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New Chief Kroeker: A Politician, A Cop, A White Guy On December 9, Mayor Vera Katz announced that Portland's new police chief would be Mark Kroeker of Los Angeles. Kroeker resigned as assistant chief after being passed over when L.A. selected their "top cop" in 1997. According to his résumé, he has been working most recently with U.N.-trained police forces in Bosnia and a "Palestinian-Israeli Anti-Incitement Committee" which nobody seems to know much about. Prior to those two jobs, he was consulted by the Department of Justice on "police reform projects in Haiti, Rwanda and Burundi," heading up the "Haiti National Police Development Team." While it would be easy for us to characterize someone on the basis of these resume items-- especially someone coming from Los Angeles, not known as a bastion of restrained police-- Kroeker revealed much about himself in his two visits to Portland in early December. At a forum where he and fellow finalist Ron Monroe of Washington, DC, were each asked one hour's worth of questions, Kroeker showed himself to be a smooth politician. He answered most questions with "wait and see" kinds of answers, even when asked for his personal opinions. A few exceptions included a declarative statement that he has no personal feelings which will interfere with his ability to continue growing good relationships with the gay/lesbian/transgender community. This was an important remark because Kroeker is a born-again Christian. When asked how he would handle a large-scale demonstration such as the anti-WTO protests in Seattle, he suggested he would gather as much intelligence about the organizers as possible beforehand, but denied that meant he would use undercover agents to accomplish the task. Another specific Kroeker let on to was that he feels, in terms of accountability, that the "buck stops" with him. Notwithstanding that the Mayor is actually the Commissioner of Police, and will be his boss, this is particularly disturbing since his predecessor Chief Moose refused to change findings in two cases of misconduct after a majority of City Council voted for him to do so. The structure of our police review system makes Council's votes advisory (see articles on the review board, and efforts to change it). The Willamette Week responded to the Mayor's choice for a new Chief with a quasi-racist headline, referring to the fact that Monroe is black and Kroeker white: "Ebony and Ivory: Vera Katz chooses the white guy" (December 15, 1999). Praising Katz for having "the courage to appoint a white man to be this city's police chief," WW went on to explain that Monroe seemed to them more of a bureaucrat with less experience as a street cop. They note that Kroeker is credited with bringing "peace to the San Fernando Valley during the riots following the Rodney King verdict." Within days of his hiring, Kroeker was put in charge of continuing a massive training effort to quell any possible disturbances on New Year's Eve in Portland. When the big night arrived, police set up checkpoints in a huge area of downtown, stopping and checking people's bags for weapons, liquor, and such frightening objects as blankets which might have been smuggled into the City's celebration of the new Millennium at Pioneer Courthouse Square.
One person who attended the event e-mailed Copwatch, reporting that shortly after midnight he was "deeply disturbed by the sight of dozens of police in riot gear, some carrying bean-bag shotguns, closing in on the Square." Chief Kroeker is quoted in the January 2 Oregonian saying "I told everyone to be alert at this hour...I couldn't have asked for a better evening." Obviously this means we're in for more checkpoints and police in riot gear at so-called family events.
Kroeker has made a point of wanting to improve relations between the community and the police. At his inaugural news conference, he was asked, given that philosophy, how he felt about allowing the community to be involved in investigating deaths in custody and police shootings. He said he'd have to see how things are done now, but stated that the Police Bureau should be a transparent and open organization....keeping in mind the concerns of liability from the City Attorney and the issue of privacy for the officers. In other words, he seems to support the status quo. Let's hope his connections to Los Angeles don't mean a slide backward into more corruption, brutality and racism, and that his pledge to dialogue with the community is more than just lip service.
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April, 2000
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#20 Table of Contents
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