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State Legislature Passes Package of Mild Accountability Bills
In late June, Governor Kate Brown convened the Oregon Legislature for a special session designed to quickly pass bills relating to police accountability. Other emergency bills related to the coronavirus pandemic and related economic crisis were also on the table. But given the size and scope of even just the statewide uprisings in the wake of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis Police (see protest article in this issue), six law enforcement statutes took top billing. While the bills all moved the ball forward toward the goal of reining in out-of-control police, most were not as strong as they could have been, and some were weakened during the short session. The key piece of legislation Portland Copwatch (PCW) focused on was the arbitration bill, HB 1604, which limits arbitrators from lowering the amount of discipline proposed for an officer-- so long as the arbitrator agrees the officer committed misconduct.
Most prominently, the reversals happened in the cases of Aaron Campbell (PPR #56), James Chasse (PPR #57), and Kendra James (PPR #38). With Campbell's death, the arbitrator leaned on testimony from subordinates in the Training Division who undercut their Captain's assertion that Officer Ron Frashour had violated policy, reversing Frashour's firing and ordering him reinstated. The two Portland officers who beat Chasse to death were given time off for failing to report Chasse's injuries to paramedics, but the arbitrator didn't think that was misconduct and got them back pay for the suspensions. Another arbitrator thought Scott McCollister did the right thing by killing James before she could drive away and cause an accident, ordering his six month suspension overturned, again with back pay. So while this bill might be useful, it is, as was acknowledged by its author Senator Lew Frederick, only a first step. Interestingly, the police collective bargaining lobbyists were most concerned about a clause stating the discipline had to adhere to a Discipline Matrix which had been subject to "union" negotiations, but worried the final Matrix could be approved over officers' objections. Frederick and other members of the People of Color Caucus in the legislature also shepherded in bills to limit the use of tear gas, sound-based weapons, and choke holds, though all come with loopholes which allow those violent tactics in certain circumstances (HB 4203 and 4208). They created a statewide database of officers who have been disciplined- so long as that resulted in a revocation or suspension of state certification, a much narrower pool (HB 4207). They required officers to intervene when they see another officer engage in unreasonable use of force (HB 4205)- something essentially already in Portland Police policies, but welcome nonetheless. Finally, a proposal based on the long-standing community demand for an independent prosecutor in cases of excessive and deadly force would have given such investigations over to the state Department of Justice. That bill (HB 4201) was sidelined to be reworked by a committee later this year. On August 10, a second short session resulted in tweaks to the choke hold bill that expanded the limitations to corrections officers, while amending the state statute on police use of deadly force. Another minor change, but at least another step in the right direction. Members of the Caucus noted that many Democrats had been unwilling to pass such legislation in past years. Presumably this is in part because of the numerous legislators who are former or current police, including retired PPB Lt. Jeff Barker (formerly head of the Police Association). All in all, Oregon is in better shape than it was at the end of the regular session, which ended with Republican walk-outs in March, but we still have a long way to go. Another session could take place before the end of 2020. See PCW's fact sheet. |
September, 2020
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#81 Table of Contents
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PCW has only been
able to identify one case in which an officer's discipline was lowered by an
arbitrator. It involved Captain Todd Wyatt, who inappropriately touched a subordinate
female officer and engaged in road rage in another state (