Friday, February 26, 2010

The Human Rights Commission Doesn't Speak for Me!

Based on the press release sent out on 2/25/10 by the Human Relations Committee you would think that if we just spent more time trying to find understanding with Portland Police we can solve the problems of African American's being targeted by the police for "enhanced police actions" which leads to the death of community members.

The Human Rights Commission does not speak for me or the thousands of community members who are fed up with the lack of action taken to prevent this situation from being repeated over and over again.

Every official channel that the community has for redress is run by the city of Portland government. It is clear from the HRC that they are representing the government, not the pain that community members experience daily at the hands of police.

It is time for the community to take control of the oversight of the police. There has been little change with the Independent Police Review(IPR) , Citizen Review Committee and now the latest, the HRC's "Police & Community Relations Committee-none of these bodies have been able to do what the community demands-to hold police accountable for their violence against people of color and poor people.

The Human Rights Committee doesn't speak for me. If they don't speak for you, then join us now for true accountability.

1 comment:

  1. This letter, which can be found here:
    http://www.portlandonline.com/humanrelations/index.cfm?c=50683&a=288220

    is an embarrassment. At the very least, it might have made reference to their own charter: Article Five - No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

    My experience with CPRC is that they don't allow effective community participation. Three-minute, public comment as participants are packing up their papers at the meetings' conclusion are usually prefaced by, "We've run over time ..."

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