District Attorneys

Pacific Northwest Family Circle DA Platform (2024)
HOLD PROSECUTORS AND POLICE ACCOUNTABLE

The policing system in the U.S. has a long history of allowing officers to behave with violence and racism toward community members with no accountability. Too many of our loved ones have been harmed, traumatized, or killed by police. This is continuing to happen even after the horrific killing of George Floyd, which spurred national and international protests. Portland Copwatch has documented 421 “officer involved deadly force” incidents from 2010-2023 in Oregon in which 232 people died. [1] There were 33 incidents and 18 deaths in 2023 alone. In all this time there have been only two indictments for excessive use of force and none for deadly use of force. One of these ended with the suicide of the involved officer [2]; the other ended with a restorative justice solution and a publicized apology from the involved officer. [3]

We want a district attorney who will prosecute police misconduct and violence. In addition, district attorneys should remove unethical officers from the criminal legal system by not accepting their testimony as evidence.

The current system is failing to hold police accountable, either criminally or administratively. Prosecutors and district attorneys often say that they are working to keep the public safe, but safe from whom?

• According to Portland Copwatch, on average 9% of all homicides in Oregon are committed by law enforcement officers [1]. In some counties, the numbers have been much higher in certain years. Using Oregon Health Authority statistics [4], 7% of all homicides in Washington County from 2017 through 2020 were committed by a person with “special legal authority to use deadly force,” e.g. police, sheriff deputies, etc. In 2019 in Lane County, 30% of homicides were committed by law enforcement.
• Internal administrative reviews of police use of deadly force, and excessive use of force, are held far from the public eye at the discretion of the policing agency involved, and results are seldom made In rare cases, when police officers’ excessive use of force has led to them being fired, these decisions were overturned in arbitration later [5].
• HB 2930 [6] established the LESC (Commission on Statewide Law Enforcement Standards of Conduct and Discipline) [7] in 2021 to develop a state-wide discipline matrix [8] to hold officers accountable administratively for violating department policies. But the discipline matrix allows “mitigating factors” to reduce discipline actions to a written reprimand for officers found guilty of several forms of misconduct, including the inappropriate use of excessive force or deadly force.

To build trust in the district attorney’s office and law enforcement, we want a district attorney who will:

• Prioritize true public safety over special treatment of police and other law enforcement
• Issue a written opinion about every police misconduct or use of deadly force case brought forward with legal reasoning for the determination of whether or not to pursue criminal charges. One sentence such as, “I have reviewed the evidence and I have determined the homicide to be legal” is not sufficient.
• Use neutral, legally accurate language when describing a police violence incident, without irrelevant facts, and without criminalizing the victim.
• Evaluate whether de-escalation techniques were used, in accordance with the requirements of HB 4301 (2020) [9], in police deadly force and excessive force cases.
• Reduce and prevent inevitable conflicts of interest given how closely police and prosecutors work These inherent conflicts of interest must be mitigated. For example, if a DA or prosecutor has a close personal relationship with someone employed by the department involved in the use of force or misconduct case, the DA or prosecutor must recuse themselves.
• Ensure Medical Examiners are truly independent, especially from police influence. Again, if a medical examiner has a close personal relationship with someone employed by the department involved in the case, the medical examiner must recuse themselves.
• Understands that “suicide by cop” is not a suicide and is in fact a homicide committed by a police officer (suicide is defined as “the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally”).
• Treat families and victims of police violence as any other victim of violence is treated. All victims need maximum disclosure with minimum delay, communicated in a culturally appropriate and trauma-informed
• Protect victims of police violence/misconduct, and their families, from police
• Promote policies that encourage community members to report police misconduct and violence, not hide it for fear of retaliation.
• Employ ethical prosecutors who will fairly present all evidence regarding police misconduct to grand Ensure there is no implicit bias favoring law enforcement personnel. The prosecutors should not be acting as defense attorneys for the officers involved by spinning the evidence to criminalize the victim of the misconduct.
• Ensure officers who have been untruthful, exhibited excessive force and/or have shown any indication of racial/gender/ethnic/etc bias are not used as witnesses at trial. (e.g. Brady List.)
• Promptly release Grand Jury transcripts for all cases of homicides committed by police including those with “no true bill” findings to the family (free of charge) and the public as a matter of standard policy.
• Ensure that all law enforcement agencies in the county promptly and accurately report police use-of-force and discipline data as required by Senate Bill 111 (2007) [10], House Bill 2932 (2021) [11], and House Bill 3145 (2021) [12]. Support data collection efforts for police use-of-force incidents.

References:

[1]  https://www.portlandcopwatch.org/OR_shootings_letter0224.pdf

[2]  https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2015/05/autopsy_confirms_death_of_fire.html

[3]  https://mailchi.mp/ojrc/ppb-denies-dozens-of-immigrant-crime-victims-leaving-them-at-risk-of-deportation-2434952?e=3cd18b5b6b

[4]  https://visual-data.dhsoha.state.or.us/t/OHA/views/CountyDash/CountyDash_cause?%3Adisplay_count=n&%3Aembed=y&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=n

[5]  https://www.portlandcopwatch.org/deadlyforcepdx.html

[6]  https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Measures/Overview/HB2930

[7]  https://justice.oregon.gov/lesc/

[8]  https://justice.oregon.gov/lesc/documents/LESC_2023-11-16_Revised_Guide_to_the_LESC_Rules.pdf

[9]  https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2020S2/Measures/Overview/HB4301

[10]  https://www.doj.state.or.us/oregon-department-of-justice/publications-forms/sb-111-implementation/?hilite=deadly%2Bforce%2Bplanning

[11]  https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Measures/Overview/HB2932

[12]  https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Measures/Overview/HB3145

Definition of Suicide: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suicide