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Thursday, November 12, 2009

News Portlanders Love the Police and City More Than They Did Five Years Ago

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 11:45 AM

So do you love Portland more than you did five years ago? A report the City Auditor's office released today says: probably yes.

According to the survey of 3,194 random Portlanders (pdf), regular residents' perception of both the police and the city government are significantly more positive than they were five years ago. Almost two-thirds of Portlanders think the city is doing a good or very good job overall, a whopping 11 percent increase over five years ago (with the notable exception of East Portland, where only 48 percent of citizens think the local government is doing a good job). Surprisingly, I think, the city government received the highest rankings from inner NE residents, where 74 percent think the bureaucracy is doing a good job.

But NE residents were also among the most critical on the question, "How do you rate the City of Portland's efforts to control misconduct by police officers?" Forty percent of North Portlanders and 43 percent of inner NE Portlanders felt good about the polices' efforts, while 22 and 23 percent, respectively, felt "bad" or "very bad" about police control of misconduct.

But overall, Portlanders 71 percent of Portlanders think the police are doing a good job—an eight percent increase over five years ago.

One of the most split results came from a question asking about how Portlanders feel about being able to influence city government's opinions. One-third said "good" or "very good" and another third said "bad" or "very bad." Though, uh, I should point out that between 60-70 percent of Portlanders didn't attend a single public meeting during the last year, so those are maybe more armchair-philosopher speculations than anything.

So what's going on here? People rated the police and the general livability of Portland higher than they EVER have during the last five years, despite the economic downturn, an investigation into James Chasse's death that took three years and the city having to slash its bureaus by 30 percent in some cases. Are people keeping a stiff upper lip in down times or is the city PR machine buzzing just better than usual?

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Comments (8) RSS

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1
It's important to note the criticism about what happened to James Chasse has been specifically at the three officers who hurt him, decisions made about them, and not police officers in general.
Posted by J Renaud on November 12, 2009 at 12:20 PM · Report
2
J Renaud,

I called that out because it's the first case I thought of when looking at the question about the city's efforts to control police misconduct.
Posted by s.mirk on November 12, 2009 at 12:29 PM · Report
3
It's the incongruity which tweaks folks about Chasse. Our police bureau is, overall, well-trained, well-managed, well-equipt, well-supervised. Congrats to them. For a city as relatively safe as Portland, the perception of safety is as almost important as safety itself.

Which is why I've spent the past three years calling for accountability. The PPB has tools but chose not to use them.
Posted by J Renaud on November 12, 2009 at 12:49 PM · Report
4
Having moved to Beaverton recently, and hopefully not permanently I can assure you the Police out here are nothing to write home about. Overall, I don't rate them very highly in light of the fact they appear more concerned with harassing latinos and anyone else with dark skin then actual crime prevention or combat. I don't rate the Portland Pd any higher than I did 5 years ago, but overall I give them a decent rating. J Renaud's point is valid. However I can think of many more incidents in the last 10-15 years that are equally bad cases of Police Misconduct or excessive use of force. This one is simply more recent
Posted by The Showstopper on November 12, 2009 at 12:53 PM · Report
5
There's another possibility, people could genuinely believe they are being well served by the city. I know, I know, weird!
Posted by The one guy, from band camp on November 12, 2009 at 1:31 PM · Report
6
You're an idiot if you think the Portland Police have a consistent record of doing things correctly. They have a consistent record of shooting people in the face without just cause, especially if they are black or mentally ill. If you've lived here longer than a minute then you've seen how many people have been wrongly maimed or murdered by the police. It is par for the course for them. Wake up and pull your head out, people.
Posted by iwouldprefernotto on November 12, 2009 at 2:59 PM · Report
7
In my middle school, they gave out awards to "most improved GPA from first semester to second." And the winner had gone up by 2.5 points. Of course, they don't go from a D+\C- average to a A, but from a F average to a C+\B- one.

I think that example applies here: The police used to be much worse, and now they've got into the semi-acceptable range. I know about 15 years ago they killed about 20 people including putting 7 bullets in a hostage, (they put 30 or so in the hostage taker, but he only had one hostage so it wasn't like they were doing anyone any favors there.) So yes, they have improved. That doesn't mean they are good enough, but they have improved and that is far better than the alternative...
Posted by Matthew D on November 12, 2009 at 5:09 PM · Report
8
Violent crime is down, response times are better in my neighborhood and 95% of PPB employees do a good job. The James Chasse case is about a few bad apples who should be in prison without public paid benefits.

I think when Portlanders are asked about PPB service I think they have positive reactions. I still am surprised more Portlanders aren't more concerned about police violence.
Posted by Dan Newth on November 12, 2009 at 8:04 PM · Report

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