POLICE CHIEF Mike Reese wasn’t happy when it came time for two city commissioners to wrap up a study calling for deep cuts to the police command staff—part of a wonkish effort to true up Portland’s supervisor/employee ratios and potentially save up to $2.5 million.
The controversial report, first posted by the Mercury on March 5, found more than 33 police supervisors with three or fewer underlings. And it also gave the bureau a still-pending April 1 deadline to better justify those arrangements—something other bureaus had already done.
Worse, it took a nudge from the police commissioner, Mayor Charlie Hales, for the bureau to cooperate even as much as it did.
“We got to a point where we were supposed to have issued the report a long time ago,” says Commissioner Steve Novick, who presided over the report along with Commissioner Nick Fish. “We concluded we couldn’t wait any longer.”
But in a memo delivered to Novick and Fish this month, Reese refused to take his lumps. And in the process, the chief revealed some of the deep political undertones—tension between the council and mayor’s office, and also between the council and police bureau—silently throbbing under what was supposed to be a bloodless budget exercise.
Following through with the report’s harshest recommendation—eliminating 23 command-level positions and reassigning six others—would “severely impact accountability and oversight of bureau operations.” It would also run, Reese wrote, “directly counter” to a reform deal in place between the cops and the US Department of Justice.
Reese harrumphed, instead, that the bureau should be allowed to finish its own internal staffing study, which he optimistically suggested would be completed by the end of 2014.
The police chief’s chilly reaction wasn’t entirely unforeseen—not after a year that’s seen an unusual strain in the bureau’s relationship with city hall.
The bureau, for the first time in memory, wasn’t spared steep budget cuts last year. The drumbeat of headlines over federal reform has sapped morale. Hales’ office is in the midst of a bid to decertify the union that represents the bureau’s command staff.
And commissioners, especially Novick, have been willing to question the bureau on policy and spending. Novick has been famously loud about cutting command positions and other specialty squads, like the bureau’s vice unit and cherished mounted patrol. Having Fish along on this particular effort, however, suggests that this is more than another shout through Novick’s bullhorn.
“It may be that they’re feeling picked on,” Novick says. “But they went through the same process everyone else did. They just provided a different level of information.”
The vigor and tone of Reese’s response dropped jaws in city hall all the same. Most curious was that it seemed to be tacitly endorsed by Hales’ office. Hales’ spokesman, Dana Haynes, personally sent out Reese’s statement, alongside comments that thanked the chief for his thoughtful response.
“Obviously, more debate is called for in regard to the Portland Police Bureau and other bureaus as well,” the mayor’s office said.
City sources say they were especially troubled by inconsistent messages from within the mayor’s office and chalked the statement up to another instance of that pattern playing out. Some of the sensitivity involved the timing of Hales’ efforts to break up the Portland Police Commanding Officers Association (PPCOA).
Messages left with the PPCOA’s president, Captain Bryan Parman, were not returned as of press time.
Novick wouldn’t comment on Hales’ remarks. But he did confirm meeting personally with Hales “a couple of weeks ago” and telling him that the report was going to be harsh. He also confirmed that Hales’ office, at one point, offered a “cosmetic” wording change meant to keep the cops’ feelings from growing even more tender.
“The mayor said he understood we needed to finish the process,” Novick says. “He did not ask us not to do it. He understood what the report was going to say and he didn’t object.”
Haynes, when asked to comment, said he didn’t immediately know whether the final report reflected Hales’ input or not.
“He was pleased the two commissioners took on this issue,” Haynes says. “As for actual details, that’s going to head into the annual budget dance.”
The report’s examination of the city’s workforce, politics aside, raises several interesting questions. It turned up dozens of “bosses”—mostly in the police bureau, but also in the city’s sewer and water utilities—who only boss around three or fewer employees. And, in some cases, one or none.
As part of this examination, the city is looking at how it defines its job titles and their responsibilities. In some cases, bureaus have given supervisor status to valued employees as a way of bumping pay and keeping them from fleeing to other cities or the private sector.
Novick’s still hoping the cops pony up the detailed information he and Fish have called for—sending a letter to Reese, obtained by the Mercury, making his wishes very clear. He’s still puzzled, for example, why precinct commanders need a captain between themselves and the lieutenants they oversee. Or why both a captain and a lieutenant run certain specialty units.
“To the extent that they have lieutenants and captains who clearly are not supervisors,” he said, “we need to change the classifications.”
Meanwhile, no one’s holding their breath about the bureau’s promise of an independent staffing review. The last time the bureau did something similar—contemplating a major shakeup in patrol shifts in 2011, also to save money—it went nowhere. How come?
Because, according to the Oregonian, Reese thought it would hurt “morale.”
This is true in most other City Bureaus as well, they are top-heavy with middle and upper management lifer types who don’t really contribute much to actual productivity, they just shuffle papers and attend endless pointless meetings. Meanwhile, when it comes to City layoffs, it’s the line workers who suffer the most because these managers are the ones making the decisions and protecting their own jobs.
If only these bench warmers had been out on patrol, perhaps they wouldn’t have lost a suspect today by killing him, and an officer might not have had to suffer an injury. More likely, though, is that if they had all been there, they all would have emptied their 19 round clips into the sucker.
All i have to say is there is something really weird here. Why has Reece been doing so much political stuff lately? You know, i left his office a message about a month ago stating if he called me we could help end homelessness and have a cleaner, more healthy city with less work for the police…….NO RESPONSE. of course. And i take offense to that. Not only does he not seem interested in fixing the problem with homeless, but my brother was very high up with the Portland Fire Bureau and was a lieutenant and saved many lives… He was funny and everyone loved him. Anyways, political work and lack of respect for citizens? OK i admit it. HE SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME!
Reese is a nice guy. To me his only faults are that he tends to take things a bit to personally, and when he does he gets a bit whiny and petulant. That and he seems to get along a bit to well with the PBA for my personal taste.
actually that is a bit harsh. I should say that in my history with him those things are true. I will also add that he is a good church going guy that does spend a lot of time with his community, and is always polite when I see him, even though we are “on the outs”.
How does Portland compare to other police agencies nationally and regionally with regards to numbers of total sworn personnel, managers, investigators, and patrol officers?
My bet is that someone managing less than three employees is likely being hidden away for cause. Time to get rid of the commanding officers union and dump the dead weight.
I’m moving to Portland soon with my two dogs. They issue citations for dogs off leash and poop but ignore drug and alcohol use according to reviews on Parks and Recreation. I am former Law Enforcement Officer/SRT (special reaction team) and this is very disturbing to me. I also read these officers are not “swarn in” or armed but the city still labels them as “law enforcement officers.” This would explain why they do not “ticket” intoxicated individuals as referenced in the previous post. However this leaves me wondering what is their purpose? It is to keep the park unsafe by picking on the people using the parks for what they were originally intended for leaving an empty park and creating a classic recipe for danger and crime? I am not someone who leaves my dog poop and I know what effect it has on the environment through my education with a strong emphasis in physical science. It’s also just the right thing to do as a common courtesy to fellow citizens. With that being said I would much rather step in a pile of crap than get poked by a needle, raped, robbed, or killed. This type of policing is becoming all to familiar and common. This also explains why so many of the park pictures have very few if any people walking around. People are tired of being controlled and micro managed by over policing. The armed guys don’t bother showing presence because the mall cops got it covered. They’ve scared off all the kids, picnickers, and kite flyers leaving it wide open for crime. Can’t get any fines from those guys so who cares if they huddle around the picnic tables and smoke crack, they don’t waste their time with them. So in reality the mall cops created the perfect situation for breeding more crime. Another empty park with no purpose other than environmental necessity and a huge waste of tax payers money. They need to close down all the parks and reforest them. This would provide more safety for the oblivious ones who still think parks are there for good old fashioned healthy wholesome fun or the classic “it would never happen to me” mentality and leave the environmental cushion we need for watershed and habitat. Your better off just heading to the woods. No one will harass you and bear attacks are less likely than being mugged in an abandoned park in the city. You may run into a hunter or two or an old veteran out target shooting but they just offer more protection from that hungry bear. If your dog needs daily exercise you better get a treadmill if you can’t make it to Mt St Helens every day. Our society has “mall cop” ticket writers and “armed income” generators trained and focused on ticketing and arresting filling the system up with people whose sole purpose is keeping the money rolling in. If your weird creepy neighbors are jumping onto your second story apartment balcony at night peering through your windows and decide not to wait for the cops to show up when they realize they’ve been spotted, the dispatcher will tell you how busy they are and an officer will give you a phone call when they get time because unfortunately theres nothing they can do if no crime has been committed.” This happened to me and didn’t warrant enough significance because there was no money to be made, no cause for arrest. They won’t bother with a “show of force” most likely enough to prevent him from doing anything in the future as he is rudely awakened caught and spotlighted. That would fall into the “protect” and “prevent” category not the “ticket” and “create” mentality. The “protect” has been removed from law enforcements responsibility. It’s now been delegated to the dead bolt on your front door and smart people who depend on the second amendment because they realize they are responsible for their own safety because no one else will. Police brutality and excessive use of force has become so common people are being conditioned to the normalcy of this tyrannical behavior. Police officers seem to have an agenda when they step out of the briefing room onto the streets. Lacking the capacity to care or protect the citizens they are serving. This city seems to pick and choose when, where, and what to police for any reason they feel at the time. Seattle’s police officers have the same attitude which ultimately lead to the death of an innocent nonthreatening homeless man because he possessed a knife? That is not a deadly force situation unless he was a perceived threat. Are they required to adhere to the laws of deadly force? Or are they merely ordered to act on their “personal” judgement. They rough people up before conducting basic interview technics through rational discussion as if they are provoking or instigating a belligerent or combative response to gain an arrest. The citizens in the area really believe these poop tyrants are helping keeping the parks safe because in their minds they are “Rangers” and “Law Enforcement” officers. Their presence naturally and unconsciously steers people away. The natural crowds and presence of people is what deters crime and holds people accountable for their actions. A couple of parks sound as though they need environmental remediation because they are so overly contaminated with dog feces you virtually can not move without stepping in it. Yet they continue to bring their dogs their? People complain about the poop but do not take the initiative to pick it up, expect the city to provide bags, water and bug free tables to sit on. People have to be told what to do, so why doesn’t the city launch a campaign to do just that? They will continue to ticket in the “hub” and provoke crime generating money for the city but where is it going? Ignorant citizens and “sheeples” who are easily deceived by giving these “mall cops” titles such as “rangers” and “law enforcement” will continue to remain unaccountable for their own actions. This is perfect for the City and their agenda because it is successful. Dangerous for uneducated, less intelligent people, and joggers who wind up murdered assuming the “mall cop” is keeping the area safe and secure.
Hmmm, not too many joggers have been murdered in the parks lately, and the Rangers do in fact enforce drug and alcohol prohibitions in the parks (ask anyone who’s been to Monday Funday at Col. Summers in the last three or four years); but hey, nice rant, dude. Any maybe you should see a therapist about your poop fixation….
Let me tell you what I see. Our country started out with great leaders and ideas(The Constitution, liberty, freedom, innovation, debate, democracy). And yes there was business and we grew great and big. But the people were always most important, and when needed we always joined together with pride and took care of each other.
But in the last 100 years or so, Corporations simply draw resources from the people and the environment. They grow and grow and influence government and politics. So they make those who are not following their desires of power, look bad by twisting the truth and installing confusion and anger at the wrong people. This system destroys humanity, and destroys debate. We must question and challenge the ideals we are told to believe in. But lately, to protest or debate is met with lies such as calling other groups criminals, or harmful to society.
Lets make this simple. Draw a circle on a map around Portland Oregon. Everyone in that circle are the citizens and society of Portland Oregon. This is our home. We may not all agree with each other, but we need to stop fighting within and stand up for our big family of 500,000 here in Portland. We must stop letting the higher powers to be(big money) cause us to fight with each other. That’s a trick they use. All of us must join and help each other grow. Don’t spend money in places where it leaves our Portland area, and find money from outside Portland to be spent here. The more we do this the more Portland will have. Like a big piggy bank. And if we end up in some kind of war…I want the police to be here and we help them too. Same as our great Fire and Rescue. But the police are told by higher ups(money) to do things that separate us. Its time for all of us to stop fighting within, recognize the real problems, and stand up for our big family here in Portland. I see a lot of big corporations coming into Portland old town, but less money for our (to be respected and appreciated) police. Yes i have been greatly abused by the local police, but i’m not going to fight back, but continue to ask them…..join the rest of us. We are all family.
You know, there are good people that need our help that are homeless, and there is an increase in rapes(NOT BY HOMELESS THAT SOME POWERS THAT BE WANT US TO THINK).
I say, lets quit arguing about this subject, and lets all stop these rapist and let them know they are not welcome. And if you can convince a homeless person to a better path then do so, but you can’t do that unless you respect the fact he is human too and deserves it.
and Check this link out…… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8kyfhABWug