At PCCEP mtg (oversight group for Portland Police’s settlement agreement with the DOJ), where committee members are poised to vote against a contractor’s assessment that Portland & its police are in “substantial compliance” with the settlement.
I know this sounds jargon-y and boring, but it could be a big deal. Basically: in 2014, the DOJ told Portland police to stop disproportionately killing & injuring ppl w/ a mental illness.
Now, the out-of-town contractor the city hired to analyze whether the police have improved is about to tell the city everything’s fixed. But! It looks like the DOJ-mandated community oversight group (PCCEP) disagrees.
“There remains a large gap in trust with many marginalized communities in Portland,” the draft recommendation reads, “including the African-American community and other communities of color, the houseless community and the mentally ill community.”
The recommendation (which will be voted on tonight) notes the death of Andre Gladen-a Black man who was mentally ill-by PPB and the ongoing problems w/ Unity Center-the city’s main psych hospital.
Dennis Rosenbaum, the hired contractor, argues the settlement agreement didn’t ask the city to improve outcomes, just put new systems in place. Puts onus on PCCEP to do the rest of the work.
PCCEP chair Lakayana Drury pushes back: “40 percent of people killed by police this year in portland were having a mental health crisis. How is that substantial compliance?”
Rosenbaum says, as a statistician, those people are considered “random fluctuations,” not necessarily example of a pattern of abuse.
Rosenblum says: “At some point, we have to pass the baton to you guys. It’s time community voices take the lead, not outsiders.” [like DOJ and Rosenbaum’s group]
Many community leaders who’ve been skeptical of this process, including Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, would probably agree with this sentiment.
