Officers standing outside Portland City Hall on October 12, 2016. Doug Brown On Thursday afternoon, Portland City Council will hear testimony on a proposed labor contract between the city and the Portland Police Association (PPA), the union representing rank-and-file Portland officers. The draft contract itself contains several victories for the city, including a clear discipline […]
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City Reaches Tentative Contract Agreement With Portland Police Union
A scene from within City Hall the last time PPA and the city agreed on a contract. Dirk Vanderhart Two years after first meeting at the bargaining table to hash out a new labor contract, the city of Portland and Portland Police Association (PPA)—the union representing rank-and-file members of the Portland Police Bureau—have reached a […]
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Resentment, Unaddressed Bias, and Leadership Failures: Report Unpacks Flaws Within PPB Culture
Mathieu Lewis-Rolland A long-awaited analysis of the internal dynamics of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has revealed a culture hampered by distrust, accountability issues, and poor leadership. The 80-page report, which the city will share with the public Monday, was authored by an independent law enforcement investigatory agency called the OIR Group, which the city […]
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A Short History of Portland’s Long Road to Police Body Cameras
A body camera on a police officer’s uniform. artas / Getty Images This week, Portland City Council will discuss the selection process for a vendor to operate the city’s first police body camera pilot program. The council decision is only the latest step in a years-long debate over the program’s future. Unlike in the past, […]
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Judge Deems Mayor Wheeler’s 2020 Protest Curfew to be Unconstitutional
Mayor Wheeler speaking to protesters during a July 2020 rally. NATHAN HOWARD / GETTY IMAGES A Multnomah County judge dismissed criminal charges against a protester Tuesday on the basis that an emergency curfew policy enacted by Mayor Ted Wheeler during the 2020 racial justice protests was unconstitutional. The decision could impact how the mayor’s office […]
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Most Officers Who Used Force During 2020 Protests Have Been Cleared By the City of Misconduct. Here’s Why.
Portland police officers approach protesters on May 30, 2020. MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) estimated that, in 2020, its officers used force more than 6,000 times against members of the public participating in racial justice protests. This force came in the form of tear gas canisters shot into crowds of people, baton strikes, […]
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Portland Police Used Right-Wing Meme Threatening Violence in Training Presentation
Members of PPB’s rapid response team during a 2020 protest alongside a meme included in a RRT training presentation. Doug Brown The city is in the midst of an internal investigation into the use of a far-right, anti-protester meme in a PPB training presentation. According to the city, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) training presentation […]
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Mayor Wheeler Subpoenaed Over 2020 Curfew Policy
Alex Zielinski The morning after Portland streets first erupted in protest, fires, and broken windows in response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Mayor Ted Wheeler took on the tone of a disappointed dad, and placed the entire city under an 8 pm curfew. “There was a pain that erupted into violence in […]
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Police Officers Leaked False Hit-and-Run Allegations Against Commissioner Hardesty in Retaliation, Investigation Finds
Mercury Staff A letter from the Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) internal affairs department has confirmed that three police officers—including former police union head Brian Hunzeker—were responsible for the information leak that led to several media outlets incorrectly reporting that City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty had committed a hit-and-run in March. The October letter, first obtained […]
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The Mercury’s Top Policing Stories of 2021
A protester confronts a PPB officers on April 16. NATHAN HOWARD / GETTY IMAGES [You can read all of the Mercury’s “Top Stories of 2021” here.—eds] After a year of sustained protests against police violence, Portland’s police force entered 2021 on shaky ground. This year saw police penalized for their actions during 2020’s protests, an […]
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Center for Investigative Reporting Digs Into Portland’s Problem With Policing Homelessness
A homeless encampment alongside Portland’s Laurelhurst Park. Alex Zielinski In 2018, an Oregonian investigation found that more than half of all arrests made by Portland police the previous year were of unhoused people. That trend hasn’t changed in the years since—and a recent episode of Reveal, a podcast by the Center for Investigative Reporting, helps […]
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Police Identify Man Shot by Officers in Saturday Traffic Stop
Getty Images / kali9 Portland police have identified the man shot and injured by officers after a Saturday car crash as Joshua Degerness, a 39-year-old Portland resident. Degerness was booked into the Multnomah County Jail Wednesday evening after spending the past four days at OHSU recovering from his injuries. The actions leading up to the […]