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Outlaw's Outpost: More Fallout for Protest Tactics and Chief Meets a Third Time with Copwatch
An article in the November 7 Willamette Week offered a look at Portland Chief Danielle Outlaw one year into her tenure. The questionable cover art drew a criticism for distorting the Chief's image into what some called a "Jim Crow-era caricature." In the controversy, much of the article's substance was overlooked. For example, one paragraph revealed Outlaw traveled to Israel, a country where tactics of suppressing protest has included shooting hundreds of Palestinians and killing dozens just in the past year. The article focuses on how Outlaw pushed Mayor Wheeler to propose an ordinance to restrict protests downtown to stop brawling between alt-right and Antifa factions (p. 1). PCW has said it before: when the police are the ones making the laws, we live in a police state. Cooler heads prevailed and the ordinance failed one week after the article was published. The article also notes times when Outlaw ignored policy direction from the Mayor-- her direct supervisor and the Police Commissioner-- including sweeping the Occupy ICE encampment (PPR #75) and failing to stop towing stolen vehicles to help low-income Portlanders save on the related fees. WW suggests Outlaw may be using Portland as a stepping stone for greater things, having risen through the ranks in Oakland at a relatively young age, living here and networking on a national scale.
As noted in our last issue, the Chief made concerning remarks on a conservative radio show following police violence against counter-protestors on August 4. Specifically, she implied the anti- fascists were like people who challenged the school bully to a fight and got their "butts kicked." Outlaw also stated anyone who stayed after the police gave dispersal orders was "looking to fight." In an August 23 email, Portland Copwatch (PCW) noted video shows the police fired their "less lethal" weapons before any protestors threw objects at police. The Bureau later revised their story, saying they were concerned police cars trapped inside the crowd might be vandalized. In the media, the Chief denied favoring the "Proud Boys" over Antifa by questioning why she, an African American woman, would side with white supremacists. PCW noted that the optics of the situation-- the PPB lined up in riot gear facing anti-fascists while people known to be carrying firearms gathered behind their backs-- was a problem, not to mention a safety issue for the cops themselves. We noted the bias toward white supremacists wasn't about her as a person but was about her as the figurehead of a biased institution. During our subsequent third meeting with the Chief (PPRs #74-75), the Chief called our measured email "scathing" but was willing to engage in dialogue about our perspective on the protest. A few PCW members had been at the event as individuals (not copwatching) and verified the dispersal orders were unclear, nobody had provoked the police before the weaponry was used, and there was a deep perception of bias. Outlaw stated that her school bully analogy was a "poor choice of words" and the PPB should never "brag about use of force," which PCW appreciates. In our follow up comments, we stated that: "the idea of 'if you choose to stay, you will be subjected to chemical and physical weaponry' is frightening. The Bureau is not there to be a disciplinary parent for the community as 'children.' [W]e are all adults in the room and people should be allowed to make decisions protected by the First Amendment. If people are behaving less than maturely, cracking down on them with violence is not going to improve the situation, nor build respect for police in the future. And while it is true that some people accuse the police of not 'doing enough,' that doesn't mean the Bureau has to itself become a violent mob." PPB Strategic Plan Moves Forward The Chief's five year strategic plan (PPR #75) moved forward with community sessions seeking feedback. PCW members attended a session with the project's consultants in late August, and later offered suggestions on a community survey to make the questions less one-sided. The Bureau adopted some of our suggestions, showing the Chief's willingness to listen, though they still seem to think community policing means the community becomes the police, rather than the other way around. The PPB held "feedback loops" in December. The summary of previous community input barely used the word "accountability" at all, but the new meetings pushed the term to "major theme" status.
Chief Outlaw told students at Warner Pacific University that people of color should not be "over- policed" or "frisked for no reason" (The Bee, December 2018). |
January, 2019
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#76 Table of Contents
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One Year Later: Article
Criticized for Artwork; Substance Overlooked
Copwatch Raises Concerns About Police at Protests, Chief's Remarks