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Police Association Contract:
Just as happened in 2010-2011 (PPR #54), the Portland Police Association (PPA)'s bargaining with the City of Portland, ostensibly being done in public forums, ended up mostly being negotiated behind closed doors and producing little to no benefit for the community. The new contract, details of which leaked out via the Oregonian, does not get rid of provisions that hamper accountability (the "48-hour rule"; officers' needing to be interviewed by other officers in misconduct cases). In addition, one of the few positive changes from last time, the addition of random drug testing, not only remains random (rather than also being triggered by shootings/deaths in custody/excessive force incidents) but will allow a loophole for cops who test positive for steroids. Officers will be able to bring in samples of supplements they are taking if they didn't know said supplements were tainted with steroids. As community activist JoAnn Hardesty put it, members of the public won't be able to say "I didn't know that brownie had marijuana in it," so once again we have special rights for the cops. The sole seeming benefit to the community in the contract, the reinstitution (after over two decades) of performance evaluations, will not be tied to discipline, transfers, pay rate, or promotions--unless to break a tie. So, what's the point? It's not clear whether the PPA took a separate vote on the Department of Justice Settlement Agreement, which was approved by City Council at the same time as the contract (article), but the Portland Mercury's blog reported that only 77% of the PPA members voting supported the contract (November 26).
Though there was some concern that the drug testing agreed upon had not been done, the Oregonian reports that 581/586 officers and supervisors were tested for steroids/controlled substances in 2012, with 581 of each tested by late November in 2013.
The Oregonian says one officer was fired due to drug testing, not for the drugs but because they could not obtain a usable urine sample.
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January, 2014
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#61 Table of Contents
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