIGUEL MARIN / EYEEM / GETTY IMAGES The officer responsible for fatally shooting a member of the public in Lents Parks Friday has been identified as Zachary DeLong. According to the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), DeLong has worked for the department for eight years. PPB has yet to release the name of the man who […]
Cops
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Portlanders Closest to Gun Violence Find City’s Latest Solution Lacking
COSMONAUT, Klaus Vedfelt / GETTY IMAGES Mike “Bretto” Jackson is used to getting phone calls at 2 am from men intent on killing someone. As a mentor working with young men involved in Portland gangs, Jackson often takes on a role akin to an addiction recovery sponsor—someone who could potentially talk a person out of […]
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Woman Sues Portland Protest Cop for Retaliatory Arrest
Hannah Ahern sits handcuffed shortly after her August 17 arrest. STEPHANIE KEITH / GETTY IMAGES A woman arrested during a 2019 protest is now suing a Portland cop for fabricating evidence to support her arrest. Her lawyers allege the officer used the arrest as a way to retaliate against her for expressing her disgust in […]
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Portland Police Union Headquarters in Flames on Second Night of Daunte Wright Protests
Flames shoot from a side door of the PPA building Tuesday night. Suzette Smith The second night of Portland protests against the police killing of Daunte Wright—a Black man fatally shot by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb Sunday—ended in flames. The target was the North Lombard headquarters of the Portland Police Association (PPA), […]
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A Portland Vigil for Daunte Wright Ends in the First Riot of 2021
Portland Police in front of the Penumbra Kelly Building. Suzette Smith Portlanders gathered Monday evening to remember Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb Sunday. The night featured two vigils: One, held in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, heard speeches from Black Portlanders on their […]
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City Council Takes Unified Step Towards Addressing Surge in Gun Violence
DRAFTFOLIO / GETTY IMAGES Portland City Council responded to an alarming uptick in local gun violence by unanimously passing a $6 million emergency budget package on Wednesday. The proposal finances grants for community-based organizations that work directly with Portlanders impacted by gun violence, significantly expands Portland’s park ranger program, and funds crime data collection and […]
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Portland’s Current Cop Accountability System is Failing, DOJ Finds
Portland police before a June 6, 2020 protest. Blair Stenvick According to attorneys with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Portland’s current police oversight board is relying on flawed—if not unconstitutional—logic to clear Portland cops of alleged misconduct. This is especially true in cases where officers used force against a member of the public during […]
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City Council’s Newest Members Reject Mayor’s Plan to Reinstate Police Gun Violence Reduction Team
Mayor Wheeler speaking at a 2020 press conference City of Portland / YouTube screenshot The three newest members of Portland City Council aren’t on board with Mayor Ted Wheeler’s plan to throw $2 million behind a police-centered solution to the city’s gun violence problem. In a memo shared with Wheeler and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty […]
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City Blames Protests, Not Police, for Officers’ Inability to Meet DOJ Settlement Standards
Portland police responding to a 2020 protest against police brutality. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland Every time a Portland officer uses force against a member of the public—whether it’s shooting someone with a firearm or roughly forcing them into handcuffs—that officer is required to file a report detailing the force and explaining its necessity. Per the Portland Police […]
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Portland Police Union President Hunzeker Resigns Amid Investigation
After five months on the job, Brian Hunzeker has abruptly resigned as president of Portland Police Association (PPA), the union representing Portland’s rank-and-file police. The reason remains a bit hazy, but according to a PPA press release sent Tuesday afternoon, it has to do with the city’s investigation into how City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty […]
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Mayor Wheeler Requesting $1.7 Million to Immediately Reinstate PPB Gun Violence Team
A photo from 2017 show Portland police officers with a now-dissolved gun violence team making a traffic stop. City of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler plans on asking his fellow city council members to okay $1.7 million in emergency city funds to immediately re-establish a police patrol similar to the dissolved Gun Violence Prevention Team (GVRT). […]
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UPDATE: Hardesty Calls Falsified Hit-and-Run Accusations a “Smear Campaign”
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty UPDATE, 6 pm: City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has addressed the false accusations in a press release, again calling for an investigation. “Today began with an unnecessary burden put on my office to disprove a completely false accusation. Now the Portland Police Bureau has admitted what we knew all along – […]