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). […]
Cops
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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 – […]
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Portland Police Cleared of Wrongdoing in Retaliatory Fesser Arrest
JAROMIR CHALABALA / EYEEM / GETTY IMAGES In February 2017, Portland police pulled over and arrested Portland resident Michael Fesser, despite not having any proof that he had committed a crime. All they had was a West Linn police officer’s assurance that his police department had the incriminating evidence needed to legally arrest Fesser for […]
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City Council to Settle Quanice Hayes’ Wrongful Death Lawsuit for $2 Million
Venus Hayes, speaking to reporters shortly after her son’s death in 2017. Doug Brown Portland city attorneys have agreed to pay more than $2 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the family of Quanice Hayes, a Black teenager who was fatally shot by a Portland cop in 2017. The settlement agreement, first reported […]
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Portland Police Unveil New Gun Violence Team
Members of the PPB’s since-disbanded Gang Enforcement Team stopping a driver. Portland City Auditor’s Office Portland Police Bureau (PPB) announced a new gun violence response team Friday, less than a year after Portland City Council dissolved the controversial Gun Violence Reduction Team (GVRT). Dubbed the Enhanced Community Safety Team (ECST), the new unit will be […]
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Portland Police Fail to Meet Community’s Language Needs, Audit Finds
Portland Police Bureau A recent audit conducted by the city’s Independent Police Review (IPR) has found that Portland police lack a clear, consistent, and legally-sound system for communicating with Portlanders who don’t speak English. The audit, made public last week, points to a gap in the Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) stated commitment to equity that’s […]
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UPDATE: Inverness Jail Officers Pepper-Sprayed Inmates During COVID-19 Outbreak
GETTY IMAGES / IMAGESOURCE Update, Feb. 10:More details from the Dorm 11 incident have emerged, this time coming straight from people who were inside the room. An Inverness Jail inmate who was in Dorm 11 Sunday evening explained how the fracas began in a phone call with Rowan Maher, a legal assistant with Metropolitan Public […]
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City’s Top Proposals in Contract Negotiations Put Police Union on Defense
STEVE DYKES/GETTY IMAGES After nearly a year delay, city attorneys resumed contract negotiations Wednesday with the Portland Police Association (PPA), the union representing Portland’s rank-and-file officers. But the day’s virtual meeting did not simply pick up where it left off in March 2020, when COVID-19 derailed the possibility of in-person negotiations. The conversation instead reflected […]
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Recent Protests Show Philosophical Shifts in Opposing Activist Movements
A right-wing protester stands before police during a Salem rally. Justin Yau Oregon entered 2021 with scenes emblematic of the previous year: Tense protests attended by political groups, attracting a forceful, militaristic response by police and condemnation by elected officials. But despite their familiar features, the intensity of two recent rallies signals a possible paradigm […]
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Oregon Lawmakers Vote to Extend Eviction Moratorium to June
Getty Images / powerofforever Oregon legislators have approved an emergency bill extending the state’s moratorium on residential evictions until June 30, 2021. The vote, held during Oregon’s third special legislative session of 2020, comes just ten days before the state’s current moratorium expires. “If we do not pass this bill, thousands of families will be […]
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Portlanders Question Police Priorities As 911 Response Times Lag
JAROMIR CHALABALA / EYEEM / GETTY IMAGES [Editor’s note: This article mentions sexual assault.] It wasn’t long after a gray RV appeared in her North Portland neighborhood’s cul-de-sac that Erica knew something was off. It was the vehicle’s appearance that first raised suspicion: The RV was missing its license plates and, in place of traditional […]
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City Council Approves New Reporting Requirements for Military-Style Police Weapons
Portland police patrolling a protest in July. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland Portland City Council has taken a first step in limiting the use of military-style weapons by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) against members of the public. On Wednesday, city commissioners unanimously passed a resolution requiring that PPB request permission from City Council before purchasing certain weapons […]