Déjà Blue

This time, Don't Shoot Portland protested the deadly shooting by a white South Carolina police officer of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man killed while running from a traffic stop. About 30 protesters rallied April 14 at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge, then marched inside Multnomah County headquarters.

"Nobody should be shot down in the street like an animal," said Antonio Greely, a 20-year-old Portland Community College student. "You treat dogs better than human beings."

The police officer in Scott's death has been charged with murder. The deaths of two other black men last year, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, brought no charges against the police involved, sparking nationwide protests that brought as many as 3,000 onto Portland streets to block traffic and shut down stores ("Bring the Noise," WW, Dec. 10, 2014).

The group won a major promise from Mayor Charlie Hales: a pledge that Hales would meet with Don't Shoot Portland regularly during the next six months to talk about reforms in the Portland Police Bureau.

The promise has not been kept.

Hales first met with protesters Dec. 9. Their demands were vague, but they asked for more federal oversight and more citizen control over the review of excessive-force cases. 

Hales gave a shout-out to Teressa Raiford, organizer of Don't Shoot Portland, at his Jan. 30 state of the city speech in an effort to play up his close work with the African-American community.

"I've held two meetings so far with Don't Shoot Portland, and five more are planned," he said. "Thank you, Teressa, for your leadership and your help."

Raiford says Hales has since proved he was never serious about reforms.

"We tried to connect with our mayor and the police," Raiford says. "And they lied to us."

Hales' office says that's not true.

"It felt like there was a desire from Don't Shoot Portland to find some reason to not do dialogues anymore," says Deanna Wesson-Mitchell, Hales' police liaison. "There's some members of the community who have a storyline that they want to keep telling."

The truth is, Hales and Don't Shoot Portland—both claiming they support serious cultural changes in the Police Bureau—walked away from each other over who controlled the meetings.

The protesters wanted Hales to spend at least four hours with them during each monthly meeting. Hales wanted to spend no more than two.

The sides haven't spoken to each other since Feb. 28—when protesters interrupted Hales at a neighborhood forum with notices saying they intended to sue the city for excessive police force during a November march.

The break has sent Hales and Don't Shoot Portland in different directions, each claiming to pursue real change.

Raiford and other protesters have shifted their focus to trying to pass a package of police reform bills in Salem, few of which have received hearings.

"The people in Salem have a whole lot more respect than they do locally," she says. "That's not even a question."

Hales' office, meanwhile, has continued to hold monthly meetings with other African-American community leaders. The two meetings in March focused on improving police communication with black teenagers, and discussing the increase of foot patrols.

"The mayor's office is completely committed to police reform," Wesson-Mitchell says, "and also to making sure the community is involved in it."

Raiford says the short amount of time Hales spends in the meetings is inadequate.

"An hour and a half is not going to do it," Raiford says. "So we haven't met with him anymore. It's dividing the movement, because some people are impressed that the mayor was involved."

Dan Handleman, who has pressed for reforms for more than 20 years with Portland Copwatch, says he understands why protesters would grow frustrated. He said the January meeting—one of only two Hales conducted with Don't Shoot Portland—had city officials bragging about their progress.

"From what I saw, the mayor and his staff basically talked about their successes," Handleman says. "I don't think it's a huge loss when it's largely a one-way discussion."

WWeek 2015