The cornerstone of public safety is trust, and it’s well-documented that many Portlanders have a strained relationship with our police bureau. The United States Department of Justice reached a settlement agreement with the City of Portland based on unnecessary and excessive use of force in 2012 and 10 years later the Portland Police Bureau’s ability to be compliant with the settlement agreement is an ongoing and evolving situation. Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing (PCCEP) conducted a survey in 2019 that showed 71% of responders only trust the police “somewhat, a little, or not at all.”
We must tell the truth about the history of policing in Portland, address past harm, and create a process that will help heal our community and restore trust between local law enforcement and Portlanders, especially among Black, Indigenous, and all communities of color. This will create a safer Portland and a more effective Police Bureau.
Avoiding difficult conversations about the history of policing in Portland will not bring healing and progress. We must engage in difficult, courageous conversations that addresses our true history to inform a better future.
Today’s release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) is the result of work that began in 2019 when the Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing (PCCEP) unanimously voted to recommend the City of Portland move forward a Truth & Reconciliation process between the Portland Police Bureau and the Portland community. It’s taken about two years of intensive outreach and research to create this RFP. This is the next step and begins a new phase of what will be a lengthy, multi-part process.
One of the lessons repeated by international experts consulted in this process was that for this process to be set up for success, it must have independence from City Council. Submissions to the Request for Proposal are due by November 14th, and a committee will then evaluate and score each proposal. The highest scoring submission will receive the contract to initiate the Truth and Reconciliation process.
We anticipate this will be a lengthy process and are committed to taking the time needed to ensure this will be impactful and provide positive outcomes. This is not a process that can succeed if rushed. We cannot have reconciliation without truth.
Timeline Leading to Truth & Reconciliation RFP
In 2019, Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing (PCCEP) passed a recommendation from the Settlement Agreement and Policy Subcommittee that the PPB "as part of the Community Engagement plan-- formally create a Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Working Group to analyze various models and develop a plan to implement a TRC in Portland within the next three years."
The Portland Police Bureau subsequently integrated that recommendation into its Community Engagement Plan, pledging to work with the City and its bureaus to effectuate a TRC. The recommendation of a TRC was prompted by comments, as well as recent survey results, which found that “The community and some officers feel that an acknowledgment of the history of racism in Portland and in the PPB is a necessary first step to improved trust and legitimacy.”
In response to a question from a PCCEP member at the March 2019 PCCEP meeting, then-Chief Outlaw acknowledged the promise of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission model for airing and acknowledging the history of discrimination in Portland. Nascent efforts in the U.S. (in Greensboro, NC and Maine) have shown encouraging signs, but more should be done to study the process and work with the community to develop a plan for a Portland-specific TRC model.
June 23rd, 2020, PCCEP recommendation for a Truth and Reconciliation was voted on and approved unanimously in a full board meeting by PCCEP.
Mayor Wheeler acknowledged the recommendation from PCEEP and adopted a response October 14th, 2020, enlisting PCCEP to form an ad-hoc subcommittee on Portland’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission Process.
PCCEP began collaborating with Portland State University’s National Policy Consensus Center and The Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation at George Mason University.
April 23rd, 2021, PCCEP started their subcommittee meetings around Truth and Reconciliation webinars.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxRoNrHX3YQ
Agenda: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/pccep/article/783080
May 13th, 2021, Commissioner Hardesty made a motion to allocate one-time funding from General Fund Contingency to support a Truth and Reconciliation Process between the Portland Police Bureau and community members of the City of Portland. One time funding in the amount of $250,000 in Special Appropriations of General Fund one-time resources for a Truth and Reconciliation process, offset by program expenses in Special Appropriations. Reduce General Fund contingency to offset increased allocation of General Fund.
May-June of 2021 PCCEP began to work on its 4-part series of community engagement webinar for its T&R workshops.
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPYvdAO_MNE
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkQH-EOwXEc
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe5uW8VYHTo
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFXTJGvPHLg
From June of 2021 to April 2022, Commissioner Hardesty’s staff held community engagement events, surveyed community members, met with international human and civil right experts, received further briefings from the Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing, consulted with leaders and community members engaged in truth telling projects throughout the county, and more. This included an 8 week “Transitional Justice” course involving a cohort of more than 15 additional cities doing similar work hosted by Think Peace Learning and Support Hub (thinkpeacehub.org) and Grassroots Reparations Campaign (thetruthtellingproject.org).
That course included learning from the following efforts both in the United States and around the world:
- Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco - Truth, Justice, & Reconciliation Commission (tjrc.org)
- Greensboro, NC - What is Truth and Reconciliation? (greensborotrc.org)
- Iowa City, Iowa - Iowa City City Council votes to extend Truth and Reconciliation Commission to 2023 – ICMGLT
- Ferguson, Missouri - About Us – The Truth Telling Project
- Selma, Alabama - HOME | Selma SCNTR (selmacenterfornonviolence.org)
- Canada - Reconciliation (archive.org)
- Peru - Ten Years After Peru’s Truth Commission | International Center for Transitional Justice (ictj.org)
- Rwanda - https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/why-rwanda-is-held-up-as-a-model-for-reconciliation-26-years-after-genocide-1.5842139
- South Africa - https://www.usip.org/publications/1995/12/truth-commission-south-africa
On April 8, 2022 a draft of the RFP was provided to all the following, offering an opportunity to provide direct input:
- Office of Mayor Wheeler
- Office of Commissioner Mapps
- Office of Commissioner Ryan
- Office of Commissioner Rubio
- PPB Chief Lovell
- PPB Deputy Chief Frome
- PPB Equity & Inclusion Manager Marlon Marion
- PPA President Aaron Schmautz
- Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing
- Community Safety Division Staff
- Multnomah County LPSCC Board
- Portland Office of Equity and Human Rights Staff
- National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE)
May 2022 – September 2022: Commissioner Hardesty staff worked to incorporate variety of feedback to create a final version of RFP
October 7, 2022: RFP Released. Submissions will be accepted until November 14th.
“True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgement of what was done wrong, and therefor on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know.” - Desmond Tutu