I’m not sure if it’s possible for an employee at a non-violent nonprofit to “smack down” an alleged Nazi police officer, but a Sisters of the Road Manager certainly passive-aggressively “loved down” said alleged Nazi police officer yesterday afternoon.

Sisters and Portland Police were meeting at the Old Town University of Oregon building to discuss a “good neighbor agreement,” following Sisters’ closure last summer over drug issues and being branded a “chronic nuisance” by police.

The meeting was scheduled for three hours, and unfortunately I couldn’t be there for all of it. But Street Roots reporter Joanne Zuhl could. Portland Police Officer Mark Kruger was there. Here’s what Zuhl wrote:

Sisters Of The Road Executive Director Monica Beemer prefaced the talks about the diverse population around the table, including among those representing Sisters, and the need for everyone involved to feel safe in light of activities by police that have targeted homeless people and peace activists. The PPB officers who have been working on negotiating an agreement include Capt. Mark Kruger, who was addressed in particular by Sisters staff person Richard Walden. Walden said he didn’t feel safe with Kruger at the table, referencing the captain’s “patterns of violence” and derogatory attitude against protesters dating back to 2002. Police actions in those protests resulted in major lawsuit settlements by the city.

Kruger responded by saying that he would not spend this time defending the “lawful” activities of a police officer, and that he has made a good faith effort in these negotiations. He then offered to remove himself from the meeting if that was requested.

“I don’t know what I can tell you that will make you feel any safer,” Kruger said.

“At Sisters, we believe in second chances,” Walden replied, and said it was OK if Kruger stayed.

I spoke to Walden last night and asked him what he brought up.

“I publicly said I felt unsafe with him at the meeting, and felt unsafe for my own safety the next time I saw him at a protest. I did not touch the whole Nazi allegations at all, because he’s denied that and I didn’t want to get into it,” said Walden. “But in a sworn deposition from 2004, he admitted that he kept a photograph above his desk of him grabbing a female protester in what’s called the claw manouver. In 2002 he pepper sprayed a Channel 12 camerawoman named Beth English in the face. This summer, during the sting at Pioneer Courthouse Square where they were doing undercover surveillance, he referred to their job as “throwing a rock into a pond,” which, given his history, I think, referring to the police as a rock and our community as a pond, I think is a really unfortunate choice of words. He’s also been quoted as referring to the police’s job as human garbage collectors.”

Police spokeswoman Mary Wheat is yet to respond to an email request for comment sent this morning. Meanwhile Judith Mowry, who was facilitating the meeting for the city, said she thought it would be inappropriate to comment.

Update, 7:43 Wheat referred the question to Central Precinct Commander Dave Famous, who wrote an email in response:

Dear Mr. Davis,

My name is Dave Famous and I am the current Central Precinct Commander. I arrived at Central Precinct in my new role on December 10, 2009. Since that date, I have served as Captain Mark Kruger’s immediate supervisor. I attended the meeting which focused on developing a Good Neighbor Agreement with the Sisters of the Road and I was present when Richard Walden expressed his concerns about Captain Kruger.

Although Captain Kruger did state that he wasn’t about to discuss lawful activities that he has conducted in the past as a member of the Portland Police Bureau during this meeting; Captain Kruger graciously went on to say that if anyone in the room felt unsafe in his presence, he would respectfully request that I facilitate Central Precinct’s concerns as the meeting continued and that he would leave if that would make people in the room feel more comfortable and safe.

After Captain Kruger’s comments, the independent facilitator for the meeting asked if anyone in the room felt unsafe in Captain Kruger’s presence. No one else expressed any concerns. I do not recall the exact reply by Richard Walden, but I do not recall that he objected to the meeting continuing with Captain Kruger in attendance. The meeting continued as scheduled and was extremely productive.

Mark has worked hard to develop meaningful relationships with all persons associated with the Sisters of the Road and I believe that wonderful progress has been made over the past several months. He has had heart to heart conversations which are at times uncomfortable for those involved [including Mark], but these ongoing discussions are how we get to know each other and often lead to developing trusting relationships. I commend Captain Kruger for initiating these conversations and working hard to develop trusting relationships with all persons associated with the Sisters of the Road and other community partners as well.

During the past two months, I have personally observed Captain Kruger interact with numerous people in a variety of settings. I have watched and listened to Mark as he has interacted with many people on the street including those who are currently homeless. During those interactions Mark has been extremely professional, compassionate and caring. Captain Kruger continues to meet or exceed my expectations as a leader assigned to Central Precinct.

Both Mark and I are extremely honored to work with our community partners in the effort to solve livability problems and address concerns. We also feel extremely honored to work with the fine men and women who are assigned to Central Precinct. Officers and sergeants are willing to risk everything that is dear to them and their families to protect the Citizens of Portland. For that commitment, we are forever thankful.

Best regards, Dave

Matt Davis was news editor of the Mercury from 2009 to May 2010.

9 replies on “Sisters Mgr “Doesn’t Feel Safe” With Kruger”

  2. Sisters of the Road doesn’t exactly deal with the cream of society. If they “Don’t feel safe” with police, the very people that are SUPPOSED to protect them, how do you think the people that are afraid of the homeless feel about the police? (And yes, I know plenty of people from the suburbs that are afraid of downtown because of the homeless people.)

  4. So, I guess what I’m wondering is, could you–I’m referring to you, Matt Davis–maybe do some sort of digging and figure out whether there are any police officers in Portland who aren’t racist, fascist, anti-gay, anti-homeless. anti-liberal thugs? Cause I’ve only been here for a few years, but there seems to be an absolutely mind-blowing disconnect between the residents of Portland and Portland’s police department.

    The last place I lived happened to be St. Louis. While I was there, St. Louis passed Baltimore and Detroit to become the murder capital of the country. And the police there were (I thought at the time) the most corrupt, abusive, racist collection of human beings I had ever encountered. But at least they had the excuse of being in St. Louis.

    The police department in Portland is in one of the safest towns in the country, but they act like they are up against the most dangerous thugs in the world. I mean, what the fuck? This is fucking Portland, Oregon!

    And again, Matt, my apologies for criticizing your journalism in the past. You are clearly one of the few reporters left in this town (although, probably you shouldn’t have left the meeting early; what else did you have to do for those three hours?).

  5. Ted: I had to put out a newspaper. They’re these old things printed on dead trees. They have “deadlines,” and you have to write “stories.” Old fashioned, you know.

    Now: Yes, there are plenty of cops in Portland who are liberal. Some very very nice guys and ladies, actually. In fact many of them are bright, good people whom I like. Even the more conservative ones are good company, as long as you don’t get them talking about tax measures.

  6. A couple of small things I didn’t see any comments on in the article. First, we won’t discuss Krugers private life, as it takes all kinds. But, on a professional level, the City has had to settle over 1,000,000 dollars in civil claims regarding Kruger’s actions on duty with PPB. And, Dave Famous was an IAD investigator during this time period.

    Also, being in the neighborhood during the time they are talking about with the calls to Sister’s, just a couple of things I know. First, this was during the last incarnation of the sidewalk obstruction ordinance that was later ruled unconstitutional. When PPB, PPI or any other alphabet you can think of were running people off, they would say, go down by Sister’s and we won’t bother you. Second, at least some of these calls were made by Sister’s staff members when they would see illegal activities going on on a public sidewalk they had NO control over anywhere on the block as they were concerned for their customers safety. Following this logic, if ANY business downtown calls PPB, that would make them a public nuisance.

  7. Dale, I’ve got to correct you on one point. Calls made from Sisters are excluded from the count. This was spelled out early in the process.

  8. @Ted

    You haven’t been in Portland long enough or hanging out in the right parts of town to understand it’s racist culture. The Oregon Constitution banned blacks and other races from entering the state. The KKK took over local government in the 1920’s. Neo-nazis ran rampant in the 1980’s/90’s. PPD wants to preserve this culture. Read about the opossum incident or the death of Lloyd Stevenson for starters.

  9. I can’t speak to Cpt. Kruger’s past conduct or past or present ideology, but I would be disappointed if too much attention was focused on that particular aspect of the ongoing dialogue between Sisters, its neighbors, and the police. The fact is that Kruger, along with his colleagues, did a good job of representing and articulating the police department’s positions on the nuisance problems it sees at Sisters, and Sisters staff did a good job explaining and representing their assessment of the situation and the challenges it faces going forward. Kudos to Richard for being willing to publicly acknowledge his discomfort with Kruger, for being willing to continue the dialogue with Kruger present, and to Kruger for making the offer of excusing himself.

    It’s important for Sisters success and for the neighborhood’s success to keep the air clear and keep the dialogue on track. It’s not-so-important to speculate about someone’s past behavior.

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