Citizen Review Committee Workgroup

Date: January 8, 2025

To: Mayor, City Councilors

Cc: City Attorney, City Administrator, Deputy City Administrator of City Operations

From: Citizen Review Committee

Re: CRC Involvement in the Transition to the Community Board for Police Accountability

Dear Mayor Wilson and City Council,

On behalf of Portland's Citizen Review Committee (CRC), we want to welcome you to your roles in the city's new form of government. As you take office, the CRC is concurrently experiencing a transition to a new form of police oversight. By writing to you, we hope to provide helpful context for you and other city leaders as Portland makes this important, voter-approved change.

The eleven-member Citizen Review Committee (CRC) was created in 2001 to help improve police accountability, promote higher standards of police services, and increase public confidence. For close to a quarter century, we have heard appeals from community members who filed complaints about police conduct, held community forums, and created policy recommendations including an extensive report on Crowd Control & Use of Force in 2021. CRC members also participate in Police Review Board hearings to make recommendations about cases in which officers may be facing discipline or have used deadly force.

As the current community face of Portland's police accountability system, we have a vested interest in the successful implementation of the new police oversight board and the transition of oversight responsibility from the Independent Police Review (IPR) to the new Office of Community-based Police Accountability (OCPA). We are also keenly aware of the challenges posed by this transition and its timeline for implementation, especially given court directives that the nominating committee for the Community Board for Police Accountability (CPBA) be appointed within the next 30 days and that the new system be up and running later this year.

As we enter this final phase of implementation, we believe that the CRC should play a more active role in the transition process. CRC leadership consulted extensively with the Police Accountability Commission during the design of the new system, and our Transition Team has continued to engage with some of the most salient topics that surround the transition, including the role of the Transition Project Manager and community concerns around bias requirements and training requirements such as ride-alongs.

The CRC is composed of volunteers deeply committed to transparency, the mission of the city, and the mission of the new CBPA. There is no other volunteer group in the city more experienced in these matters. As such, we strongly recommend that the city consult with and involve the CRC to the greatest extent possible. We hope to engage "early and often" with all relevant stakeholders, including the City Attorney's office, the Mayor and City Administrator, and any applicable Standing Committee of the City Council.

We look forward to working with you and we believe our perspective and lived experience is vital to the success of this transition process.

Yours very truly,
Members of the Citizen Review Committee