KROEKER'S KORNER

Kroeker Cleans Up The PPB

Despite promises not to bring LA-style policing to Portland, the Chief seems bent on enforcing his own para-military aesthetics, regardless of whether the cops or the community like it. (For reaction from within the Bureau, see below.)

In an April 17 editorial titled "Forget the military look," the Oregonian wrote "Police professionalism can't be measured by the length and style of an officer's hair or reflected in an earring." The June 21 Skanner similarly called on Kroeker to "concentrate on officers' character, not appearance." Both papers refer to the military-cropped look as a "stereotype" which will perpetuate the image of "us against them."

The Skanner's editorial goes on to criticize Kroeker's announced intention to lower educational standards for police, from a four-year to a two-year degree. "Dumbing down the PPB is not a great step to creating a better department. Chief Kroeker needs to remember that he is a police chief, not an army leader with warriors under his command who only need to know how to fire a weapon."

Of course, the new look is not all about style. In an interview titled "The Fashion Police" (we swear we're not making this up), Kroeker told Our Town: "Beards prevent a proper seal on gas masks, and we're ordering gas masks" (April 2).

Copwatch meets with the Chief

In early April, two members of Copwatch met with Chief Kroeker to ask him about a number of issues. He agreed when we suggested that our common goal should be a police force free of corruption, brutality and racism. Here is what else we found out:

1. Mounted Patrol. While we suggested that riding horses on concrete, thrusting them into crowd situations and ultimately having their panicked hooves step on protesters (or others) was not a reasonable idea, Kroeker defended their use. He said that the horses allow police to see farther as they sit up high; they are good "stabilizing" forces at demonstrations, where horses stepping on people are "anomalies"; and the kids love em.

2. Review Boards. The Chief told us that he would not work in a City where the Review Board had final say on the merits of complaints of police misconduct. Since the NAACP and PAC-2000 proposals call for PIIAC to have this power, Commis-sioner Francesconi has said he favors it, and the Mayor has said she would entertain the idea, we're hoping that Kroeker didn't spend too long unpacking his bags.

3. General Orders. The Chief feels that there are too many details in the 1000+ pages of police General Orders, which give guidelines for everything from official holidays to appropriate use of deadly force. He intends to streamline the G.O.s so officers can carry a pocket version with them. The amount of detail in the grooming G.O. makes us doubt his ability to do this; we fear that the cuts will come from those G.O.s which protect citizens' rights. (We may be right: see breaking info.)

4. Business Cards. We met with Chief Moose in 1993 and asked that he institute a G.O. requiring officers to give a business card to a civilian after any contact. That never happened. We figured that since this idea came from Los Angeles, it would be an easy task to convince Kroeker to adopt it. He told us that officers in L.A. started out hating the idea, but now really like it because of the community-building aspect of it. But, he said, XPAC (Portland's electoral-centric political activism organization for 18-to-35-year-olds) met him with overwhelming applause when he promised not to bring Los Angeles to Portland. On that basis, he said, he would not institute the business card requirement.

What do you think?

The Chief's number is (503) 823-0000.

Police Rank-and-File Sound Off on Kroeker's New Policies

For example, in the May Portland Police Association (PPA) newsletter the Rap Sheet, PPA Vice President Kurt Nelson criticizes Kroeker's talk at the the PPA executive board. Nelson calls Kroeker's address to the elected representatives of the rank-and-file the "same Rotary Club Speech we have heard...elsewhere" and claims that Kroeker left the meeting without answering any questions.

Nelson asks, did Kroeker start his list of changes for the Bureau "with the glaring issues the PPA and others have been complaining about for years" such as lengthy Internal Affairs investigations, fairness in promotions, and optional four-day work weeks? "No!" (To be fair, the April Rap Sheet's front page summary of the meeting does say Kroeker promised to speed things up at Internal Affairs.)

Regarding the new grooming standards, Nelson paraphrased Kroeker: "Since the majority of the people of the City of Portland want officers clean shaven, we will be clean shaven, and if the PPA doesn't like it, tough."

Nelson took Kroeker to task again in June, noting that he himself has short hair and no beard and has no personal stake in the changes. However, as he asked other officers about the new standards, their enthusiasm dropped as he added each new detail of the proposed General Order.

Nelson argues that the haircuts will exacerbate the "us-vs.-them" mentality that he experienced in the military, where the "warriors" got shorter haircuts than anyone else.

He advises Kroeker not to expend his goodwill on the rank-and-file on non-critical issues like this one, on which he has "alienated too many people."

Nelson suggests one solution for the PPB's problems: Quality management that encourages diversity, not uniformity.

He concludes that Kroeker appears to be "one driver whipping the team in harness to go faster in the direction the driver sets."

Also in the May Rap Sheet, PPA Secretary-Treasurer Tom Mack writes that he believed Kroeker was "for real" when he heard him talk in December, but now knows better. Instead of stressing individuality, Kroeker will tell you "how you shave, how you cut your hair, how many rings you will wear on your hands (so Liberace, don't bother applying), whether your ears are adorned with diamonds or hoops (not, they will be naked while at work), and even you who wear bracelets to honor slain officers will be required to remove them while at work." Mack asks, "Will I be able to keep my own hair and eye color, or has Chief Kroeker decided that blond and blue will present the best uniform appearance?" Ouch!

In the same issue, John E. Paquette asks, "What next? Eliminate minorities of color and sex to further homogenize the force?"

Mack's last thought for Kroeker: "While you were in L.A. we were moving this department toward the goal of community policing which is supposed to mean bringing the police and community together, not turning us into an occupying army."

In his May column, Rap Sheet editor Loren Christensen comes out against the media who are angry about the grooming standards. He defends the short haircuts, saying they are an "ancient principle used by military back to Roman times."

Christensen contradicts that stance in the June issue, saying the exact standards make no difference to him. He doesn't care, he says, if the cop who pulls him out of an alligator pit has a beard or not.

He mentions that the "no beard" rule is supposed to be for the use of gas masks, which the Bureau only recently acquired. But, he notes, they will only get used "a few times in a career, if at all."

Christensen pokes fun at Kroeker for worrying that suspects will grab beards or earrings, when it's more likely a cop will get kneed in the groin or kicked in the shin. "Earring- and ponytail-wearing officers are out there every day of the week rolling around with street creeps. If these officers were getting those adornments grabbed on a regular basis, it can be assumed that they would have gotten rid of them by now."

We'll keep you posted on the hairstyles of the Richards (DPSST #15005) and Famous (DPSST # 22521).

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