THE HEAD OF Portland’s cop union is in disagreement with the national cop union’s line on whether armed rent-a-cops should be able to dress like real police officers. Portland Police Association boss Robert King told the Mercury last November he thinks downtown rent-a-cops working for Portland Patrol, Inc. (PPI) “provide basic security services for downtown […]
police
Posted inNews
In the Shadows
Gangbusters
“I watched my uncle’s knee get blown off.” Rob Ingram was describing an incident from his West Fresno childhood over a bowl of chicken gumbo at the A.J. Java café, on the corner of N Rosa Parks Way and Albina last Friday morning, March 28. Ingram, who has been the director of the mayor’s Office […]
Posted inNews
In Oher News…
RACIAL PROFILING DIVISION Cop union boss Robert King is frustrated over an apparent reluctance in the mayor’s racial profiling committee to let him present a new report that suggests Portland isn’t collecting enough data to be able to tell whether or not cops are racial profiling. The report, by Brian Withrow, a criminologist at Wichita […]
Posted inNews
Mixed Reviews
Cop Review Report Divides City Leadership
ARIZONA CONSULTANT Eileen Luna-Firebaugh finally presented her critical report on the city’s Independent Police Review (IPR) to council last Wednesday, March 19—but it appears to have done little to bridge the divide between critics and proponents of the way police oversight is conducted in Portland. The IPR currently dismisses 68 percent of the roughly 700 […]
Posted inNews
Twice as Bad
Is Cop Review Doubling Police Accountability Payouts?
NEW FINANCIAL ANALYSIS of police accountability settlements paid out by the city from 1993 to 2005 shows the creation of the Independent Police Review (IPR) may have, in fact, led to a 197 percent rise in cop-related payouts. City Auditor Gary Blackmer, who ran the IPR until the mayor moved to seize control of it […]
Posted inNews
The Thick Blue Line
Portland Cop Fired for “Snitching”?
A former Portland cop is planning to sue the city over allegations she was effectively terminated in retaliation for “snitching” on an officer who was supposed to be training her. The former cop, Officer Lindsay Hunt, says her coach officer told her to “look the other way” while he roughed up a suspect without probable […]
Posted inNews
In Other News
POTTER SEIZES COP REVIEW Mayor Tom Potter took control of the Independent Police Review (IPR) back from City Auditor Gary Blackmer last Friday, February 29. Blackmer, along with his colleague, former IPR Director Leslie Stevens—who recently took a job with the police bureau—is now absolved from responsibility for fixing problems cited in an independent consultant’s […]
Posted inNews
In the Shadows
Badge and Dagger
The Mercury bought Michael Hopcroft a large hot chocolate with whipped cream and chopped nuts at Seattle’s Best across from city hall last Friday afternoon, February 29. He was pretty shaken up, having seen a man he knows get Tasered by two cops four days earlier, while riding the #6 bus downtown on MLK from […]
Posted inNews
In Other News…
IPR REPORT DELAYED The mayor’s office has postponed a council hearing about a controversial report on the Independent Police Review (IPR). The hearing, scheduled for Thursday, February 28, has been postponed until March when it will be turned into a council work session—which also removes the opportunity for public comment on the report. “We’re not […]
Posted inNews
Good-Bye, Felony Flats
Southeast Residents Develop a “No-Tolerance Attitude”
“When I first started coming here, this neighborhood was more or less a meth capital. Methamphetamines were rampant, especially on 65th and Foster. “Right here, you could get meth,” Kenny Sadler said as he straddled his mountain bike and gestured to the intersection a few feet away. “You could get whatever you needed. It was […]
Posted inNews
In Other News…
CAMPAIGN SMEAR An anonymous IRS complaint alleging tax fraud landed on the Mercury news desk last week, alleging that city council candidate Charles Lewis “has expolited [sic] the work of Ethos Music Center, a nonprofit organization which he founded and directs, for the promotion of his bid for elected office.” The supposed evidence? A November […]
Posted inNews
Reviewing the Review
Leonard Pushes Mayor on Cop Review Report
City Commissioner Randy Leonard is throwing stones at Mayor Tom Potter over the credibility of an independent consultant’s report released last month, which said the community doesn’t trust the city’s Independent Police Review (IPR). The report, by Arizona-based consultant Eileen Luna-Firebaugh, came back to the mayor’s office on January 24 and will be presented to […]