Backroom negotiations between homeless advocates and the
Portland Business Alliance (PBA) on improved oversight for its
controversial rent-a-cop firm, Portland Patrol, Inc. (PPI), appear to
be moving toward a compromise.
Street Roots, Sisters of the Road, and the Western Regional
Advocacy Project suggested five changes for the rent-a-cops last
October: a straightforward, unbiased complaints and grievance process
via the City of Portland; public openness about training and standard
operating procedures; uniforms for PPI officers that clearly
differentiate them from the cops; removal of PPI officers’ guns; and
lastly, revisiting PPI’s ability to issue parks exclusions.
Now it seems the first two recommendations are likely to be enacted
and the last three aren’t, thanks largely to reluctance on the part of
city commissioners. (The city council needs to sign off on the
plan.)
PPI officers currently dress like cops, and a majority carry guns.
They also have issued 2,274 exclusions from the city’s parks in the
last year.
In October the advocates met for a private lunch at Rocco’s Pizza on
W Burnside with PBA Vice President of Downtown Services Mike Kuykendall
and its Clean and Safe Director Bill Sinnott, to talk about the
recommendations.
The advocates are due to meet again, privately, with PPI boss John
Hren on Thursday, January 10, to talk about officer training, but they
haven’t scheduled another meeting with the PBA to formalize a new
oversight procedure.
Street Roots Director Israel Bayer says only the first two
recommendations were discussed at the October meeting because both
sides were getting a sense from city commissioners that the last three
were off the table.
“We’re not saying we’re going to trade oversight and access to
training for guns, uniforms, and parks exclusions,” Bayer says. “Just
that that’s what we’re hearing from city hall.”
Bayer’s sense of partial city hall support for the recommendations
was explicitly confirmed last week when the Mercury asked all
four commissioners where they stood. All four commissioners’ offices
said they were open to oversight and training discussions but that
uniforms, guns, and park exclusions were either off the table or a far
tougher sell.
“We’re working with Israel on the oversight and training process,”
says PBA spokeswoman Megan Doern.
“But the parks contract has five years to run,” Doern continues.
“And the uniforms and guns have been effective in promoting a sense of
safety and security downtown.”