Review clears Portland police of abuse concerns

PORTLAND – A U.S. Justice Department review of the Portland Police Department found no pattern of abuse but noted that officers are sometimes too quick to resort to force during arrests.

Areas of concern include the caliber of internal affairs investigations and the way officers report use of force, in addition to officers sometimes being quick to use force, the Justice Department said.

But the 21/2-year investigation yielded no evidence of a pattern of abuse, and no enforcement action is warranted, officials said.

The city invited the Justice Department’s civil rights division to conduct a review in January 2002 after a flurry of excessive force lawsuits.

Those incidents included a $600,000 settlement to a man who was injured when an officer hit him on the head with the barrel of his gun.

Two months earlier, the city had been ordered to pay $55,000 in another excessive-force lawsuit, and had settled a third suit for $17,000.

Members of the Justice Department’s civil rights division met with officers, residents and city officials and reviewed tens of thousands of documents covering arrests, use of force and internal affairs.

“I was heartened that they did not find there were civil rights violations and that they felt significant progress was being made by the department,” Portland Mayor Nathan Smith said.

City Manager Joe Gray said the Justice Department has offered to provide technical assistance for six months.

“If the assistance is successful, the process is complete,” Gray said.

The Justice Department issued an interim report a year ago.

It called on the department to beef up officer oversight and use-of-force reviews, and better integrate community policing and regular patrol teams.

The department has also increased its training programs and internal affairs division.

Smith said he believes many of the improvements sought by the Justice Department are well under way.