accepted report 2025-246

Appointment of members to Community Board for Police Accountability

public safety
equity
appointment

Department: Office of Community-based Police Accountability
Service area: City Operations
Introduced by: Mayor Keith Wilson
Status: Accepted

Impact statement

Purpose & background

This body is being established per Ballot Measur e 26-217, which was approved by 82% of the voters on November 3, 2020. It amended City Charter, establishing a new oversight system. The Police Accountability Commission (PAC), appointed by Mayor Wheeler and confirmed by then-City Council, spent two years gathering information from community members and made recommendations to the former City Council. Using existing federal, state, and local laws, the former City Council took some of the PAC's recommendations and directed that bargaining occur with Portland Police Bureau's two unions, Portland Police Association (PPA) and Portland Police Commanding Officers Association (PPCOA). In order for the City to be in compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ)'s settlement agreement, the City must establish "a new Community Police Oversight Board to replace IPR for investigations of certain complaints of police misconduct and to replace the Chief of Police for imposition of discipline." (195)

Financial impacts

The 21 members of the CBPA receive a $500 a year stipend for their service to the Board. The year cost of $10,500 will come out of the oversight system's budget, which is required to be 5% of PPB's operating budget. An additional $3,000 will be set aside for the alternate member's stipend.

Economic impacts

Not applicable

Community impacts

During the application process, Onboarding and Administration Coordinator for the Office of Community-Based Accountability Kristen Thorp sent over 250 emails that advertised the volunteer opportunity to the following community partners: 1000 Friends of Oregon ACLU All Hands Raised Alliance for a Healthier Generation APANO Basic Rights Oregon Black Parent Initiative Black Reliance Fund Black United Fund Building Power for Communities of Color Business for Better Portland CAIR Oregon CAIRO Coalition of Communities of Color Community Investment Trust Cultivate Initiatives Disability Rights Oregon Division Midway Alliance Dress for Success East Portland Action Plan Educate Ya Friendly House Inc. Health Justice Recovery Alliance Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Karios PDX Latino Network League of Women Voters Lewis and Clark – Gender Studies Lewis and Clark – Health Studies Lewis and Clark – Latin America and Latino Studies Lewis and Clark – Political Science Lewis and Clark – Sociology Mercy Corps Multnomah County Public Health Advisory Board Multnomah County Reach NAACP Neighborhood Associations - All Our Just Future Oregon Justice Resource Center Oregon Walks Partners of Diversity Police Accountability Commission (PAC) - former members Portland Chamber of Commerce Portland Community College – Alcohol and Addiction Counseling Portland Community College – Communications Portland Community College – Criminal Justice Portland Community College – Paralegal Portland Community College – Political Science Portland Metro Chamber Portland Public School Principals – All Portland Public School Parent Teach Organizations – most Portland Community College- Race, Indigenous, Nations, and Gender Portland State University – College of Urban and PUblic Affairs Portland State University – School of Social Work Prosper Portland Q Center Reed College – Political Science Reed College – Sociology Reimagine Oregon Rosewood Initiative Safety and Justice Oregon Street Trust United Way of the Columbia-Willamette Urban League Venture Portland And attended the following public meetings to share the volunteer opportunity: Citizen Review Committee meeting - March 5, 2025 PCCEP meeting - March 26, 2025 Citizen Review Committee meeting - April 2, 2025 East Columbia Neighborhood Association meeting - April 8, 2025 Irvington Neighborhood Association Meeting - April 9, 2025 Social Media Outreach: Rose City Connection - sent to 4,000 recipients on March 11, March 18, March 25, April 1, April 8. City Insider Employee Newsletter - sent to more than 6,800 recipients on March 11, April 1, April 8. Our City in the News internal news roundup - sent to more than 850 subscribers on March 5. CivicLife newsletter – includes 4,144 subscribers. Posted to many City Councilor's newsletters and social media posts. The City’s social media websites – posted twice. Statistics from initial posting below. Second posting beginning April 4, with boosts on platforms through April 11 Instagram: First post Post interactions: 94 likes Likes: 41 Saves: 16 Comments: 2 Second post Post interactions: 115 Likes: 57 Shares: 41 Saves:17 Comments: 0 Facebook: First post Views: 369 Interactions: 2 1 share 1 comment Second post Views: 474 Interactions: 1 Link Clicks: 1 X: First Post Views: 343 Interactions: 5 2 reposts 2 likes 1 comment Second post Views: 420 Likes: 3 Shares: 1 Comments: 3 Next Door: Impressions: 2,133 LinkedIn: Impressions: 3,581 Total Engagement: 63 Likes: 46 Reposts: 15 Comments: 2

▸ Full text (the legislation as adopted)

TO COUNCIL: As Mayor, I request the appointment of members to the Community Board for Police Accountability (CBPA). Code 35.20.010 outlines that the Board be comprised of 21 members and 6 alternates. The Nominating Committee reviewed all eligible applications in a multistep process and submitted 40 majority-supported applications for your consideration. As background, Ballot Measur e 26-217, which was approved by 82% of the voters on November 3, 2020, amended City Charter establishing a new oversight system. The Police Accountability Commission (PAC), nominated by Mayor Wheeler and confirmed by then-City Council, spent two years gathering information from community members and made recommendations to the former City Council. Using existing federal, state, and local laws, the former City Council took some of the PAC's recommendations and directed that bargaining occur with Portland Police Bureau's two unions, Portland Police Association (PPA) and Portland Police Commanding Officers Association (PPCOA). In order for the City to be in compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) settlement agreement, the City must establish "a new Community Police Oversight Board to replace IPR for investigations of certain complaints of police misconduct and to replace the Chief of Police for imposition of discipline." (195) In 2025, the current City Council was established, and each district selected their district representative to be on the Nominating Committee for the CBPA recruitment. As established by City Code, the Nominating Committee was comprised of: Two CBPA representatives (initial committee will have two members from the Citizen Review Committee (CRC)); One community member from each Council district as designated by the Council members of that district; One representative from the Office of Equity and Human Rights; One representative designated by the Chief of Police; One representative from PPA; and One representative from PPCOA. The application opened on Friday, February 28, 2025. Throughout March 2025, members of the Nominating Committee received the scoring instructions, NeoGov training, training document of bias in interviewing process, and signed confidentiality agreements. They received applications on Mondays throughout the process to allow for review and scoring on a rolling basis. The recruitment closed on Monday, April 14, 2025 at 5:00pm. The application was open for 45 days. A s a proactive measure to mitigate unintentional biases in scoring, personal identifying information such as names, addresses, education, and similar information that was supplied by the applicants were redacted prior to being sent to the Nominating Committee for review. 121 applications were submitted. 118 applications were initially deemed eligible and reviewed and scored by the Nominating Committee. An application was ineligible if the applicant did not meet one of the membership requirements outlined in City Code. 4.4 applications were received for every Board position available. 77 applications received a passing score from the majority of Nominating Committee of 60% or higher. The Nominating Committee debriefed each of these 77 applications in their meetings. At the end of each discussion, that application was voted on. If an application received majority support, six or more votes, it was recommended to Council. 43 applications received the majority of votes that were needed to advance further in the process, though one applicant withdrew prior to the next step in the review process for personal reasons. The next step was a conflict-of-interest check. Two applications were removed because they were identified as having a conflict-of-interest and/or failed to meet another eligibility requirement. 40 applicants are presented to Council in Exhibit A. The Nominating Committee reviewed all 118 applications that were initially deemed eligible. At each step of the process the Nominating Committee advanced applications each step in the process with a majority score or vote. City Council has developed their own process for reviewing and scoring the 40 applicants.

Tally

11 yea 1 nay