Portlandâs citizen-led police oversight board has some concerns.
In October, the cityâs Citizen Review Committee (CRC)âan 11-member board of volunteers tasked with reviewing police conductâwrapped up their six-year investigation into when and how Portland police officers use violence against members of the public.
The CRC condensed their findings into an eight-page report that not only raised concerns about inconsistent use-of-force training across the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) but suggested policy tweaks to fix the problem.
For committee members, the report was a significant accomplishment: years of plodding meetings with wary officers, long nights navigating through legalese, and tedious policy dissections had all paid off.
One of the CRCâs many duties is to make policy recommendations to both city council and the chief of police in order âto prevent and rectify patterns of problems.â The group had already shared their policy recommendations with former PPB chief Mike Marshman, whose feedback was included in the October report, and were patiently waiting to get the finished product before city commissioners.
âWe were excited to go to city council to say, âLook what weâve achieved! We did something! Itâs worth it for us to be here!ââ says CRC Chair Kristin Malone.
But the committeeâs council liaison, City Auditor Mary Hull Caballero, didnât share that enthusiasm. In a short email to CRC members, Hull Caballero wrote that she wouldnât be putting their report on the city councilâs agenda.
Malone and her fellow committee members were stunned.
âIt had never occurred to us she would stand in the way of a CRC report,â says Malone.
Hull Caballeroâs decision speaks to a growing divide between the CRC, the cityâs police advisory board, and Hull Caballero, its appointed advocate in city hall.
âThis level of disconnect is unusual. But whatâs worse: Itâs saying the communityâs voice isnât important. That their input on policing isnât valued."
Hull Caballero, the only elected official in city hall who doesnât sit on city council, isnât the first auditor to distance herself from the CRC, a group whose mere existence offends Portlandâs domineering police union, the Portland Police Association (PPA). Itâs uncommon for a city auditor, who usually deals in research and analysis, to be so connected to police accountability workâbut itâs the way Portlandâs chosen to organize its police oversight.
The frayed relationship between the auditor and the CRC not only threatens to keep critical policy improvements off city councilâs radar, but also discourages those committed to improving Portlandâs imperfect police bureau.
âThis level of disconnect is unusual,â said Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch. âBut whatâs worse: Itâs saying the communityâs voice isnât important. That their input on policing isnât valued.â
For Malone, the tension between the CRC and auditorâs office began two years ago, when Hull Caballero announced sheâd no longer be meeting with CRC members unless it was during a public meeting. Hull Caballero has only attended one of the CRCâs monthly meetings since then, aside from a brief visit to hand out certificates of appreciation. The group has repeatedly asked for her presence to give feedback on policy recommendations, but sheâs declined.
Lately, CRC members have only been able to learn what Hull Caballero thinks of their work by speaking with members of the Independent Police Review, the city office that sets the CRCâs agendas, or from members of city council, who, unlike the auditor, regularly meet with the group.
âI canât help but ask myself, âDo we have the auditorâs support? Does she even want this group to exist?ââ says Malone. âIf weâre doing something wrong, I just want to know.â
âI wish people would understand how hostile this feels for volunteers.â
At Novemberâs CRC meeting, held one floor below Hull Caballeroâs office in City Hall, Malone announced she was considering stepping down as chair and leaving the CRC.
âI wish people would understand how hostile this feels for volunteers,â she tells the Mercury.
CRC members wear many hats. When the group isnât researching PPB policies, it acts as a board of appeals for members of the public who report police misconduct, which can encompass everything from claims of retaliatory arrests to officer rudeness. The CRC is also responsible for reaching out to community groups to gather feedback on PPBâs work. The volunteer gig takes up an average of eight hours a week.
While the policy advisory piece of their work is generally the most drawn-out and least noticed, itâs often the most impactful. After presenting their use-of-force recommendations to Chief Marshman in 2017, the former PPB head amended the bureauâs Use of Force Directive to include officer protocol around de-escalation tactics.
In an email to the Mercury, Hull Caballero wrote that because of these changes, she was âunclear what value would be addedâ by CRC presenting the Use of Force report to the council. In her eyes, it seems, the policy problems have already been solved.
But policy changes donât always stick. As Handelman pointed out at a recent CRC meeting, de-escalation policies havenât necessarily been reflected in recent fatal police shootings. Thatâs why getting the CRCâs report in front of city commissionersâespecially Mayor Ted Wheeler, who currently serves as the police commissionerâwas important.
âI think the city council should hear a deadly force report, especially in this climate,â Handelman said.
City council seems to agree.
At a November council meeting, commissioners unanimously voted to appoint a new member to the CRC. Before casting her vote, Commissioner Amanda Fritz noted her concerns over not regularly hearing the committeeâs recommendations.
âWe continue to have a problem with public trust in our police, and the CRC has to be a central part of that,â Fritz said. âWe have to get the reports back to the council in a timely manner.â
âAuditors are a special type of person. They arenât like regular politicians. Maybe police oversight is not a good fit?â
Since entering the office in 2015, Hull Caballero has pushed to better define her role in city hall. In 2017, she championed a city charter amendmentâapproved by city council and votersâto safeguard her independence from Portland City Council, the body in charge of the bureaus she audits. Earlier this year, Hull Caballero refused to house the cityâs campaign finance program in her office, citing her lack of faith in the programâs efficacy.
She now appears to be backing away from her involvement with the CRC. For longtime city watchdogs, itâs a familiar pattern.
âThe CRC has become an area of discomfort for the past three auditors,â said Debbie Aiona of Portlandâs League of Womenâs Voters (LWV). Aiona said Hull Caballero stopped taking meetings with the LWV after the group disagreed with a position she took.
âAuditors are a special type of person,â Aiona says. âThey arenât like regular politicians. Maybe police oversight is not a good fit?â
Unlike her fellow elected officials, Hull Caballero strategically distances herself from politics and policy-makingâespecially the kind that may ruffle feathers, like those involving police reform. Members of the PPA have opposed the CRC since the establishment of the committee in 2001, accusing its members of anti-police bias. For Hull Caballero, supporting a CRC directive would all but guarantee a heated meeting with PPAâs top brassâexactly the kind of political tension an auditor works hard to steer clear of.
But Portlanders recently elected a new city commissioner whoâs eager to shake up the police bureauâs status quo. Incoming commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty campaigned on a platform of police reform, which included plans to audit the entire police bureau. Malone is hopeful that Hardesty will be able to rework Portlandâs current police oversight system, but for now, all sheâs certain of is that things have to change.
To underscore that certainty, Malone recalled a 2014 conversation she had with police reform advocate Teressa Raiford, shortly after Malone joined the CRC.
âShe told me the CRC is a dead end... that itâs unable to make any real change,â Malone says. âAt the time, I didnât believe it entirely. But now, Iâm thinking maybe sheâs right.â