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Sheriff Posts Policies, Meets with Portland Copwatch
We noted the current policy indicates that when the Sheriff's office declines to investigate a person's complaint and the complainant objects, a panel of three community members reviews the allegations. However, if a person's complaint is investigated and the complainant appeals the outcome, only three people from the Sheriff's office hear the appeal. The appellant can be present at these meetings, but it is not clear whether the public, the media, or any other civilians can be present. We recommended creating a permanent partially or fully civilian body to deal with both kinds of appeals. We also addressed concerns about the definitions of findings, the investigation of deadly force incidents, and parts of the investigative process.
PCW Meets Sheriff Reese Portland Copwatch met with Mike Reese twice when he was Chief of Portland Police in 2010-2011 (PPRs #52 and 55). Some of our takeaway was that he would respond to our deep concerns about police accountability by just saying "OK," and then fail to respond to any of our follow up questions. In late January, several members of PCW met with Sheriff Reese and he was a lot more open, perhaps because he is now an elected official and doesn't answer to anyone but the voters.* He also later wrote us a thank you for the comments on the Internal Affairs policy. However, one of our suggestions had been to create an email list so we would know when policies get posted, which the Sheriff did not address. We started the meeting by briefly thanking the Sheriff for working on Measure 105-- unlike 16 other Sheriffs in Oregon, Reese actively supported keeping in place laws which prohibit state law enforcement from working on federal immigration issues unless other criminal conduct is involved. While the Sheriff cleared his own Deputies for apparent violations of that law (PPR #73), he strengthened the policies and training after that, and even squared off with immigration officials who tried to intimidate him into bending those rules. PCW noted that after a long time without using deadly force, the MCSO was involved in two shootings back-to-back in 2018 (PPRs #73 and 74). The Sheriff told us the MCSO was involved in a shooting in 2003 or 2004, more recently than 1994, the last incident in our records. The Sheriff told us he had assigned two Deputies and a Sergeant to houseless outreach, with the goal of lowering tension on "livability" issues and connecting people to services, which we see as a positive step to counterbalance the anti-houseless sentiments expressed by some homeowners and businesses in the County. We also raised concerns about African Americans being subjected to corrections officer use of force more than other inmates (PPR #71). Reese said the MCSO is emphasizing de- escalation in new policies and training, including anti-bias training designed by an African American Sergeant. We suggested including members of the public in such trainings. PCW also talked about the "Blue Lives Matter" flag which was taken down from a public area at the courthouse and guidelines created around when and where Sheriff's employees can display such controversial symbols. Reese recognized that members of the community, particularly in communities of color, find the concept offensive. Following our meeting, a Community Justice worker filed suit with the county for a hostile work environment created by the flag (Oregonian, February 1). Karimah Guion-Pledgure said she complained about the appropriation by law enforcement of the Black Lives Matter slogan, then put up a display of people of color killed by police, but was ordered to take it down even though the flag remained. She said someone put a note on the wall by her display saying "thanks a lot (expletive)." Find the Sheriff's policies at http://www.mcso.us/site/policy_review.php. * But, as we wrote in our follow up, "a commitment to just, unbiased and responsible enforcement of law must be maintained in between election years." Back to text.
Sheriff Reese called the idea of Portland pulling out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force a "mistake," saying he retains his Secret Clearance with the FBI and is the only MCSO officer involved in the JTTF. |
May, 2019
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#77 Table of Contents
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The Multnomah County
Sheriff's Office (MCSO), which is responsible for the jails and patrolling unincorporated parts of
Portland (as well as surrounding areas), has posted its policies online. In addition to some existing
policies being available, Sheriff Mike Reese has been posting policies under review for public
feedback-- similar to the Portland Police Directives review (left), although with less frequency. In
February, Portland Copwatch (PCW) commented on the Internal Affairs policy.
