
With new contract negotiations between the City of Portland and the Portland police union expected to begin soon, a local coalition of social and racial justice groups hopes to influence whatâs included in those contracts.
The last time Portland City Council entered contract negotiations with the Portland Police Association (PPA) was October of 2016, and things got heated:
During the council vote, protestersâ vocal opposition to the agreed-on contract inspired officers to eject dozens of Portlanders from city hall, shoving and pepper-spraying activists in the process. While then-Mayor Charlie Hales lauded the deal for finally scrapping the Portland Police Bureauâs (PPB) 48-hour ruleâthe one that gave cops involved in a shooting two days until they had to speak with internal investigatorsâcommunity relations were raw thanks to officersâ jarring response to their critics and the smug satisfaction of the PPA.
This time around, police reform advocates plan to push for four key demands to be included in the new contracts: improving Portlandâs civilian police oversight system, holding officers accountable for excessive force or displays of bias, requiring comprehensive drug testing for officers, and changing the public complaint process.
â[There is a] long history of incidents of unaccountable and bias-based policing in our community,â said Will Layng of Portland Jobs with Justice, which is member of the coalition, at a Wednesday morning press conference. âThat is why we will be speaking out for a community-focused police contract in the upcoming contract negotiations.â
Additional coalition members include Unite Oregon, the Portland chapters of the NAACP and Democratic Socialists of America, Portland Copwatch, the Albina Ministerial Alliance, and others.
The Albina Ministerial Alliance, a leader in Portlandâs African American community, was among the groups that in 2010 called for a federal investigation into how Portland police officers treat the cityâs Black residents. As a result of that investigation, the Department of Justice found Portland police officers had used unreasonable force when interacting with people experiencing mental illness.
LeRoy Haynes, a co-chair of the allianceâs Coalition for Justice and Police Reform, said âaccountability is an issue that we still grapple with in the city of Portland,â at Wednesdayâs press conference.
âWe will not be able to change the number of police shootings until we change this contract,â Haynes said. âWe will not be able to fully change the responsibility of holding officers accountable until we change this contract.â
The coalitionâs priorities are further detailed in a resolution they hope to present to Portland City Council before contract negotiations begin, which is expected to happen before the end of the year. Coalition leaders say no city commissioner has yet agreed to introduce the resolution, but that they plan to start meeting with commissioners soon to discuss their demands.
Under the heading of improving civilian oversight, the coalition calls for giving an independent civilian agency authority over cases involving deadly force, and for ensuring that in investigations of allegations of police misconduct, âthe officer being investigated should not have special privileges the public does not have.â
The coalition is also asking that the new contract make it easier to fire police officers who have âused excessive force or exhibited racism,â and that members of the public will be able to âmake complaints without the offending officer having access to their name and information.â
While the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) currently has the power to drug-test officers when there is âreasonable suspicionâ they may be using drugs, there isnât a policy in place for mandatory officer drug-testing after a police shooting or use of force. Haynes said that policy gap presents a âdouble standard.â
âSometimes officers use too much alcohol,â Haynes said. âSometimes they have other drugs, including steroids, in their systems.... When you are stopped by a police officer for a ticket and they are concerned you may have had a little too much alcohol, you are immediately asked to take a test on the spot.â
When asked if the coalition expected the PPA to push back on its demands, Haynes answered, âOf course there will be resistance.â
âEvery inch of reform in this city,â he added, âhas been fought against by the Portland Police Association.â
For more on the history and future of PPA contract negotiations, read this weekâs Hall Monitor by Alex Zielinski.