Gunfire on MAX. This guy in an Indian headdress named Rambo overpowered the shooter https://t.co/Rp7tdZzUde pic.twitter.com/Jb6xJkK02r— KGW News (@KGWNews) October 26, 2016 The city’s TV news crews were abuzz last night with news that a young man in a Native American headdress had disarmed a gunman at the MAX stop near East Burnside and 102nd. […]
Cops
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Former Police Chief Larry O’Dea Faces a Criminal Charge for Shooting His Friend
Six months after he mistakenly shot a friend, ex Portland Police Chief Larry O’Dea has been charged with a crime. The Oregon Department of Justice revealed today that it had brought a count of negligently wounding another, a class-B misdemeanor, to a grand jury in Harney County. That jury has formally indicted the former chief. […]
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Don’t Shoot Portland’s Teressa Raiford Wants to be Sheriff
After spending years railing for reform in Portland’s justice system, Teressa Raiford wants in. Raiford, a prominent Black Lives Matter protestor and founder of the accountability group Don’t Shoot Portland, has announced a last minute write-in campaign for Multnomah County sheriff. In doing so, she’s hoping to mount a challenge to current sheriff and former […]
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After a Sharply Worded Federal Report on Police Reforms, City Council is Meeting in Private Today
Portland City Council has hastily scheduled an executive session this afternoon, days after the US Department of Justice filed a long report [PDF] critical of some of the city’s efforts to obey a settlement over police abuses of mentally ill citizens. Executive sessions are hazy affairs. The city allows reporters to attend, so long as […]
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Hall Monitor: The Mayor’s Last Big Loss?
Charlie Hales’ Police Contract “Victory” Looks Like Anything But Right Now
Charlie Hales’ police contract “victory” looks like anything but right now.
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Don’t Shoot Portland Activists Now Hope to Recall Nick Fish, Not Amanda Fritz
Dirk VanderHart Don’t Shoot Portland activists aren’t going to try to recall City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, after all. They’re going after Commissioner Nick Fish instead. Don’t Shoot spokesperson Greg McKelvey tells the Mercury the group came to that decision today, after learning of huge logistical hurdles for recalling Fritz, who, like Fish, voted to ratify […]
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UPDATED: Three Protestors Face Felony Charges After Yesterday’s Clash With Police
Jonny Perez, Robert West, and Sara Long Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office By the time the pepper spray, police, and protestors had dissipated from outside City Hall on Wednesday, 10 people had been arrested. The Portland Police Bureau revealed those people’s names last night. They are: •Jonny Samuel Perez, 23•Sarabeth Rachel Long, 38•David Kif Davis, 44•Hallie […]
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City Council Just Retreated to a Closed Meeting Space to Pass a New Police Contract
Protestors chant in Portland City Hall, as police block off access to the third floor, where City Council met in a closed-off session. Dirk VanderHart For the third week in a row, anger over a new contract with the city’s largest police union sent Portland City Council into chaos this morning. But this time, Mayor […]
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MEMO: Police Union Isn’t Automatically Entitled to a Say in Body Cam Policy
As controversy has swirled over the particulars of a forthcoming police body camera policy in recent weeks, Mayor Charlie Hales has repeated one claim several times: Hales says the city’s legal experts believe that the city’s rank-and-file police union, the Portland Police Association (PPA), has an ironclad right to hash out the policy as part […]
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City Hall Will Be Locked Today Because of a Police Contract Vote Tomorrow
A vote over a much-derided contract [PDF] with the city’s largest police union isn’t scheduled until tomorrow, but City Hall will be locked today. In advance of a planned protest of the contract by Don’t Shoot Portland and other groups this afternoon, Mayor Charlie Hales’ office says the center of Portland governance will shut down […]
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Watch Police Accountability Advocates Smuggle Their Complaints Into “Bridge Crane” Testimony
What a weird situation at Portland City Council today. As we reported after a meeting was shut down because of public outcry yesterday, Mayor Charlie Hales made the decision to severely limit public access to council in a substitute hearing this afternoon. Only reporters, city officials, and select members of the public (who’d missed a […]
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Here’s How Portland’s Draft Police Body Camera Policy Stacks Up Against Other Cities’
In this week’s Mercury, we took a look at the city’s draft policy [PDF] for police body cameras, and highlighted portions of the policy that deserve particular scrutiny as the effort goes forward. We also wanted to compare Portland’s nascent policy to body camera laws in other cities. So we got in touch with Washington, […]