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PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — On Tuesday, Portland voters approved a new measure that will create a new, independent community police oversight board.
According to the Oregon Secretary of State’s website, more than 80 percent of the votes are in favor of Measure 26-217.
Supporters have called it the “Yes for Real Police Accountability” measure.
Measure 26-217 gets rid of the current Independent Police Review Board and replaces it with a new oversight committee that can discipline and even fire police officers. It would also have a budget of its own that is up to five percent of the total police budget.
City Commissioners Jo Ann Hardesty pushed to get the measure on the ballot. She says it’s the sort of police oversight that she’s been fighting for, for more than 30 years, but now there’s a level of support she’s never seen before.
“I think the public is at a space where if people keep dying when we call people for help, then we’re sending the wrong first responders and I think people are really starting to see. I think the protests that have been happening since May also have reinforced in people’s mind that the police really don’t feel like they work for us. They feel like they’re the boss of us and this is a way to rethink about policing, what role they play and to hold them accountable for community standards,” Hardesty said.
The measure has been opposed by former Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner since being introduced. He told FOX 12 in July that an oversight system is already in place.
The Portland Police Association also says the measure violates the law in several ways and adds that it was created without the input of any meaningful stakeholders.
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