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Rapping Back #80 Most of the other pieces were designed to support the PPA's narrative focusing on their good work and need for more officers, ignoring concerns about increased use of deadly force and heavy handed policing of houseless persons, African Americans and protestors. Six pieces relayed such "bluewashing," with posts about National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day (January 3), two reposts from Bureau-related nonprofit the Sunshine Division (February 7 & 12), news about officers who rescued three people from a burning car (January 15), cops helping celebrate a child's first birthday (April 16), and a post to reassure the public officers are doing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 16). A separate Oregonian article (March 20) talks about post highlighting one quote. In it, Turner calls for testing of officers because they are at risk of being infected, and wondering what would happen if 20% of officers could not come to work due to illness. Perhaps the world will not stop spinning and, as with many other things we are finding out in this crisis, we will find tax money going to militarized institutions could instead be used to directly help people. On that note, at least three April posts thanked frontline workers for carrying forward in the crisis. The remaining two pieces relate to the collective bargaining process now underway (see article). Chief Resch limiting officers' in-person contacts in light of the pandemic, with the PPA's Facebook.
Oldies but Goodies: PPA Repeats Some "Greatest Hits" Against Activists, The main post from Turner, made on January 13, which touches repeatedly on the City's efforts to negotiate a new "union" contract, trots out some of the more alarming things Turner has said in the past two years, featured previously in this column. The PPA's pull-quote highlights this gem: "In July 2018 I called the City a cesspool and I stand by that assessment; our once vibrant city is on the wrong track." This statement comes after he lists the amount of garbage, human waste and needles picked up by the City's special houselessness program over the course of a year, leading to a slam against Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty for holding community forums to hear community concerns about the PPA's contract. "While Mayor Wheeler and Commissioner Hardesty were eager to hold narrowly focused forums on the contract, they have neglected to prioritize, with the same sense of importance and urgency, the issues affecting the day to day safety and livability of our communities at large." There is no clear connection between the lack of affordable housing and treatment programs and Turner's conclusion, which is that because the rank-and-file officers and emergency dispatchers (now part of the PPA) "are the foundation of public safety in our city," they should be listened to. In fact, if Turner were really interested in "adequate resources for those who are homeless, in mental health crises, and experiencing addiction issues," he would suggest redirecting money out of the Police Bureau and into those programs. Earlier in the piece, Turner repeats a line (albeit with a new twist) from his reactions to the campaigns for a contract which includes accountability and transparency. "We will not be distracted by the false narratives and self-serving agendas of those who seek to drive a wedge between police officers and our community." He then (once again) relates how the researchers from Campaign Zero who presented data to Council on national best practices for police contracts are "anti-police," saying their presentation was "obviously choreographed and orchestrated, but it lacked context and fundamental knowledge on the rights all public employees have."
Last note on this piece: Turner talks about how PPA members "must connect with our neighbors to talk about what's important to them." This ignores two things: one, that Turner has been making the rounds to push the idea of turning Wapato jail into a houseless shelter, and two, that only 18% of Portland Police actually live in the City of Portland (PPR #76). So less than one in five of them is actually any of our "neighbors." Tangentially related to the bargaining issue, Turner again used Martin Luther King's support of labor unions in a memorial post (January 19), ignoring how the police were actively part of the effort to undermine King and his work. Turner recalls King's work with the sanitation workers in Memphis just prior to his assassination and calls him an "inspiration" and a "visionary ahead of his time." If only that were to include MLK's devotion to non-violence and the end of militarism and war, maybe we could take this adulation seriously. The Portland Police Association does not set policy. However, some PPA leadership express negative attitudes toward citizens and civilian oversight in their web postings. We worry these ideas may spread throughout Portland's ranks. The PPA's website is <ppavigil.org>. Back to top
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May, 2020
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#80 Table of Contents
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Regarding
the public forums, Turner says "As an organization, the PPA believes our community
should have input on public safety priorities," but claims the forums were not "widespread
across the City" (one was held in North Portland and one in Southeast), and "appeared to be
skewed toward a prescribed outcome." He says the (unnamed) outcome will "set
unreasonable expectations causing frustration for some community members." In other words,
he is sure the PPA has a lock on preventing changes to make officers more accountable. All the
more reason for community members to keep pushing back.