The AMA Coalition is once again organizing to improve the terms of the
Portland Police Association contract with the city.
The Coalition hosted a community forum on August 26, 2019.
The AMAC also signed onto a community letter to City
Council calling for a more community-centered contract,
which had over 20 community groups signed on when it was
released on Sept. 11, 2019.
Many of the demands are similar to the demands made by the AMAC, Portland Copwatch and the NAACP in 2016.
PROPOSALS REGARDING PORTLAND POLICE ASSOCIATION CONTRACT AUGUST 2016
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2016 13:49:35
1--The community has to be involved in setting any rules if the Bureau
decides to get cameras.
2--A third party Oregon company subject to Oregon law who's not the
manufacturer nor any law enforcement entity should store the footage, to
ensure access/storage and prevent tampering.
3--If civilians who are in the video ok its being released, the footage
should be released. To the extent possible under state law, the images
should not be blurred out of those who have given release permission.
4--Policy should require officers to turn cameras on before interacting with
any community member. There must be increasing, structured disciplinary
measures depending on the seriousness of violations, including failing to
record interactions or turning cameras off during contact.
5--Officers should not be allowed to review the footage before giving
statements/writing reports so that they don't use the footage to change
their statements.
6--Police must inform community members that they are being recorded, and
inform them of their rights to remain silent and not make incriminating
statements or walk away as appropriate.
7--Police cannot use footage to gather data on people's lawful activity in
violation of state law (181.575).
8--PPB shall not tie the video to facial recognition software to pull up
information on people when they have no suspicion of criminal conduct.
9--Footage should be used to hold police accountable for officer misconduct/
criminal activity and to improve training and policy.
10--Footage should not be used to prosecute community members for minor
infractions; and footage should not be used to retroactively go back and
find minor crimes to prosecute.
News Item For Immediate Release June 19, 2012 Albina Ministerial Alliance (AMA) Coaltion for Justice and Police Reform ANALYSIS: In mid-May, 2012, the Portland Police Bureau released the traffic and pedestrian stop data for Portland in the year 2010. Despite the "Plan to Address Racial Profiling" being adopted by City Council in September, 2009, and pledges to improve the "hit rate"-- that is, if people are stopped and searched, the searches should turn up contraband at the same rates regardless of the ethnicity of the drivers-- the AMA Coalition for Justice and Police Reform and Portland Copwatch have found that the numbers have not improved, and may be getting worse. While the common indicator, the higher number of traffic stops of African Americans compared to their representation in the population, continues to be irregularly high-- 11% of stops vs. 6% of the population-- the police argue that due to factors about who is driving in what areas at what time of day can skew the numbers. They also say officers can't always see what race the person is who is driving. (This does not explain why the pedestrian stop data, released since 2006, continually show African Americans stopped at 3-4 times their representation in the population.) To offset this criticism, the keys to analyzing the traffic stops data, made available by the Bureau annually since 2004, are to look at the most important part of the incidents after the stops, searches and whether any illegal items are found. First, dividing the number of discretionary searches (ie, not inventory searches required when towing a car) into the number of total stops for particular ethnic groups. The percentage of African Americans and Latinos who are searched after being stopped continues to be over twice as high as the percentage of whites who are searched. African Americans in 2010: 14.5% of people stopped were searched While the overall percentage of people being searched has gone down since 2004 (from about 12% & 25% to about 7% and 15%), the proportion of Portlanders of color searched remains twice as high as white people searched. Second, dividing the number of times contraband is found on people in each ethnic group by the number of searches of that group. The percentage of African Americans and Latinos found to have illegal drugs, weapons, alcohol, or other contraband is about 7/10 as high as the percentage of whites found with the same kinds of items: African Americans in 2010: 26.1% of searches turned up contraband The highest average "hit rate" for people of color was 83% in 2006, but in 2010 it was just 69%, indicating that police are searching people of color far more often than they are finding anything illegal on them. In other words, not only is the "hit rate" not improving, it is getting worse. It is possible that some of the changes are due to the increased number of "unknown" race being reported by officers at the initial stops, which has climbed from 4% in 2004 to 29% in 2010. The AMA Coalition and Portland Copwatch have been demanding improvements in how police make choices to stop and search people in Portland for many years, most intently since the Racial Profiling Committee was convened by Mayor Potter in 2007-2008. That Committee was dissolved and its charge taken over by the Human Rights Commission's Community and Police Relations Committee (CPRC). CPRC will be looking at the statistics next Wednesday, June 20th, at their monthly meeting. The AMA Coalition and Portland Copwatch will present their findings to the CPRC at that time. (See the attached chart for a graphic representation of the data.) ------------- More on the AMA: www.albinaministerialcoalition.org
Searches and contraband chart
From: Portland Copwatch
To: Portland City Council -- Commissioner Amanda Fritz
Commissioner Dan Saltzman
Commissioner Nick Fish
Commissioner Steve Novick
Mayor Charlie Hales
Cc: Mayor-Elect Ted Wheeler and the public
News Media
Subject: Proposals Regarding Portland Police Association Contract
From: Portland Copwatch, NAACP Portland Branch, and the
Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform
To: Mayor Charlie Hales, Portland City Council, and Mayor-Elect Ted
Wheeler
->PROPOSALS REGARDING PORTLAND POLICE ASSOCIATION CONTRACT
1. The City must push to make public all bargaining sessions with the
Portland Police Association (PPA). Such public sessions were held in
2010 and 2013.
2. Changes to the contract that are about public policy and not
workplace safety or other mandatory bargainable issues shall not be
included in the contract. This includes, but is not limited to,
setting policy on body cameras. In that regard, there shall be no
viewing of body camera footage by officers before they write their
police reports. Body cameras are being promised to the community as a
way to hold officers accountable.
3. Changes made to the contract to improve community-police relations
and only relating to public policy, such as the ones outlined below,
shall not be bargained in exchange for financial gain or incentive by
the PPA or its members.
4. Make the following changes to the contract:
a ) modify the binding arbitration clause so that terminations based
on improper police action that involved deadly force and/or a death in
custody goes instead to the Civil Service Board and the courts rather
than an arbitrator. Community members' desire is to see officers who
are fired to stay fired, and are concerned that arbitrators are not
making neutral decisions.
[Article 22.5 states that an arbitrator's ruling will be final and binding.]
b) end the 48 hour rule.
[Article 61.2.1.3 reads: "Whenever delay in conducting the interview
will not jeopardize the successful accomplishment of the investigation
or when criminal culpability is not at issue, advance notice shall be
given the officer not less than 48 hours before the initial interview
commences or written reports are required from the officer."]
c) allow compelled testimony by a civilian agency investigating
misconduct claims.
[Article 61.2.2 states interviews will take place at a Portland Police
Station facility (though there are provisions to do them elsewhere,
61.2.2.2) and that the interviewer is implied to be a sworn officer as
the member "shall be informed of the name, rank, and command of the
officer in charge of the investigation" (61.2.2.4).]
d) allow IPR or similar agency to have jurisdiction over deadly force cases.
[Article 62.1.3 states IPR has "no authority or responsibility" on a
series of other articles, which are:
59: Performance evaluations
61.6 Personnel file
61.7 Deadly force incidents
61.8 Criminal investigations]
e) require testing for drugs/alcohol/steroids after deadly force /
excessive force incidents based on probable cause, due to how unusual
it is for officers to apply deadly force. Deadly force is only used
once in every 80,000-100,000 calls for service. Federal regulations
require truck drivers who kill or injure people in accidents to be
tested for alcohol/drugs. Police officers using deadly force should be
subjected to the same scrutiny.
[Article 61.10 allows for random drug testing.]
We look forward to your response to these concerns.
--Portland Copwatch
--NAACP Portland Branch
--Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform
PROPOSED POLICIES FOR PORTLAND POLICE AROUND BODY CAMERAS
from the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform
(9/17/15)
ALBINA MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE COALITION FOR JUSTICE & POLICE REFORM
November 13, 2012
CONCERNS ABOUT DOJ AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF PORTLAND /
ANALYSIS OF AMENDED AGREEMENT
Originally compiled November 5, 2012, with analysis of City Council's Nov. 8 amendments
Click here for 5-page document (pdf)
COMMUNITY PROPOSED REMEDIES FOR THE
PORTLAND POLICE/CITY OF PORTLAND
TO PRESENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Click here for 15-page document (pdf)
based on the Letter of Finding and Statement of Intent published Sept. 12, 2012
Sept. 27, 2012
from the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform & Portland Copwatch
and Portland Copwatch
TRAFFIC AND PEDESTRIAN STOP DATA STILL SHOW BIAS AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOR, AMA COALITION, PORTLAND COPWATCH FIND
Latinos in 2010: 11.4% of people stopped were searched
Whites in 2010: 6.5% of people stopped were searched
Latinos in 2010: 23.7% of searches turned up contraband
Whites in 2010: 36.2% of searches turned up contraband
JoAnn Hardesty and Dan Handelman are members of the Steering Committee of the Albina Ministerial Alliance (AMA) Coalition for Justice and Police Reform. Handelman is also a founding member of Portland Copwatch.
The AMA Coalition has been organizing around issues of police use of deadly force and racial profiling in various forms since 2001, most notably around the deaths of Kendra James (2003) and Aaron Campbell (2010). Portland Copwatch is a civilian group promoting police accountability through citizen action since 1992.
More on Portland Copwatch: www.portlandcopwatch.org
Discretionary searches chart