skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

As Elon Musk looks on, Trump says he's giving DOGE even more power; Officials monitor latest AR bird flu outbreak; NV lawmaker proposes new date for Indigenous Peoples Day; NM lawmaker says journalists of all stripes need protection; Closure of EPA branch would harm VA environment.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A court weighs the right of New York City noncitizens to vote in local elections, Vice President Vance suggests courts can't overrule a president, and states increasingly challenge the validity of student IDs at the ballot box.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Medical debt, which tops $90 billion has an outsized impact on rural communities, a new photography book shares the story of 5,000 schools built for Black students between 1912 and 1937, and anti-hunger advocates champion SNAP.

Report: Portland Police officers who use force evade accountability

play audio
Play

Wednesday, January 24, 2024   

A new report says the Portland Police Bureau is obscuring information on officers who use excessive force on the job. Researchers with the organization Ctrl+Alt+Defund investigated use of force data between 2017 and 2023 through public records requests and found only a few officers account for many of these incidences. The highest rate was from Officer Damien Dale, who used force 23 times in 2023. The average for officers that year was 2.7.

Sarah Hamid, lead Portland organizer with Freedom to Thrive, said her group supported the research.

"What this report was able to validate was that not only is this violence happening, but this violence is happening in a concentrated way from certain officers who are known to police leadership," she explained.

Under an Oregon law passed in 2021, Portland Police are required to provide the name of officers upon request. The bureau keeps a use of force dashboard, but officers are identified with a randomly generated number rather than their badge number. In an email responding to the report, Sergeant Kevin Allen said the use of force occurs in a small number of cases - less than half of 1% of all calls - and that disparities occur because some officers work in busier areas than others.

Hamid said despite the dashboard the Portland Police Bureau provides, a lot of work was required to identify officers who use force excessively.

"This should be something that's publicly accessible and constantly accessible because this is the kind of transparency that allows individuals who have been victimized by these officers to seek retribution and justice," Hamid explained.

Hamid added rather than investing in training for officers who use force, the city should listen to the people who have been victimized by these officers.

"Do what those communities have been asking for, which is start funding public resources and services so that people's living conditions can improve," Hamid continued. "That needs to be where all of the money from the city's coffers is going right now - not towards more violent policing."

Disclosure: Freedom to Thrive contributes to our fund for reporting on Criminal Justice, Immigrant Issues, LGBTQIA Issues, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
With the inclusion of workforce certificates and certifications, Ohio's overall rate of educational attainment has increased by 18.1% since 2009. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

According to research from Lumina Foundation, the rate of U.S. high school seniors seeking higher education is on the upswing. Although Ohio student …


play sound

Lawmakers in Michigan have introduced a package of bills designed to lower costs and expand health care access. Senate Bill 3 would create a …

Health and Wellness

play sound

As winter drags on with a recent rare burst of snow across North Florida, many Floridians struggle with seasonal affective disorder. It is a form of …


Southern sea otters only inhabit about 13% of their former range and remain absent from the Oregon coast. (Dhayes/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

The push to reintroduce southern sea otters to greater sections of the California and Oregon coast is getting a big boost from a $1.56 million grant f…

Social Issues

play sound

By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service …

The Environmental Protection Agency said excess nitrogen and phosphorus cause an overgrowth of algae in lakes and if algal blooms occur, the toxins they produce can be harmful to human health and aquatic life. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Minnesota is giving its water quality standards a fresh look. With public input in their hands, officials are under pressure to add language about …

Social Issues

play sound

Nevada's only sitting Indigenous legislator has introduced a bill to recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day on what she calls the "correct day," the second…

Environment

play sound

The Trump administration has started dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency's office dealing with reducing environmental harms to minority an…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021