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c3Category — Criminal Justice & Policing
Posted inBlackOut

Q&A: From Mike Brown to George Floyd

Don’t Shoot Portland’s Teressa Raiford & Glenn Waco on Activism and Art.
Avatar photo Donovan Scribes (fka Donovan Smith)

[Editor’s Note: The following article is part of BlackOut: A Five-Year Retrospective on Portland’s Racial Justice Movement, a joint publication from Donovan Scribes and the Portland Mercury. Written exclusively by Black Portlanders, the purpose of BlackOut is to remember and reflect on the May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of police, […]

Posted inBlackOut

Investment for the People

How the 1803 Fund became a catalyst for investment in Portland’s Black community.
Avatar photo Rukaiyah Adams and Juma Sei

[Editor’s Note: The following article is part of BlackOut: A Five-Year Retrospective on Portland’s Racial Justice Movement, a joint publication from Donovan Scribes and the Portland Mercury. Written exclusively by Black Portlanders, the purpose of BlackOut is to remember and reflect on the May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of police, […]

Posted inBlackOut

BlackOut: A Note of Thanks

Appreciation to the donors and boosters who made this very special issue of BlackOut possible.
Avatar photoAvatar photo Donovan Scribes (fka Donovan Smith) and Wm. Steven Humphrey

This special print and online version of BlackOut: A Five-Year Retrospective on Portland’s Racial Justice Movement would not have been possible without the monetary and emotional support of the following people and organizations. On behalf of Donovan Scribes, the Portland Mercury, and Black Portlanders, we thank you. You can read all the BlackOut articles here. Looking […]

Posted inNews

Update: Using K9, Tear Gas, and Robots, Police Arrest Man Involved in Previous Standoff

Following crisis negotiations that ended without arrest earlier in the week, police returned to NW Portland for a tense arrest of an unhoused man with warrants.
Avatar photoAvatar photo Courtney Vaughn and Taylor Griggs

Updated: 8:40 am Thursday, April 17 Portland police officers returned to Northwest Portland Wednesday afternoon, to effectuate the arrest of a man involved in an armed standoff earlier in the week. Police used a bevy of weapons, including tear gas, a police K9, a flash bang device, and robots to force 44-year-old Raul Nava, Jr. […]

Posted inNews

Deadline Approaches to Apply for New Police Accountability Board

Portland’s new civilian-led oversight board, approved by voters in 2020, is finally coming to fruition. Applications for a board seat are due April 14.
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

Portlanders have until April 14 to apply to serve on the city’s new Community Board for Police Accountability. The new board was established by a ballot measure Portland voters approved in November 2020 that creates a civilian-led oversight body with authority to investigate police conduct and community complaints against Portland Police Bureau (PPB) personnel. The […]

Posted inNews

After Years of Bureaucratic Pushback, Portland Street Response Finally Has a Chance at Success

The city’s unarmed mobile crisis response program has struggled to gain stability under past city leadership. New city leaders aim to change that.
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

Last year, as the city faced a budget deficit, Portland Street Response was fighting for its existence. The city’s alternative response program, which sends unarmed social workers, EMTs, and community health workers to aid people experiencing behavioral health crises, was in danger of losing a substantial chunk of its budget under the city commissioner in […]

Posted inNews

Portland Settles Lawsuit With Journalists, Legal Observers Targeted By Police During Protests

The $938K payout to nine plaintiffs marks the city’s largest protest-related settlement to date.
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

The city of Portland will pay out $938,330 to settle a lawsuit from journalists and legal observers who were attacked and threatened with arrest for covering the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Portland. The legal settlement, approved by the Portland City Council on an 11-1 vote Wednesday, stems from a case brought against the […]

Posted inNews

What ICE Can and Cannot Do in Oregon As Trump Targets Immigrants

Portland joins sanctuary city lawsuit against Trump administration as Oregon agencies reaffirm federal policing restrictions
Avatar photo Kevin Foster

February 28: This story has been updated to include Sen. Ron Wyden’s efforts to prevent information sharing between immigration agencies and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. As the Trump Administration intensifies immigration enforcement nationwide, undocumented immigrants and their loved ones are on high alert. The passage of the Laken Riley Act in Congress has heightened the […]

Posted inNews

Will Portland Police Cooperate with Trump’s FBI?

The Police Bureau’s relationship with a federal anti-terrorism task force triggered a broader conversation about illegal surveillance, racial profiling, and Islamophobia.
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

For years Portland Police Bureau has cooperated with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), but with a new federal administration intent on broadening the JTTF’s scope and power, city leaders are uneasy about PPB’s arrangement. What seemed like a routine annual report to City Council sparked a broad discussion Wednesday about racism, immigration, surveillance, […]

Posted inNews

UPDATED: Labor Complaint Against City Council Candidate Alleges Racist Treatment at City’s Community Safety Division

Lisa Freeman is the subject of a BOLI civil rights investigation, but other former city employees say the office has a problem with structural racism much larger than just one staff member.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

Updated, January 22, 2025:  In a November 2024 decision, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) dismissed Badon’s case against Freeman. The BOLI decision cited a lack of evidence that Badon was fired in retaliation for her HR complaints, and said any allegations or evidence of racial discrimination on Freeman’s part are “outside the […]

Posted inNews

Multnomah County Confirms Location of New 24-Hour Sobering Center

A site on SE Grand Avenue will house up to 50 sobering beds as an alternative to jail or hospital ERs. 
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

Multnomah County says its new 24-hour sobering center will be located in Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial district. On Thursday, county officials announced a pending building purchase at 1901 SE Grand. Property records show the site houses a roughly 24,000-square-foot warehouse.  An opening date for the new sobering and crisis stabilization center hasn’t been announced yet, […]

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