Two cities, a spike in crime, and the federal response
| Sacramento, Calif.
A city鈥檚 tensions erupted into a national spectacle last month when federal tactical teams appeared on the streets of Portland, Oregon. Heavily armed officers clad in camouflage uniforms targeted demonstrators with tear gas, batons, and less lethal munitions, a show of force countered by the 鈥渨all of moms鈥� and 鈥渓eaf-blower dads.鈥� President Donald Trump, a Republican, blamed the upheaval on 鈥渁narchists and agitators鈥� as Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, faulted the 鈥淭rump troops.鈥�
The spectacle subsided late last week. The tactical teams ceded the duty of guarding a federal courthouse downtown to state police under an agreement between Governor Brown and Trump administration officials. Meanwhile, the city鈥檚 tensions persist, with community frustration toward the Portland Police Bureau 鈥� sparked after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd on Memorial Day 鈥� intensifying during July鈥檚 unrest.
Videos captured police working alongside federal officers to near the courthouse. If the scenes provoked surprise among white residents, who make up more than 70% of the city鈥檚 population of 655,000, Lakayana Drury suggests that people of color saw the Portland police they long have known.
Why We Wrote This
Amid a national reckoning on race, the president鈥檚 decision to send federal law enforcement to Chicago, Portland, Oregon, and other cities poses potential risks to cop-community relations 鈥� as well as opportunities to improve them.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e white, the three blocks around the courthouse have been a war zone. If you鈥檙e Black, the whole city is a war zone,鈥� says Mr. Drury, executive director of , a nonprofit that seeks to cultivate rapport between young Black men and law enforcement. The apparent coordination with federal authorities 鈥渉urts the ability of police to build trust,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚t takes away from the reputation of officers who do good community work.鈥�
Some 2,100 miles away in Chicago, Vaughn Bryant echoes Mr. Drury鈥檚 concern about the impact of federal agents on local policing. The country鈥檚 third-largest city had recorded 440 homicides through July,听150 more than at the same point last year, and the president has dispatched federal officers to assist Chicago police.
鈥淕iven the homicide numbers, something has to be done,鈥� says Mr. Bryant, executive director of , an alliance of organizations devoted to reducing gun and gang violence. 鈥淏ut people are worried about federal agents casting a wider net and overreaching.鈥�
Mr. Trump announced plans last month to send hundreds of federal law enforcement personnel to Chicago, Detroit, and several other cities run by 鈥渓iberal Democrats鈥� whom he accuses of failing to corral violent crime.
Democrats deride the president鈥檚 self-proclaimed 鈥渓aw and order鈥� campaign as an attempt to boost his reelection chances against Democratic rival Joe Biden. A half-dozen mayors, including those in Portland, Chicago, and Seattle, last week to pass legislation to limit the administration鈥檚 authority to deploy federal officers to their cities.
Anti-violence advocates in Portland and Chicago contend that Mr. Trump鈥檚 moves have diverted attention from redressing deep-rooted problems in cities 鈥� police brutality, racial injustice, social inequality 鈥� that inspired protests nationwide following Mr. Floyd鈥檚 death. At the same time, the actions of federal agents threaten to widen the rift between residents and local officers, explains Dave Franco, a 30-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department who retired in January.
鈥淔ederal agents are not part of the community,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd if they鈥檙e not following local strategy and they鈥檙e using aggressive tactics, that鈥檚 going to make it even harder for the police to build relationships with the community.鈥�
Tear gas and verbal salvos
Word is Bond brings together Black men ages 16 to 21 with officers from the Portland police force and other area law enforcement agencies to unravel misperceptions and nurture mutual understanding. Mr. Drury recruits white officers to participate owing to of people of color toward police.
An estimated 65% to 70% of officers nationwide are white, and police kill minorities at compared with white men and women. Some 80% of Portland鈥檚 525 officers are white, and the bureau has absorbed backlash for a series of of Black residents and for higher rates of Black motorists and pedestrians.
Mr. Drury, who is biracial, condemns police for aiding tactical teams with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during protests. But he levels his strongest criticism at successive police and city administrations for a lack of police reform that contrasts with Portland鈥檚 progressive image.
鈥淭he behavior of federal forces is no more egregious than what Portland cops have done to the Black community for decades,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he city had the opportunity for years to respond to community demands. They didn鈥檛, and then federal agents came here and escalated the situation. That鈥檚 taken away from the message of Black Lives Matter.鈥�
As federal agents and police at protesters last month, city officials traded verbal salvos with Daryl Turner, the outspoken president of the Portland Police Association, the union that represents the rank and file. City Council members denounced his decision to meet with the DHS acting secretary when he visited Portland, and they later banned police from cooperating with federal agents.
The union鈥檚 executive board issued a vote of 鈥渘o confidence鈥� in the council, and Mr. Turner, flanked by faith leaders and business owners during a press conference, described the city as 鈥渦nder siege by rioters鈥� and claimed elected officials 鈥渃ondoned the destruction.鈥� Neither he nor Police Chief Chuck Lovell joined Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city leaders in demanding that federal agents withdraw.
The police association has outlined a plan for reform that advocates a return to , changes to recruitment and training, and pairing officers with social workers to handle crisis calls. The proposal appears on beneath the words 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have police reform without police funding鈥� 鈥� a retort of sorts to the council voting in June to redirect $15 million of the bureau鈥檚 $244 million budget to other city agencies and programs.
鈥淔or policing to evolve, you have to listen to the community,鈥� says Mr. Turner, a 29-year member of the Portland force. 鈥淲e want to build that relationship, and city officials aren鈥檛 helping.鈥�
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who in 2018 became the first Black woman elected to the City Council, began pushing for changes to policing three decades ago. She asserts that Portland officers engaging in 鈥渦nfettered, state-sanctioned violence鈥� yielded two related results.
鈥淭he actions of federal agents and our own police force have further fractured community trust,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey have made the public鈥檚 case for reform stronger.鈥�
鈥淧olicing requires cooperation鈥�
Violence has exploded in Chicago this summer. Police recorded 105 homicides in July, the most in a single month since 1992, and more than twice the total during the same month last year. Shootings rose to 584 from 308 last July, with 17 people killed and another 70 wounded over the July Fourth weekend.
Police Superintendent David Brown, who has ascribed the rise in bloodshed to gang turf wars, intends to form a rapid-response unit that will combine suppression tactics with community policing efforts to curb outbreaks of violence. He told reporters that Mr. Trump鈥檚 plan to send 200 agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and other agencies 鈥渨ill enhance our ability to hold our criminals accountable.鈥�
Mr. Bryant, with Communities Partnering 4 Peace, has heard concerns from residents about a possible replay of Portland, where federal officers in unmarked vehicles pulled people off the streets.
鈥淓veryone wants perpetrators of violent crime to be caught. But what people saw in Portland wasn鈥檛 about violent crime,鈥� says Mr. Bryant, who grew up the son of a police officer in Detroit. Communities Partnering 4 Peace, a coalition of more than a dozen organizations, mediates gang disputes, recruits former gang members to serve as nonviolence ambassadors, and works with police to reduce shootings and promote youth initiatives.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 arrest our way out of our problems,鈥� he says. 鈥淐rime is a symptom of the root causes of racial inequity, and any federal action should be corrective action to address the systemic racism that has been inflicted on the community.鈥�
Mayor Lori Lightfoot explained to reporters last week that the incoming federal officers will support ongoing operations of their agencies in Chicago.听She has vowed to pursue litigation if tactical teams show up on city streets.
The mayor has clashed with John Catanzara, head of the Chicago police union, who wrote an to the president appealing for federal assistance to tame the city鈥檚 鈥渃haos鈥� that he blamed on 鈥渇ailing liberal policies.鈥�听 in May, Mr. Catanzara has accrued 50 misconduct complaints since joining the force in 1995, and the department has suspended his police powers as he faces an internal affairs investigation that began in 2018.
In the view of Edward Maguire, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Arizona State University, overt alliances between police unions and federal agents hold potential risks amid a national reckoning on race.听鈥淏y aligning with federal forces, unions are going to deepen the divide between police and communities,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e harming their own departments with that choice.鈥�
Local and federal officials in Chicago announced the arrests last week of the reputed head of the Black Disciples street gang and more than 20 associates following a multiyear investigation.
Mr. Franco, the retired Chicago cop, offers the case as an example of collaboration that benefits authorities and residents alike. His three-decade career with the department included several years in the community policing unit and joint investigations with federal officers on gun trafficking, narcotics, and gang cases.
鈥淧olicing requires cooperation, and not just between law enforcement people,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou need the community鈥檚 cooperation. You can鈥檛 really help people if they see your uniform and think you鈥檙e the enemy.鈥�
Shared responsibility
Norm Stamper retired as Seattle鈥檚 police chief in 2000 after 34 years in uniform. His career had imploded beneath criticism and controversy a year earlier, after he ordered officers to fire tear gas at demonstrators during massive protests against the World Trade Organization.
He has performed a self-imposed penance in the ensuing years, emerging as a leading advocate for police reform, and in the groundswell of outrage over George Floyd鈥檚 death, he finds hope for sweeping change.
鈥淚鈥檝e never been more optimistic. This is the first time in my life that I鈥檝e come to believe that a genuine community-police partnership is possible,鈥� says Mr. Stamper, author of the 2016 book, 鈥淭o Protect and Serve: How to Fix America鈥檚 Police.鈥� He attributes his outlook to the sudden and sustained pressure that protests have exerted on police unions and administrators to listen to their communities.
鈥淭here can be no more of the 鈥榃e鈥檙e the police and you鈥檙e not鈥� attitude,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here can be no more unilateral decision-making and crisis management by the police.鈥�
The city of Portland accepted a with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2014 after a federal investigation identified a pattern of officers using excessive force against people diagnosed with mental illness. Federal attorneys announced in January that the police bureau has shown 鈥渟ubstantial compliance鈥� with 190 required reforms.
Commissioner Hardesty, a former president of Portland鈥檚 NAACP chapter, wants the city to enact future police reforms without the specter of litigation or tear gas. She has called for diverting more funding from the police to crisis responders and social services and creating a new system of civilian oversight for the bureau.
鈥淲e can repair the relationship with the community by listening to the demands of the community,鈥� she says.
Portland police reported 15 homicides across the city in July, the highest monthly total in more than 30 years, and one month after the City Council voted to disband the bureau鈥檚 34-member gun reduction violence team. Reform advocates regard the spike as evidence that police remain essential to public safety even as the city explores alternatives.
鈥淧olice have responsibilities placed upon them that are unreasonable and that reflect our failures as a society,鈥� Commissioner Chloe Eudaly says. 鈥淲e have shared responsibility 鈥� not just the council and the police, but the public.鈥�
The Chicago Police Department entered into a last year after Justice Department investigators found a pattern of officers using excessive force, a lack of internal accountability, and inadequate training and supervision. The department has missed 70% of the initial deadlines for dozens of reforms laid out in the agreement.
Mr. Bryant grew up playing football for police officers moonlighting as coaches, and he works closely with cops to stanch violence in neighborhoods. He relates to them as individuals, as more than a gun and a badge, and he senses a historic opportunity for police to become part of the community, to no longer stand apart from those they serve.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt the department has its problems,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut people see there鈥檚 still definitely a need for police, that they have a rightful place. It鈥檚 a matter of collaborating.鈥�
