Following is an article by Paul Richmond of the Portlandia newspaper and formerly of the Portland Free Press: Paul Richmond PO 454, PDX, 97207 (503) 321-5034 THE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN COMMUNITY BASED POLICING A special report by Paul Richmond The term "Community Policing" is one presently being hailed by voices ranging from local Portland activists to "The Nation" magazine as something which will wonderfully transform the police department from a source of terror to the disenfranchised to a positive force empowering communities. A number of sincere and honest people have become involved in what they perceive to be an effort to increase positive contact between the law enforcement community and the civilian sector of the population. The unfortunate truth about community policing as it is currently being implemented is that it is anything but community based. The current drive towards community policing is based on a federal level. It has as its objective, the increased militarization of the police force. This will be achieved through the increased militarization of local units combined with the integration of local agencies with more powerful federal ones. The new integrated agencies will utilize memoranda of understanding to operate across previously established jurisdictional boundaries. The local agencies will utilize the communities to be the eyes and ears of this new integrated task force. Many hail the Clinton administration for its 'progressive' politics. The recent spate of federal crime bills sponsored by this administration should give serious pause to those with this perception. Currently working their way through both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives these pending laws illustrate the federal government's intent to orchestrate local policing activities. Here's a brief sample: -The Attorney General will be authorized to provide "technical assistance" in the development of a "flexible model" of community policing definitions and strategies. In other words, local designs will evolve out of this federally dominated model (HR 4092, Section 2001 (e) (2.) -The implementation of this model includes the "establishment and operation of training centers . . . for police executives, managers, trainers and supervisors concerning community or problem oriented policing . . ." Again, management and training will be derived at a federal level. -Also introduced under the title Community Policing (Part Q, Section 1701 (c) [page 23] of HR 3355) is the "Troops to Cops" section. It allows the Attorney General to issue grants so that smaller municipalities may hire military personnel to become blue uniformed soldiers in our streets. One surprising proponent of the troops to cops measure is Representative Elizabeth Furse, late of the Oregon Peace Institute. In a recent letter to her constituency, Furse describes how she's working to eliminate the red tape which prevents troops from quickly becoming cops. When asked at a recent public meeting (March 29, 1994) why she, who nominally opposed militarism, was setting this force loose in her own adopted country, the South African born Congresswoman simply replied that she was a supporter of community policing. Section 1705 (c) [page 33] of HR 3355 allows state and local municipalities to finance those elements of "community policing" not paid for by the Attorney General through a "Assets Forfeiture Equitable Sharing Program." Assets forfeiture means property taken from citizens under the increasingly lax and unconstitutional laws, such as drug, insurance, and nuisance ordinances. In other words the police can now confiscate your property and use the money to finance additional police. Other examples are more ominous. Title X, Subtitle C, SEC 1031 3 (b) of HR 4092 allows The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development with The Attorney General's blessing to make grants to owners of housing in 'high crime areas' to 'provide dwelling units to law enforcement officers without charge or at substantially reduced rates.' This is interesting in light of the fact that The Third Amendment to the United States Constitution protects against quartering of troops in ones home. More so, since no aspect of 'community policing' being talked about amongst our elected and appointed officials involves allowing members of the communities being policed to either select or remove the externally appointed law enforcement officers in their community. A recent editorial in "The Oregonian" (May 2, 1994) encouraged the Portland City Council to join the Portland Police Bureau in adopting this same program. The Oregonian's stance is understandable when one remembers that its publisher Fred Stickel was one of the two chairs of Public Safety 2,000. PS 2,000 was the group run out of the Portland Chamber of Commerce's Citizen's Crime Commission which set up a blue print for consolidation of law enforcement in Multnomah County. Further evidence of the national scope of federally dominated, locally enacted 'community policing' is found on page 246 of HR 4092, (Title XIV, Part T SEC. 2001 (b) (2).) This section provides funding for "deployment in community-oriented policing across the Nation." Perhaps most telling is the title of an accompanying Senate Bill, S-1581. It's short title reads: "To establish a Federal Rapid Deployment Force made up of Federal law enforcement personnel that States and localities could call upon for temporary assistance in battling violent crime caused by or exacerbated by the interstate flow of drugs, guns and criminals; to provide increased support for Federal-State anti-drug and anti-violence task forces..." Placed under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General's office, this proposed force will consist of 2,500 Federal law enforcement officers with training and experience in "community action to prevent crime (SEC 101(c)(B).)" They will be utilized in 'violent crime and drug emergency areas.' These are zones where limited martial law will exist. They are nominally authorized by the president. And how does the deployment of local forces fit in with this? An excellent guide is the February '94 study by the Office of the Portland City Auditor. While there has been a much publicized addition of 143 officers to the PPB in the last four and a half years, only a small fraction of those added are actual precinct patrol officers. Forty one to be precise. The precinct patrol force has 'grown' from 440 in June '89 to 481 in January of '94. At the same time the population of Portland has risen from 437,319 to 493,825. When one realizes that these 41 officers must serve an additional 55,000 residents, it becomes apparent that the ratio of precinct patrol officers to citizens has actually dropped. Moreover, the number of calls handled by patrol officers has dropped from 625 in 1988 to 457 in 1993. This isn't because there are more officers out patroling. An increasing number of calls for service are being handled by an expanded Telephone Response Unit (TRU.) Using a tactic criticized by most advocates of genuine community based policing, TRU handles all calls by phone, with no officer follow up. The amount of calls handled by TRU has risen dramatically from 43,594 in 1987 to 97,034 in 1993. That's an increase of 123%. If there are now more calls handled by telephone and less patrol officers, where have the extra officers gone? Interestingly that branch of the PPB which has seen the most growth has been Tactical Operations. This comprises the traditional 'no knock' units such as Gangs and SERT (SWAT.) This branch has risen from 2 officers in June of 1989 to 56 officers in January of 1994. That's a whopping increase of 2,800%! And it's been done under the name of 'Community Policing.' There are additional indications of the increased role of intelligence gathering in the PPB. Each of the precincts now has a Neighborhood Response Team (NRT) and a Precinct Detective Unit (PDU.) The former 'do not respond to calls for service, but work exclusively on solving neighborhood crime problems.' One example of this NRT based 'problem solving' was last years raid on SE 104th and Liebe Street. It involved the National Guard, a light armored vehicle, a helicopter, the PPB SERT and Oregon State SWAT teams. During the raid, several homes were entered. Citizens were fired upon and one bystander was shot. Initial police reports indicate all that was found was a single marijuana cigarette. Coordinating the Detective Units will again be Captain Greg Clark. In addition to having coordinated both Community Policing and Tactical Operations in the PPB, Clark had also previously coordinated the activities of the Criminal Intelligence Division (CID) in 1986. CID is the unit implicated in the recent ADL involved scandal of illegally gathering information on political activists and trading it with private organizations as well as foreign governments. (See Sidebar/Footnote.) Why has the PPB shifted from a patrol oriented department to one with increased emphasis on paramilitary tactics and information gathering? Where did these recommendations first come from? Many came from a 1990 study conducted for the Citizens Crime Commission by the Institute for Law and Justice (ILJ). The ILJ is a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, governed by the Attorney General's Office. This is the same office referred to in the Clinton sponsored crime bills as coordinating the development of 'Community Based Policing.'. Accentuating this trend is this fact: The last two members of the Portland Police Bureau who were Lieutenants in charge of The Department of Community Policing were Mark Parisi and Greg Clark. Both moved directly to being Captains in charge of Tactical Operations. It is a move reminiscent of the Peace Corps being used to supply information on native populations to the C.I.A. In this case, information is made available to the local police force so that it may be used by it's paramilitary associates. How the actual increased interagency 'deployment' termed 'community based policing' will be achieved locally can be found in The PPB's "Community Policing Strategic Plan." This was passed unanimously by the Portland City Council on April 6, 1994 as they were cheered on by a group of selectively invited citizens. The plan will: -Increase interaction with state and federal agencies. This unspecified list of agencies includes: -The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF.) This is the same out of control agency implicated in the slaughter of nearly a hundred civilians in the April 19, 1993 inferno at Waco Texas. BATF is notorious for its history of ignoring high risk offenders in favor of high profile convictions created through entrapment. Programs in which the BATF are involved with the PPB include GREAT, a kind of DARE program for elementary school students. It is presumed to encourage kids to turn in each other, their neighbors and their families. Those involved in the program refuse or are unable to make the actual curriculum available to the public. Reasons of copyright are cited. There is also something called Achilles which PPB spokesperson Lt. C.W. Jensen claims to be entirely ignorant of, but which the Portland City Council has paid funds towards. BATF spokespeople claim this program will target repeat offenders. -The National Guard. With the supposed downsizing of the military under President Carter came a parallel increase in the size of National Guard units. These units have subsequently taken part in military actions in Panama, Iraq, and Central America. In staged competitions, the guard units now frequently out perform those of the regular military. While the Posse Comitatus Act officially prevents the U.S. military from being used against U.S. civilians, the official status of the guard as a 'state militia' nominally under the control of the state's governor allows a loophole. The Guard may be brought in under pretexts such as drug interdiction. This is why they are currently used against populations in locales like Northern California and Southern Oregon. The names include 'Ghostdancer' and 'Camp.' The pretext is eliminating pot. The result is confiscating huge amounts of property, terrifying many innocent people and ultimately driving people out of rural areas. The guard was also involved in the aforementioned raid last year on SE 104th and Liebe Street. Indicating the existence of a possible financial motive behind this action, houses on this street are now reportedly being purchased by a single real estate developer. -The Federal Bureau of Investigation. This agency has a long and notorious history of spying on United States Civilians. Local examples include, former Special Agent in Charge of the Portland Office, Danny Coulson. Coulson was implicated as being behind illegal raids on CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador in the 1980's. Coulson's replacement, Robin Montgomery was named in the movie "Incident at Oglala" as one of the principle investigators responsible for the jailing of Native American activist Leonard Peltier. Ironically, Montgomery is also named in court documents by attorney Gerry Spence as having played a key role in the raid of white separatist Randy Weaver in Ruby Mountain Idaho. The F.B.I. is currently active with the PPB and other agencies in the highly publicized 'Old Town Drug Sweeps.' Perhaps predictably, these sweeps are serving to 'clean out' an area due for development. One of the principal holders of property in 'Old Town' is Bill Naito, the self proclaimed 'unofficial mayor of Portland.' Naito is noted to have donated free office space to the 1992 mayoral campaigns of both Earl Blumenauer and Vera Katz. -The newly formed Federal Protection Service. Like the BATF the FPS too are an outgrowth of the Department of Treasury. They have recently acquired access to the Portland Police Bureau data system. -Also presumably incorporated in this partnership will be the newly formed interagency task force of S-1581. -The Community Policing Strategic Plan will also give the PPB their own air force, (Bureau Chief Moose is a Captain in the Air National Guard.) -The Community Policing Strategic Plan boasts that it will make use of many newly passed ordinances to expand community policing. These include the drug house ordinance, nuisance ordinance, community caretaking ordinance, drug free zones and tow ordinances. The drug house ordinance allows a person to be removed from their residence based upon anonymous complaints, or the discretion of the commanding officer of the precinct. The complaints may also come from another officer. Or they may come from a 'Confidential Reliable Informant' (CRI.) A CRI is frequently someone granted immunity on their own crime if they provide other names. The veracity of such a source is questionable at best. Nonetheless, once action begins, lives are impacted sometimes irreversibly. Property is often seized. The nuisance ordinance allows a business to be closed based upon anonymous complaints. The procedure is similar to that of suspected drug houses. Asset forfeiture may follow. The community caretaking ordinance allows police to arrest anyone they feel is a danger to the community, (this was utilized April 14, 1992, during the last visit of Barbara Bush, to arrest anyone in arms reach.) In essence, this is a limited case of martial law. Charges in these cases are classed as violations to guarantee that they are heard by a judge, not a jury. The drug free zones allow police to bar people from an area based upon suspicion of an 'imitation of a controlled substance.' Not surprisingly, enforcement of this ordinance is being applied most frequently in areas due for development. Poorer residents in these areas are the ones most targeted. Due process is thrown to the winds. Much of the real estate development in these areas currently targeted as drug free zones is planned by the Naito family. The towing ordinances allow police to seize property without due process. Again, asset forfeiture, which may in its turn, pay for more property confiscating cops. As many are forced by economic neccesity to live in their cars, you have an ordinance which violates the protections of search and seizure guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. The combined effect of these laws is to set up a self funding band of armed robbers who exist outside of the law. Where the cleansing of Bosnia's population is ethnicly based, Portland's is economic. A few locally based financial figures may help the reader to appreciate the scale of this. The City of Portland has a predicted general fund expenditure of $248,112.009 for the coming fiscal year. Of this $152.9 million, or 61.6% has been specifically designated towards 'public safety.' This would make local expenditures towards public safety proportionate to the percentage of federal funds designated by our government toward the military. $89.6 million or 36.1 % of this general fund will be designated specifically to the Portland Police Bureau in the coming year. And while the Portland Police Bureau has taken the mantle as the agency championing 'Community Policing' the one success story bandied about by local advocates, the Columbia Villa project, was the work of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's achieved this through use of three times their normal patrolling staff. This is something even the most enthusiastic advocates recognize as impractical on a prolonged basis. As the Sheriff's Office has recently had their patrol staff gutted, one wonders what it is which is being promoted as 'Community Policing.' Indeed, a recurring theme of the report by the Public Safety 2,000 Committee was: "The police agencies need to develop some commonly understood definitions of community policing and be able to coherently communicate them to the public." In other words no functional definition of the term actually exists. This comes from a group which not only supports 'community policing,' but has also established much of the local plan. A truthful examination of 'Community Policing,' is based on the discrepancy between rhetoric and reality. The outward appearance of community policing is one of beneficence. The laws which have been enacted under its rubric have titles showing protection of the weakest elements in our society. "Hate crimes sentencing enhancement." "Child sexual abuse prevention act." "Safe homes for women." They sound like something only Scrooge could say no to. In fact, these laws are tools to give the government more control over our personal lives. They are a blueprint for running on the current domestic population the same program run on the rest of the third world. Their intent is to effect isolation of the individual and dissolution of their culture. Once effected, the only culture remaining will be that of the multinational corporate state. Community Policing, as it is being promoted, will turn everyone into eyes and ears for the cops. It will empower children to turn in their parents, while parents are encouraged to turn in their children and teachers are encouraged to turn in both. Landlords will watch their tenants. Neighbors will watch neighbors. Domestic partners will be able to jail each other with a phone call. At the same time, Community Policing will utilize increased use of interagency forces. The eyes and ears provided by the local elements will connect directly to the neurological apparatus of the state and federal governments. It is a neat cycle. The 'drug' and 'gang' laws are so loosely written that nearly anyone can be a criminal. Once in jail you can be run through boot camp and turned into a military attack slave. Under the troops to cops program you can even be turned loose domestically against your own people. It's a pattern which has been used by our government for a long time. It was used to form the government sanctioned 'goon squads' at Wounded Knee; the half breed elements used by the whites to intimidate and murder the Traditionals of the Oglala Sioux Nation. It was used to form the death squads of El Salvador, the Contra's of Nicaragua. All were groups of vicious executioners culled almost exclusively from outcast elements of the native populations. For that matter, it was even a pattern we learned from our bastard parents, the British. Much of the ranks of the infamous Red Coats came not from England, but the dregs of American Colonial society. Recruiters had a number of tricks. Frequenting the worst bars. Going to the prisons. Capturing colonial sailors or travelers and pressing them into service. The frequent intention was to pick out the most violent, destructive element of the local population and turn them into an armed occupying force. It's a very old pattern. (Presently, there's a real neat correspondence between the age when one is most likely to exhibit homicidal behaviors and the age at which our police recruit. Given history's examples, one can only speculate as to how much of this is coincidence.) The end result is merely to make all of us wards of the state; transportable if we occupy land or resources that they want; disposable cannon fodder if they want us for a war. Those unfit for military service will be used as unpaid prison labor. This will allow 'free enterprise' a labor pool with wages competitive to the rest of the third world. And of course, much of what they produce will be geared towards military/policing. In this way, then we can truly become, as George Bush prophesied, "The Policemen of The Free World." A final, chilling perspective, on 'Community Based Policing,' comes from one of its foremost pioneers. Former Multnomah County Sheriff, Houston Police Chief and New York Police Commissioner Lee P. Brown assembled a history of Community Policing for the U.S. Department of Justice in 1989. Brown claims the need for Community Policing arose when shortcomings were noted in existing techniques. The specific shortcomings noted by Brown, "came into sharp focus by the middle 1960's and early 1970's when riots and protests exploded with rampant regularity across America." Brown concludes: "questions were raised about the apparent inability of police to prevent-or at least control such outbreaks." In other words, according to Brown, the philosophy evolved specificly as a need to deal more effectively with protest and civil unrest. This is what makes the unqualified support given to these tactics by many professed activists so alarming. These methods are designed as means of controling protest. Meanwhile, a major proponent of this philosophy, former PPB Chief Tom Potter has been given awards and embraced for his integrity by some who claim to be on the side of civil rights. Worse, this came in a year when the PPB had the third highest per capita kill rate of citizens by police in the country. When critics of former PPB Chief Potter are labeled 'homophobic,' and critics of his successor, Charles Moose are labeled 'racist,' something is very seriously askew. If the alleged progressive community of Portland is to be anything more than a social circle and/or a fashion statement, this issue, of embracing a gentler philosphy of control, must be honestly addressed. It will be noted, that as of this writing, many of the federal laws are still pending. Most of the Federal Crime Bills have passed both House and Senate, but await consolidation for final passage. It is important that those concerned let those in government know that they are being watched, so that we may prevent complete passage of these laws and birthings of other similar ones. SIDEBAR: PPB, ADL ALPHABET SCRABBLE SOUP A recent scandal which made national news involved the PPB. It has been alleged that files were being gathered on private citizens by law enforcement officials. These files were allegedly traded with foreign governments such as Israel and South Africa, as well as private organizations including members of the facts finding division of the Anti Defamation League of B'Nai B'Rith. The individuals named in the files had all benn engaged in Constitutionally protected political activity. Approximately 40% of the materials named in the warrant on this case are alleged to have come from the files of the PPB. For those with a memory for trivia, the involvement of the PPB first surfaced in a front page article of The San Francisco Examiner dated March 9, 1993. March 10, 1993 was when then PPB Chief Tom Potter announced his resignation. Potter had just returned from a three day trip to F.B.I. national headquarters in Quantico Virginia with Special Agent in charge of Portland, Robin Montgomery and Black United Front leader, Richard Brown. The source of this information is a statement given by Montgomery at Potter's farewell ceremony. Brown is perhaps best known to activists in his role as Chair of the Black United Front. He also was a member of Public Safety 2,000, the PPB Chief's Forum, and Transition Leader of Public Safety for Mayor Vera Katz. An open advocate of placing tanks in front of 'drug houses' and utilizing the National Guard in Northeast Portland, Brown went on to participate in all stages of picking Potter's successor, Charles Moose. Noticeable in the March 9, San Francisco Examiner article were the series of denials from then head of the PPB Detectives, Dan Noelle. Noelle is currently an assistant chief. He also sits on the board of directors of the Northwest Coalition for Malicious Harassment. The latter serves as an information pool for organizations nominally engaged in anti racist activity, such as Portland's Coalition for Human Dignity. Also notable was that Potter was subsequently honored in a banquet by the ADL, before leaving his office. Together, these factors combine to form elements of a most unpleasant picture. R 4092: SIDEBAR-THE JUDGE IS ON THE WAY Many have criticized the new crop of federal crime bills as being largely symbolic in that presumably the court apparatus will be unequiped to deal with the increased flow of incoming felons. Unfortunately for those naive fools amongst us who still value our civil liberties, these bills are chock full of studies which will deal with this very problem. In the long term, those who truly own the government will be able to very efficiently lock up or execute, whoever they want to. Title X pages 110-233 of HR 4092 sets aside grants for studies of sentencing for nearly every conceivable portion of the population. Further indicative of this move to more effectively control the civilian population, are the statistics in the new Harper's Index. These show approximately 3/4 of all existing prison space in this country to have been created in the last ten years. HR 4092 SIDEBAR - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAWS EMPOWER THE STATE Title XVI, of HR 4092, Violence against Women runs from page 269-351, a grand total of seventy-two pages. Though their outward appearance is protection of women they are written to increase the power of the state over all participants in the most minor domestic dispute. -Page 309 encourages arrest policies (SEC 1623) and provides grants for the same (SEC 1901.) The pretext used is loosely defined 'domestic violence.' -It makes judicious use of the stalking laws which are recognized as vague and unconstitutional, but are still used to pursue those who cannot prepare an adequate defense to prove this. Pages 324-6 (SEC 1644) will create a task force of appointed officials to evaluate existing state and federal laws regarding domestic violence. One of their many tasks will be "assessing the problem of stalking and persistent menacing and recommending an effective Federal response to the problem." -Page 281 (SEC 1604) entitled 'filing costs for criminal charges,' makes free use of the terms 'abused,' and 'committed,' without use of the word 'alleged,' indicating that ones relative guilt or innocence can be determined merely by charges having been pressed. Title V SEC 501, (2)(A) page 25-6 gives one of the definitions of rape as placing 'another person in fear of sexual assault.' This is listed as one of the 'crimes' for which one will qualify for mandatory life imprisonment.