I don’t blog much. Generally only in situations where I need to convey more information than fits in a tweet.
If you’ve seen the news at all lately, I’m sure you know what situation we’re currently in.
I’ve been quiet, mostly because this all exploded at the same time as I was holed up with my grandparents in rural Pennsylvania, trying to make their house safe for them to stay in as my grandfather’s dementia progresses and dealing with what their nurses have euphemistically termed their “resistance patterns.” It has been a struggle to husband my energy sustainably, mental, physical, and emotional.
But with the bulk of that work done, it’s time to turn my attention elsewhere.
I’ve been away from Portland, but I have been so humbled to see the persistent demonstrations, the passionate activism of the Black and brown communities in my adopted city. I am thrilled to feel like it will lead to real and lasting change this time, and ashamed of all the times in the past when I’ve retweeted calls to reach out to local government without actually doing so myself. Not anymore. I, like many of my white peers, have some make-up work to do.
In response the movement’s current upswell, the Portland City Council has, under the leadership of Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty, pledged thus far to end the Gun Violence Reduction Team, the Trimet police presence, and the school resource officer program that placed police officers, as a matter of course, in public schools. Mayor Ted Wheeler has expressed his support for finally overhauling the “tangled, secretive” police review system currently in place.
That means it’s time to email the council to express your support.
Below, you’ll find a copy of my email to the council. It’s important to draft your own letter, but please feel free to use mine as a starting point to help you. If you would like help drafting your own letter, you can reach out to me here, or message me on Twitter @ItsNeilCochrane.
mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov
chloe@portlandoregon.gov
amanda@portlandoregon.gov
joann@portlandoregon.gov
Members of the Portland City Council:
I want to thank you for your recent promises to dismantle the Gun Violence Reduction Team and end the transit police and school resource officer programs. I thank Commissioner Hardesty for her leadership on this and believe these efforts will go a long way in our city.
I would like to express my support for an overhaul of the police review system. I believe that an office entirely independent from the Police Bureau is absolutely necessary to establish trust between the city and the police. Reform means nothing without measures in place to enforce reforms, and cultures and mindsets often require authority to make the first steps before people begin to change their behaviors—as a transgender Oregonian, I am extremely familiar with the problems of relying on goodwill or reasonableness for one’s safety and humanity.
I ask that a new police review office be empowered to access all police records, to demand sworn testimony, and to have the final say in disciplinary measures. Further, I ask that this process be entirely transparent to the public, so we can see that complaints of misconduct are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.
I believe that addressing accountability measures is priority number one for Portland as we work toward positive change, but I also believe that it is only the first step in improving public safety in our city. We must also invest in Portland Street Response and truly consider whether or not police are the appropriate first responders in all situations.
I say this as the grandson of a former police officer and district justice. I recognize the danger and strain of police duties. I believe that, by not positioning police as the end-all, be-all of public safety, we will honestly be doing them a favor. I hope you can convince the police union of that.
Thank you for your time,
Cal “Neil” Spivey Cochrane
NW Portland