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C. Include members of the community in an authentic way in the hiring process.  This will allow the community insight into the hiring process while also making for a more diverse selection process.

Rationale: The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing observed: “To build a police force capable of dealing with the complexity of the 21st century, it is imperative that agencies place value on both educational achievements and socialization skills when making hiring decisions. Hiring officers who reflect the community they serve is important not only to external relations, but also to increasing understanding within the agency.” Coupling BPD’s culture of innovation with the groundbreaking idea of community involvement in hiring will produce a result that creates a unique and community- informed hiring process.

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B. Analyze the hiring process to ensure it is structured to assess candidates job related skills and abilities.

Rationale: When employers focus on skills and abilities in job interviews, bias in hiring is reduced.  The hope is this would lead to the hiring of more racially diverse police officers.

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A. Hire mental health professionals to work alongside officers on calls that involve people experiencing mental health crises.

Rationale: Currently, Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett has a verbal agreement to allow BPD to utilize the Washington County Mental Health Response Team when they are not attending to calls within their jurisdiction.  Chief Groshong indicated early on in our discussions that approximately one-third of BPD calls involve people experiencing mental health crises. Chief Groshong said, “Our officers are not trained to deal with acute mental health crises.”  With 33% of calls involving people in mental health crises; it is in the best interest of the community to invest in a mental health response team.

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D. Increase the effectiveness of training on de-escalation and mental health intervention.  Examine the most effective training in both these areas and implement it.

Rationale: This presents the Beaverton Police Department with the opportunity to be the innovative institution it aspires to be by teaming with those leading research on de-escalation and mental health intervention.

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F. Create an intentional retention strategy for officers from underrepresented groups in the Beaverton Police Department.

Rationale: The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing observed “Hiring officers who reflect the community they serve is important not only to external relations, but also to increasing understanding within the agency.”  Racial diversity and other forms of diversity, when leveraged, can enhance the quality and effectiveness of policing in Beaverton.

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G. Track, monitor, and report on the retention of officers in underrepresented groups in the BPD.

Rationale: Measurement and evaluation of a goal helps to maintain the focus on it.

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E.  Officers should regularly be expected to participate in experiences that lead them to be self-aware and institutionally aware of the -isms that exist in society.  Any officer hired in the department should receive training about the racialized history of Oregon and the history of American policing to provide a foundational awareness.

Rationale: Self-awareness is often cited as an important element of cultural competence.  Building self-awareness and institutional awareness will help support the development of cultural competence in individual police officers and the BPD.

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H. Prioritize the hiring of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color as School Resources Officers (SROs).

Rationale: The Beaverton School District serves students that reflect the Global Majority of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).   Having the officers that support student populations reflect similar racial and ethnically diverse identities would enhance officers ability to connect with the students they serve.

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B. Representatives of both BPD and the greater community should work collaboratively to establish success criteria for BPD with easy-to-understand metrics and ongoing evaluation.

Rationale: Measurement and ongoing evaluation of a goal maintains focus on the goal. Involving community members in establishing and evaluating goals builds trust and transparency.

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C.  Determine how transparency, regulation accountability, and oversight will exist if BPD participates in joint task forces.

Rationale: Michael German pointed out that when police bureaus participate in joint task forces they often do so under different standards and regulations than their own.   BPD needs to determine what oversight will be utilized if the department chooses to participate in collaborative operations with other entities.

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A.  Hire an expert to support the BPD in creating an online police data dashboard that is easily accessible to all community members. Create executive summaries of reports that are easy for community members to understand.

Rationale: The changes and additions made to the Department website since May are an improvement in both look and content. Reports of community complaints can be long and are not typically written in easily digestible language. Ensuring that community members can access police data and summary reports enhances transparency and trust -- and officers are able to do their best work in an environment of community trust.

Additional questions:

How might BPD engage community members in offering feedback?

What data would support officers’ centering community safety?

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D. Maintain current practice of police communication through unencrypted channels and continue to abide by public record laws.

Rationale: Portland Police Bureau have moved their communications to encrypted channels to avoid public scrutiny, undermining accountability and eroding public trust.

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A. Create a system for Police officer liaisons to support the Neighborhood Association Committees(NACs).  These officers intentionally cultivate strong relationships with residents  of the city’s various neighborhoods. Utilize neighborhood-based officers to respond to non-emergency calls.

Rationale: Similar to “Care Teams” in the medical (and educational) realms, and to how SROs are organized within the school district. This establishes a structure for building authentic connections between individual officers and community members to build trust and expertise.

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B.  BPD’s outreach team should implement multiple strategies to proactively connect with community members and invite authentic feedback. Examples include hosting empathy interviews, an “Adopt a Cop” program, and developing a virtual platform for sharing stories and experiences.

Rationale: The police can only meaningfully serve the needs of the community when they understand the needs of the community; actively seeking input outside of current feedback practices ensures that multiple perspectives are heard. Empathy interviews are open-ended, conversational interviews intended both to gather qualitative data and to build relationships, and often reveal insights not captured by traditional survey methods. Members of the public have expressed interest in opportunities to engage with officers directly, similar to ride-alongs or Coffee with a Cop programs. Using BPD’s website to gather and share stories humanizes officers and community members, and demonstrates a commitment to seeking input.

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C. Connect with local community-based and identity-based organizations to find areas for collaboration.

Rationale: BPD needs to cultivate a variety of relationships with culturally relevant organizations and groups to connect with Beaverton’s BIPOC communities. Examples include APANO, UO, CAUSA, REAP and more.

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D.  Ensure that community outreach is only conducted in a way that prioritizes learning and relationship-building, not for collecting intelligence reports.

Rationale: Guest, Michael German shared findings from the “Countering Violent Extremism” program, where law enforcement initially engaged Muslim communities for the purpose of learning and building relationships, it morphed into a “intelligence collection” platform. As Michael German stated: “One way to destroy relationships between police and community is to use community outreach as a Trojan horse.”

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E.  Create ways to connect with students from public, private, and parochial schools beyond the cadet and SRO programs.

Rationale: BPD representatives and youth seem to see their interactions differently, based on the anecdotal stories members of HRAC have had with students. The cadet program and the student academy program are self-selecting. The student leaders in student government positions within schools (who are often those invited to offer feedback) are not representative of the board range of students.

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Additional Proposed Recommendation Policy Section (1 of ?)

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Additional Proposed Recommendation Policy Section (1 of ?)

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1. Immediately adopt research-backed use of force policy reforms, for example the “8 Can’t Wait” reforms This is currently under consideration by Council.

Rationale: Research supports the conclusion that placing restrictions on the use of force by police reduces police violence. Note: Consultant Ellen Wyoming DeLoy’s report prepared for the Mayor and Council specifically mentioned 8 Can’t Wait as a desired outcome by members of the public.

Additional Notes: 8 Can’t Wait and related use of force reforms were the session topic of the October 2020 meeting, and Chief Groshong outlined BPD’s analysis of these reforms; some of these policies are already in place in Beaverton and BPD leadership perceives that additional 8 Can’t Wait reforms would endanger officers. Does HRAC want to make a recommendation to adopt 8 Can’t Wait? Some of it? Different use of force reforms? Additional research/analysis? No recommendation?

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A. BPD should avoid use of the “Escalated force model” to subdue protests.

Rationale:  Our neighbor city, Portland, has been the site of significant, sustained protest against police violence. The “Escalated force model” suggests that if protests become unruly, police respond with increasing force until protest is suppressed. Studies found in practice this made civil disturbances much worse, which is in line with outcomes in Portland.

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Additional Proposed Policy Recommendation (2 of ?)

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Additional Proposed Policy Recommendation (2 of ?)

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1. Reallocate city spending from the general fund to prioritize funding of community services such as expanding access to mental health support, addiction treatment, community-based social workers, educational and vocational programs, and affordable housing.

Rationale: Currently, the Police Department accounts for 41.1% of the City’s General Fund expenditure. Reallocating funds to social services creates safer communities and has been generally shown to be more cost-effective at reducing crime than expanded policing and incarceration. Allocation of City funds was a recurring theme in both public commentary and statements by HRAC commissioners.

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I am concerned about the language of the police will still be the police.  Culture within the police department may need to change but it needs to be changed from within allowing for civilian imput. Tonia

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Proposed Additional Recommendation, Transparency (could also be Community?)

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Proposed Additional Recommendation, Transparency (could also be Community?)

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1. Create a citizen board or commission for police oversight. Hire a BIPOC-centered racial justice consultant or organization to guide the creation of this body. This would be inclusive of recommending the type of committee that fulfills the needs of our community.

Rationale: The inquiry process between HRAC and BPD has created an opportunity for meaningful dialogue between the City, the Police Department, and the community as a whole. That work should continue independently of HRAC. There are multiple possible models for citizen oversight. Hiring an outside expert to determine the structure and purpose of a citizen body avoids perpetuating entrenched power structures, and partnering intentionally with communities of color most impacted by police violence centers BIPOC voices and needs from inception.

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NACs do not have high attendance. More avenues for Police and citizen interactions. Possibly thru religious organization meetings or at events such as a meeting with the black parent union of Beaverton.

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Proposed recommendations, Policy Section, all re: SROs: 

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Proposed recommendations, Policy Section, all re: SROs: 

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1. Seek out and follow through on recommendations from Black community members in order to hire an outside consultant/agency specializing in anti-racist work to guide this process and ensure that Black, Brown and Indigenous students and families are at the heart of this work.

1. Amplify the voices and demands of Black, Brown and Indigeous students and families connected to the school district through groups such as the Beaverton Black Parent Union, Black Student Unions, BEF, REAP, MECHA, Padres Unidos and other affinity groups. The Beaverton Human Rights Advisory Commission can also provide support to center Black, Brown and Indigenous voices within organizations.  Be transparent about how the input from these groups will be used to inform decisions around SROs in school, as well as how this feedback will be communicated with the wider Beaverton community.  In addition, if it is decided that SROs should be removed from BSD schools, these same groups should be a part of the decision making process when it comes to determining how funds that are currently being spent on SROs can be reallocated to alternative services that benefit our schools (e.g. counselors, social workers).

1. Partner with and fairly compensate external organizations like Washington County Ignite, Centro Cultural, Adelante Mujeres, Latino Network, APANO, UNITE, IRCO, Oregon Student Voice, as well as other organizations under the umbrella of the Coalitions of Communities of Color to ensure we cast the widest possible net to amplify the voices and demands our Black, Brown, and Indigenous students and neighbors. This includes transparently utilizing the incredible information and insights in the Leading with Race: Research Justice in Washington County report.

1. Engage in community outreach that goes beyond the boardroom and traditionally White-centered processes to gain a better understanding of the impact that SROs have on students’ well-being. We expect this effort to be culturally responsive, accessible, and only one of many tools used to actively empower student and community voices. 1,655 people signed a recent petition to remove SROs from Beaverton School District schools, which is an indication of how many people are ready to share their experiences and perspectives on the role of SROs in schools.

Ensure a transparent review of the enormous amount of research and data that shows that SROs do not keep schools safer, but that SROs do harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous students and actively sustain the school to prison pipeline. This is not unique to large urban school districts but is true across the board, including suburban districts like BSD.

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I would suggest that the person who is hired as the clinician should have work experience on in-patient and outpatient settings along with being certified to mandate hospitalization. I would also like to see this person tied into the mental health court that Judge Britton is working to create.