Rep. Lew Frederick Introduces 11 Police Reform Bills in Salem

Willamette Week:

Rumblings of police reform are making their way from the streets of Portland to the halls of the Oregon Legislature. Protests against police violence jammed Portland streets this winter as young African-American activists call for stricter cop oversight in the wake of the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City. Now state Rep. Lew Frederick (D-Portland) has introduced 11 bills in Salem to toughen the rules for local police forces. In this morning's Murmurs, WW reported several of his proposals: requiring body cameras on officers, codifying the right of citizens to film the police, and requiring police shootings to be investigated by an outside district attorney.He has also introduced three bills to restrict racial profiling—including possible laws to make police forces review profiling complaints. Frederick has introduced profiling legislation in previous sessions. But he says this year, he's getting a more welcome reception from colleagues. In a Jan. 12 column in The Skanner newspaper, Frederick says his legislation stems from distrust within the black community. “If that officer could shoot that other guy for no reason that I can make sense of, then he could shoot me this time, no matter what I do,” Frederick writes. “The more that fear penetrates into the community, the less legitimate our policing function seems, and that is a true breakdown, and should concern us all.”

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