PORTLAND OR continues to resist bringing its rogue police force under open accountability.
At the end of March a Federal judge told the City and legal representatives of the police union he wanted agreement that his court would retain some open annual oversight of mandated police reforms. Without that agreement he would not sign off on a proposed settlement between the US Department of Justice and the City of Portland to reform police procedures and training.
The settlement follows an investigation by the DoJ into a pattern of excessive use of force by Portland's police.
The judge gave the City and DoJ up to three weeks to return to his court with their views.
Now, it is reported, Portland has rejected the judge's proposal.
THE City of Portland has proposed that it should hold annual hearings on progress of police reforms agreed with the DoJ at a meeting of the city's council, rejecting a federal judge's request to maintain annual oversight in his court.
The City has said it would supply videos and transcripts of the council hearings to the court for review. The federal judge could provide written questions to city officials, which would require the city's response.
US District Court Judge Michael Simon rejected the city proposal in a telephone conference at the end of April: "It is not consistent with what I described in court, and it would be my current inclination to disapprove the settlement agreement, if that is the proposal from the parties.
"I don't consider that to be sufficient."
Details of the telephone conference between the judge, the City and the DoJ were obtained by The Oregonian through a public records request and reported by Maxine Bernstein on 12 May, coincidentally the fourth anniversary of the killing of 25-year-old African-American Keaton Otis by Portland police in a seven-second barrage of 32 shots in the middle of the evening rush hour.
The proposed settlement between the City and the DoJ followed investigations by the DoJ into a pattern of use of excessive force by the Portland Police Bureau.
But to the disappointment of local community activists the settlement only focuses on force against those with mental illness or with perceived mental illness. Pointedly the investigation avoided any reference to racial profiling and the PPB's notorious targeting of Portland's communities of color.
In particular the DoJ's parameters and timescale were written to cut off any probe into the killing of Keaton Otis on 12 May 2010. He was shot 23 times within minutes after being pulled over on what the police admitted was a "pretext stop".
They later said he was "wearing a hoodie" and "looked like a gangster".
The killing, just yards from two main roads at the height of the rush-hour, was recorded on video.
He was driving his mother's car, had no record of police involvement, had no drugs in his body nor any in his car. Police claimed he had fired first and shot an officer twice, though no evidence — prints, blood samples, residues — has ever been presented to show he had ever touched the gun he allegedly used, let alone fired it.
The gun was first recorded an hour after the killing. All the officers involved deny seeing the gun and refused to describe it. Only one casing from the gun was entered into evidence, apparently found in the car which had been sitting in the police pound for two days.
The bureau's internal inquiry into the killing found the use of deadly force was "within policy".
The proposed DoJ/City settlement mandates reforms to PPB policies, training and oversight. The next telephone conference between the judge, the City and the DoJ is scheduled for 30 May.
In March Deputy City Attorney Ellen Osoinach wrote in a brief for the court: "In designing the Agreement, the parties shared the expectation that the pace of compliance and City performance post-Agreement will benefit from the City 'owning' the reforms rather than responding to edicts from an outside monitor."
* On the fourth anniversary of the police killing of Keaton Otis hundreds gathered at a tribute in Portland for fallen police dog Mick.
The service was attended by Portland mayor Charlie Hales and police chief Mike Rees, who was appointed on the day of Keaton Otis's killing. A message from Governor Kitzhaber was read.
Officer Chris Burley, one of the seven-strong police team that killed Keaton Otis and who witnesses say repeatedly assaulted Keaton Otis, was a member of Mick's honor guard.
Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch, speaking at the memorial for Keaton Otis, said,"we want everyone to get home safe at night, including police officers and police dogs. But it is probably a comment on Portland that there are just a few of us here tonight and no message from the mayor, police chief or governor."
Pastr Haines of the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform said it took 30 years to get justice for Medgar Evers, the African-American civil right activist who was shot in the back by the KKK in 1963.
The Alliance has called for a federal investigation by the Justice Department to include criminal and civil rights violations, as well as a federal audit of patterns and practices of the Portland Police Bureau.
A detailed review of the police killing of Keaton Otis plus all publicly-available witness testimonies, detective notes and Grand jury transcripts are available at justiceforkeatonotis.wordpress.com