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Sisters Of The Road
Your support needed
to strengthen the
Independent Police Review Division!

This Thursday the 18th at 2pm
City Council Chambers at City Hall (1221 SW 4th)

City Council is scheduled to vote on a proposal brought forward by Commissioner Leonard that would expand some power within the Independent Police Review Division (IPR).
 
Our friends at Portland Copwatch explain, "Proposals to strengthen IPR are a start, but they do not go far enough.  Unless there is a promise in writing to revisit the code in a short time frame, we can't support its passage at this time."
 
Check out the Council Agenda and the proposed ordinance

Here’s more info from the action alert from Portland Copwatch:
 
Friends

This Thursday, the City Council will be considering changes to the City Code that created the "Independent" Police Review Division (IPR), the 9-person paid staff office in the Auditor's portfolio, as well as two new pieces of code that formalize and combine two internal Police Review Boards and set time limits for initiating and completing investigations.

Although we are very troubled by the lack of input from the community and the short timeline given, it is possible a vote will happen on Thursday, so we urge people to turn out at 2 PM (that's this Thursday, March 18, City Hall, 1221 SW 4th).

****We've made it clear to members of Council that the proposals to strengthen IPR are a start, but they do not go far enough, and unless there is a promise in writing to revisit the code in a short time frame, we can't support its passage at this time. *****

In short, here's a summation of the pros and cons. The one marked pro* show that an important issue was raised, but has a con attached to it.

The IPR code:

CON: leaves in place the underlying structure of police investigating police

PRO: gives the IPR the authority to review any complaint involving a
police-citizen interaction, even if a Bureau member filed that complaint

CON: is unclear as to whether the new scope includes shootings and deaths in custory, though the Portland Police Association ("union") contract states that "The parties recognize that IPR has no authority or responsibility relating to [shootings and deaths or criminal investigations]" (Article 62.1.3)

PRO: gives the IPR the power of subpoena--which is "is not for officers who would otherwise be compelled to testify by the bureau" (IPR Director Mary-Beth Baptista, Mercury Blog, 3/15/10), but rather for retired officers, officers from other jurisdictions, documents and witnesses such as EMTs who might not cooperate voluntarily.

CON: does not give IPR the power to compel Portland Police officer testimony, instead relying on an Internal Affairs investigator to "repeat the question or direct the officer to answer."

PRO*: talks about the possibility of IPR hiring its own attorney-- but leaves it to the City Attorney to approve such a move. Since the City Attorney advises both the police _and_ the police review board, this is insufficient and needs to be fixed, probably in the City Charter. (Note: Auditor Griffin Valade indicated that is her intention in the same Mercury piece cited above).

CON:  leaves to the IPR director's "judgment" which cases to investigate without specifying the kinds of cases those might be

Note: The Citizen Review Committee (CRC), the nine member volunteer citizen component of IPR, has made suggestions about what those cases might be in their draft Structure Review report, based on the recommendations in the Performance Review written by Eileen Luna Firebaugh two years ago.

The CRC's proposals also include important proposed changes such as: --changing their standard of review, which is currently the "reasonable person" standard, to "preponderance of the evidence", much easier to understand --expanding from 9 to 11 members of the CRC --creating 6-year term limits for CRC members

Again, we would hope that if the ordinance does get passed on Thursday, these and other recommendations would be considered for inclusion within 3-4 months, so we don't have to wait another 9 years for change.
 
Thanks,
--dan handelman
--Portland Copwatch
    (a project of Peace and Justice Works)
    PO Box 42456
    Portland, OR  97242
    (503) 236-3065 (office)
    (503) 321-5120 (incident report line)
    copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org
    http://www.portlandcopwatch.org
Sisters envisions a community where all people are valued. This value is expressed through the sharing of power and responsibility, and each person's access to healthy food, safe housing, health care, and meaningful work that contributes to the well-being of one's self and community. Sisters defines systemic change as a creative process that honors the interconnectedness of all parts of a system and transforms it at a deep and lasting level.

To check out what our Systemic Change Program is up to click here and to learn more about the Civic Action Group (CAG), click here.
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