Portland police review subcommittee debates scope, eligibility and process for new civilian oversight ordinance; approves annual report

The Portland Police Citizen Review Subcommittee on a two-hour meeting approved its annual report and spent the bulk of the session advising how the City Council should handle an ordinance to implement the charter amendment creating a Civilian Police Review Board.

The subcommittee unanimously approved the annual report (motion moved by Javier) and then focused on six topic areas committee members said should guide their letter to the council: eligibility criteria for board members, the board’s scope, how the board would receive complaints, the appeals process, staff and technical resources, and budget/funding.

The committee chair, Joey Bridal, vice chair, opened the item by describing the meeting as a “special agenda” and asked members to weigh in on the six buckets compiled from members’ prior comments. Bridal said the goal was to “get a sense of what the committee would like to write a letter about” and have a draft returned by a smaller writing team after the discussion.

Why it matters: The city’s charter amendment requires the council to adopt an ordinance spelling out details the charter leaves open; subcommittee members said their guidance could influence whether the ordinance is refined in public workshops, referred to a council committee for deeper review, or sent directly to full council for a vote. The council has scheduled a public workshop on the draft ordinance for July 28.

Scope and authority. Members agreed the ordinance should preserve the board’s ability to examine due-process issues…