April 2022
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Dear Portlanders,
The Police Accountability Commission concluded its Organizational Phase of work in March, establishing its process for developing an investigatory and disciplinary structure overseeing the Portland Police Bureau to replace the Independent Police Review process. It will now begin to follow that process and conduct its work. You can learn more about the Police Accountability Commission at www.portland.gov/police-accountability.
March Summary
In December, the Police Accountability Commission began its Organizational Phase of Work, which included the development of values and goals to guide the commission and compare its output to, a scope of work and agenda that determines the topics under consideration and when they will be discussed, bylaws for internal governance, and a framework that outlines how the commission will co-create the new police accountability system with communities, in particular those most affected.
March 2022 began with three public meetings of the Sub-Committee on Bylaws and Internal processes, which worked to finalize a draft set of bylaws. In its final meeting on March 12, the sub-committee referred bylaws unanimously to the full commission for consideration and approval.
The second half of the month included three public meetings of the full Police Accountability Commission to discuss the four output documents of the Organizational Phase of work. The commission approved all four documents on or before its final meeting on March 31, and all are posted under the "Commission-wide documents" section of the Key Documents page on the PAC website.
April and Next Steps
April 2022 begins the Fact-Finding phase of the Police Accountability Commission's work, which will go until roughly June-July 2022. This phase of work, defined in detail in the Agenda and Scope document, will focus on:
- identifying the barriers to accountability in the current system
- hearing from key stakeholders including community members who have been affected by policing, overpolicing and police misconduct, the City Council, and law enforcement
- understanding current city efforts in the area of accountability
- learning about other cities and their efforts, and what of their experiences might be helpful to the City of Portland.
Community engagement efforts will also increase beginning in this phase of work. Specific meeting dates will be announced as they are scheduled via this email list and at the website: https://www.portland.gov/police-accountability/events
Share your thoughts with the Police Accountability Commission!
Members of the public are invited to give public comment to the Police Accountability Commission! Written public comment is circulated to the commission in advance of each meeting, and community members can also give public comment verbally during meetings, at the times listed in meeting agendas.