Calendar Item
For Immediate Release September 16, 2004
PLEASE PUBLISH BEFORE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION
Please mark your calendar and come to a National Conference on Police Accountability in Portland, Oregon, Friday October 15 to Sunday October 17, 2004. It will be held at the Native American Student and Community Center, SW Jackson and Broadway. Pre-registration of $50 is required by September 30 (deadline has been extended for Portland area residents and those who do not need discount hotel reservations). It's a conference that's encouraging solutions, education, action, organizing, and solidarity. This conference will be similar to conferences held from 1991-1997 by the National Coalition on Police Accountability (NCOPA). It will broadly address issues involving police abuse of power and how communities are organizing for change.
The conference is expected to draw grassroots activists, review board participants, academics, and police officers from around the country who advocate for police accountability.
It will be hosted locally by Portland Copwatch, the Portland State University (PSU) Community for Justice, and is supported by at least a dozen other organizations.
There will be workshops on various aspects of reducing police misconduct, expected to cover issues including racial profiling, attacks on immigrants and activists, police review boards, dealing with police unions, police shootings, Copwatch organizing, and how campuses can respond to police violence.
The conference will take place on the PSU campus at the Native American Student and Community Center with the assistance from faculty, staff and students there.
Participants are coming from all over the country, including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
Registration and much of the organizing will take place through NCOPA (http://www.nationalcoalitiononpolice accountability.org, 312-663-5392 ). Limited scholarships are available to assist with the $50 registration. Five meals (dinner Friday-breakfast Sunday) will be available for an additional $20.
Cosponsors include:
National Coalition on Police Accountability, Portland Copwatch, PSU Community for Justice,
Citizens Alert (Chicago), Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB/Minneapolis),
Mothers for Police Accountability (Seattle), Church Action for Safe and Just Communities
(Indianapolis) and the American Friends Service Committee (Portland).
Endorsers include the Albina Ministerial Alliance, Urban League of Portland, Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, Portland Jobs with Justice, and the Alliance for Police and Community Accountability (all in Portland) and Incite! Women of Color Against Violence.
For more information or to get involved, contact Portland Copwatch at (503) 236-3065 or
nationalconference@portlandcopwatch.org
.