SALEM, Ore. — 2022 brings a fresh start for us all, and it also means a lot of bills passed in Oregon during the 2021 session go into effect. On police reform, Senate Bill 621 gives Portland the go-ahead to create its new citizen-led police oversight board. Previously, state labor law was unclear on if the city and police union…
Portland is on its way to having more than three shootings per day. Last year amid nationwide protests, Portlanders were among some of the loudest voices shouting, “Defund the Police.” Last summer, Mayor Ted Wheeler disbanded the city’s Gun Violence Reduction team, claiming that the team excessively targeted black people. What do we have to show for it? As expected,…
Two U.S. lawmakers called out local leaders for not doing enough to stop the violence in Portland. U.S. Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Southwest Washington, and John Katko, R-New York, held a joint news conference Thursday to highlight the rising crime in the Portland area. They say defunding the police is a big part of the problem. “When you take money…
Among the final bills to pass in the final hours of the 2021 Session was HB 2928-B which restricts what law enforcement can use during a riot. The summary reads, “Regulates use of chemical incapacitants, kinetic impact projectiles, and sound devices by law enforcement. Prohibits the use of chemical incapacitants and kinetic impact projectiles for purposes of crowd control unless use of force…
The Oregon Legislature wrapped up Saturday, (6-26-21) marking the end of an eventful session that included high profile legislation, a resignation and the first expulsion of a legislator in state history. The session, which began Jan. 21 after a two-day delay from concerns about possible attacks from right-wing extremists, saw lawmakers take up bills addressing pandemic relief, wildfire relief, police…
Highlights, excerpts from Sen. Boquist newsletter The establishment legislature is racing to pass higher budgets along with end run bills against citizens then flee the closed Oregon State Capitol. Follow bills on OLIS, and in Joint Ways and Means – a 5000 series bill is a budge bill. This past week, I voted against most of the state budget bills, some containing…
Portland police officers who cover their name badges during protests will now be more easily identifiable, following the Oregon Legislature’s June 7 passage of House Bill 3355. The bill, sponsored by the Judiciary Committee at the request of Sen. James Manning (D-Eugene), dictates identification requirements for law enforcement assigned to “crowd management” events in cities with a population over 60,000….
Oregon’s landmark mandatory sentencing law, Measure 11, is about to go under scrutiny by state legislators this week. Advocates of criminal justice reform have four bills that would change the way those convicted of serious crimes are sentenced. The first of those bills, House Bill 2002, has a public hearing scheduled in the House Committee of Judiciary on Tuesday. But Oregon’s District…
Tear gas, pepper spray and impact munitions have been deployed by police for months against protesters in Portland, Oregon, enveloping neighborhoods and even a school yard in clouds of stinging, choking chemical agents. Now, Oregon state Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Portland-area Democrat, is seeking to ban their use against crowds in one of the most sweeping measures in the country…
Five lawmakers on a House subcommittee will focus on Oregon’s policing practices and the people who carry them out. They have already started public hearings on more than a dozen bills, some of them overlapping, that propose various changes to Oregon laws in the aftermath of last year’s death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer…
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