Oregon Gov. Kate Brown pledged to review state police training practices during a forum with Portland NAACP President Rev. E.D. Mondainé and Urban League of Portland Chief Executive Nkenge Harmon Johnson on Thursday. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty also took part.
Mondainé said the purpose of the forum was to “lay groundwork for deliberate and immediate action.”
Brown stopped short of providing benchmarks that she would commit to accomplishing in the next one to three months during the “Investing in Black Lives: A Path Toward Healing,” forum. But she said she would advocate for criminal justice reform laws supported by lawmakers of color.
“I commit to you that I will work to pass the legislation sponsored by the People of Color Caucus to increase law enforcement accountability,” Brown said. “I will do as quickly as possible a review of training practices at DPSST, our training facility for law enforcement.”
The governor was referring to the state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, which trains and regulates officers statewide.
Brown did not say she intended to alter police training or tactics, but did say she would continue to listen.
Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, a member of the People of Color Caucus, said this week he plans to put forth more than a dozen bills to reform police conduct, including ones to change arbitration procedures that have undermined some police chief’s efforts to discipline or fire officers who’ve engaged in misconduct.
Harmon Johnson said “things have been really terrible for a really long time.” She noted the only time it seemed business leaders and politicians cared is when people “take to the streets.”
Harmon Johnson also noted the significant power imbalance in society for people of color.
“I can’t tell you how frustrating it is for most of us to hear folks who have plans now, when we’ve had plans all along that are ignored unless we are crying out, in the streets,” Harmon Johnson said.
The forum lasted for 1 hour and 40 minutes, during which Wheeler, Hardesty and Brown fielded questions. Topics of discussion included incarceration, education and policing, as well as healthcare.
Brown said she would center communities of color in the “recovery phase” of the coronavirus pandemic.
Brown said she is working to provide $80 million to fund the Oregon Health Authority’s health equity plan, and some of that money would go toward behavioral health support for black communities. She did not provide a specific amount or timetable.
-- K. Rambo
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