Cops

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND A federal judge ruled Monday that the City of Portland had violated a court order barring Portland police from shooting impact munitions at nonviolent protesters. In his evening ruling, US District Judge Marco Hernandez wrote that the city—by way of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB)—defied the June 26 temporary restraining order at least […]