Apply to Help Portland Rethink Police Accountability

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Portland City Council is now accepting applications for Rethink Police Accountability, the group that will shape the police oversight committee approved by 82% of Portland voters.
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The Portland City Council is now accepting applications for Rethink Police Accountability, the group that will shape the police oversight committee approved by 82% of Portland voters. Over the next year, the group Rethink Police Accountability will be a community driven process to create the framework and structure of the oversight board.

Rethink Police Accountability will be composed of community justice organizations, small businesses impacted by community safety issues, and people from overpoliced communities, such as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, refugees, people living with low-income, experiencing houselessness, and/or mental health or substance use.

Do you want to have an impact on future policy and practice related to police reform? Are you innovative, collaborative, and equity-focused? Does the idea of building something from scratch excite you? This is your opportunity.

Members are committed to a minimum of four (4) hours a month, and will meet monthly on ZOOM for eighteen (18) months.

If you are passionate about police reform and accountability, we encourage you to apply here!

“The Portland City Council came together last summer to unanimously send a ballot measure to voters to create a new system of independent police oversight. They responded overwhelmingly in support. We have a lot of work and community conversations that must happen as we rethink community safety in Portland. An important piece of building trust in our police bureau will be a system of oversight and accountability with a structure that centers the community the police are sworn to protect and serve.”

 –  Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty

“Last November, the voters made it clear they want a new and improved police oversight system and that they want regular Portlanders involved in making it happen. The City is responding to that clear demand. I encourage people who are innovative and dedicated to equity to apply to help us construct a new evolution of community safety rooted in improved trust, transparency, and accountability.”  

 – Mayor Ted Wheeler