Just in time for police union contract talks to resume—and maybe a decision on what to do with the officers involved in Aaron Campbell’s death this January—the Alberta Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform is planning a rally and march this month at Pioneer Courthouse Square.
The group has been perhaps the loudest in Portland calling for more scrutiny over the way police officers use force—an issue that flared with new urgency after a year in which cops fatally shot three men and tasered and fired bean bags at a 12-year-old girl.
The rally is planned for 10:30 AM Sept. 25, and will include a long roster of speakers close to the issues of police oversight and mental health treatment.
Among those on the list: the Rev. LeRoy Haynes, chairman of the Alberta Ministerial Alliance’s coalition, Israel Bayer of Street Roots, Chris O’Connor of the Mental Health Association, as well as advocates from Portland Copwatch and other homeless groups.
Uh, I think it’s “Albina,” not “Alberta.” And is Portland Copwatch really a homeless group?
Our organization is the Mental Health Association of Portland, and we’re somewhat neutral / skeptical on the issue of mental health treatment. What we’ve asked for is that people with mental illness not be routinely killed by Portland police officers.
Routinely killed by Portland police officers? Give me a break. Officer-involved shootings are extraordinarily rare in Portland, particularly compared with either similar figures in other cities, or measured against total encounters with mentally ill individuals, or measured against similar rates in Portland ten or twenty years ago. As long as you’re on the outside slinging mud, you’ll have no opportunity to influence the result.