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New Acquisitions to POPSG's Files

POPSG has recently attained a copy of three documents to help in our effort to monitor Portland's police. Please contact us if you are interested in this info:

One item is a list of the names of all the officers employed by the PPB. This list took us many months to attain, and the Bureau repeatedly pointed out to us that personnel changes are made frequently. We were not given precinct assignments partly for this reason, and partly because the Bureau says undercover detectives could be at risk if their assignments were given out or deduced. However, still forthcoming as per our request are the ranks of employees over Lieutenant and first initials to distinguish among the many "Andersons," "Smiths," and even the two "Barkers".

We also received a copy of the final report written by Dr. Peter Conner, who was training Portland Police on how to deal with mentally challenged citizens for one year of a planned three year program when suddenly the Conner's involvement in the program was ended. Though the report doesn't explain the reason, we plan to investigate further.

We also have a copy of the PIIAC (Police Internal Investigations Auditing Committee) quarterly report pre-sented to City Council at the end of October. Addressed in it are serious issues such as criminal background checks on complainants against the police (though not routine, the police say they are done under certain circumstances). Another issue is the inadequacy of some Internal Investigations, including failure to interview witnesses, failure to complete investigation in a timely manner (though this problem, apparently, is clearing up), and, in a seriously questionable practice, IID told a witness that a complainant was "kind of a nut." Other such comments are noted in the report.

We congratulate PIIAC for bringing such irregularities to light, and only wish they would do more to publicize their findings. One positive change that has already occurred thanks to PIIAC is that IID has begun acknowledging complaints with a written notice so that people know they have been heard.

A quick reminder--PIIAC's powers are still limited to looking at police files and making recommendations; though their review of files is going well, they have affirmed police recommendations on every appeal heard so far in 1994.

Third Quarter, 1994
Also in PPR #4

Portland Copwatch
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065/ Incident Report Line (503) 321-5120
e-mail: copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org

Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.

People's Police Report #4 Table of Contents
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