Cop-Tracking System Off Track

Does the Portland Police Bureau have the ability to spot bad cops before they are charged with crimes?

With three separate indictments of Portland police officers in the past three months, it's more than an academic question. And, despite assurances that the bureau's early-warning system works just fine, a key city official is skeptical enough to launch a probe of how the bureau's Internal Affairs Division tracks cops.

Critics have long argued that the bureau does a lousy job of investigating its officers. But last year, a new twist surfaced in the case of Sgt. Michael Barkley, who'd been accused of theft and later exonerated (see "One Angry Cop," WW, April 11, 2001). Barkley's attorney wanted to know why the bureau, in its internal investigation of his client, assigned the case to a detective, Mel Tellinghusen, who was under criminal investigation himself. A police official claimed there were no records of the probe, but later a 100-plus-page report turned up.

Last month the state attorney general's office released its review of the situation, confirming that Portland's IAD record-keeping system was a joke. For example, an officer with five complaints of brutality wouldn't show up in a computer search if the internal-affairs unit had chosen not to investigate any of them.

Lawyer Spencer Neal, who's handled numerous cases of police brutality, called the bureau's record-keeping system an "intentional effort to limit exposure," and one that is worrisome from a management perspective.

For years the bureau has assured the public that its computerized "early-warning system" sends up red flags when cops start racking up a lot of complaints. Now, however, it appears that complaints IAD chose not to investigate were never entered into the system.

Richard Rosenthal, head of the city's new office of Independent Police Review, says the creation of his agency last year has solved part of the problem, as it now tracks all complaints by officer name. But, he says, many police employees tell him the system still has big problems, so next week he'll begin his own review.

Rosenthal says the IPR's citizen board members are upset that the bureau hasn't followed through on a promise to the City Council that it would review the bureau's early-warning system. "They made it very clear to me that they had concerns," he said.

Internal Affairs Capt. Darrel Schenck, who oversees the tracking system, told WW that it in fact does work--but he agrees there's room for improvement. "We need a better system," he said, "so we can get information more easily."

WWeek 2015