A MAJORITY OF CITY COUNCIL finally forced Police Commissioner Dan
Saltzman to publish a secret list of frequent arrestees last week.
The list names those arrested most frequently in Old Town, inner
Southeast Portland, and parts of North/Northeast Portland, and is a
replacement for the city’s controversial “drug-free zones” program,
which was disbanded in late 2007 following race disparity concerns.
A month ago, Saltzman said he had decided to keep the list secret,
to protect the identity of people on it—many of whom are offered
drug treatment. However, these same people are being charged with a
felony for what would normally be treated as misdemeanor drug
possession. Leonard appeared to back down from the argument, saying he
disagreed, but respected Saltzman’s authority as police commissioner.
But last week, Leonard came back for more.
Initially, Mayor Sam Adams suggested releasing only the demographic
information of people on the list, after criticism from Copwatch
activist Dan Handelman, but Leonard interrupted to disagree. “There’s
no legal justification for keeping the names secret,” he said, accusing
Saltzman of “not serving the best interest of the program, or even the
people in the program.”
“It’s time to end this charade of allowing those who would attack
this program for various reasons to hang their hat on the list,”
Leonard continued.
Saltzman said, “Certain elements of the press are just clamoring to
get the names in print,” referring first to “the Mercury and
Willamette Week,” and later, specifically, to the
Mercury, which first discovered the list’s existence in April
2008, and has been a continuing advocate for its publication.
“You can dress up the issue anyway you like,” said Saltzman. “But
these are people, they are individuals, they are job applicants, and I
don’t necessarily think they want to pick up the Mercury and see
their names in the paper.”
Leonard then brought his daughter into the argument. He again
accused Saltzman’s police bureau of leaking details about his daughter
to the press—apparently referencing a Willamette Week story from last October, describing her entry into drug treatment as an
“open secret” at city hall. Leonard directed a long stare in Saltzman’s
direction as he made those remarks.
Then, Leonard said, “You get to the point—when you have a
child and they become an item for the police department—the least
of your worries is [that] somehow the Mercury or the
Willamette Week publishes their names. You’re worried if you’re
going to get a call from the coroner.”
The vote came as an amendment on the payment of $1.2 million more
into the program, to fund ongoing drug treatment and rehabilitation for
53 people. City Commissioner Nick Fish supported the payment, but
pointed out: “For an equivalent investment we can tackle about 40
percent of the homeless problem on the streets of Portland.”
“We’re talking about a substantial investment of public resources,”
Fish continued.