News The U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Portland released a settlement agreement Friday on changes the city must make in order to stay out of court, in the wake of the DOJ’s findings that police have a pattern of using excessive force against the mentally ill.The agreement ramps up both internal and external supervision of the department, expands police crisis training and response and further ...   More

News As the city continues its negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice, Police Chief Mike Reese announced today the city will reinstate a Crisis Intervention Team to deal with Portland's mentally ill.The changes follow last month's damning report finding that the Portland Police Bureau has a "pattern and practice" of using excessive force against those in mental health crisis. Portland must give ...   More

News We reported today about new stats showing Portland police use Tasers on people with mental illness more than anyone else. Here are five more nuggets from the Independent Police Review report issued last week, which covers data from November 2007 to November 2008. Fact 1: African-American subjects are the only racial group that's subjected to use of force at a greater rate than they get arrested. Black ...   More