PORTLAND, Ore. – On Thursday, January 12, 2017, the City of Portland was featured in a report released by the Justice Department highlighting Former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch’s twelve-city Community Policing Tour in 2016 as well as the department’s four Regional Justice Forums. The “Attorney General’s Community Policing Report” summarizes steps taken by the department to build stronger relationships and mutual trust among communities and law enforcement agencies.
“This document is not meant to be a comprehensive, step-by-step guide, but, rather, a useful blueprint—a window into what citizens across the nation are doing to build stronger bonds between police and the people they serve,” said Former Attorney General Lynch. “I hope that this report will help inspire ideas and foster cooperation in communities from coast to coast—so that, together, we can continue our work toward a stronger, a safer, and a more united nation.”
“We were honored to have Former Attorney General Lynch visit Portland so we could share with her and with the rest of the country, the extraordinary work members of the Portland Police Bureau perform every day,” said Billy J. Williams, United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. “Often, these daily efforts go unrecognized and we need to change that. Police officers are the face of justice in our community,” continued U.S. Attorney Williams, “and one of our highest callings in the U.S. Attorney’s Office is to promote and strengthen trust in our community for law enforcement and for the justice system.”
During the Community Policing Tour, Former Attorney General Lynch visited 12 jurisdictions in two phases. Phase I focused on jurisdictions that had addressed difficult histories of mistrust between communities and law enforcement through strong collaboration and innovation. During this phase, the Former Attorney General traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio; Birmingham, Alabama; East Haven, Connecticut; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and Richmond, California. Phase II highlighted cities that had made outstanding progress implementing the six key pillars identified in the Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. During this phase, the Former Attorney General visited Miami/Doral, Florida; Portland, Oregon ; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fayetteville, North Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona; and Los Angeles, California, with each site focusing on one of the report’s pillars.
In the wake of the horrific tragedies of the summer of 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Dallas, Texas; and St. Paul, Minnesota, the Former Attorney General and current Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates convened a series of Regional Justice Forums with members of the local law enforcement, youth, faith, non-profit and civil rights communities. These meetings were designed to help local stakeholders critically examine community policing issues in their respective cities and regions and to seek concrete solutions together. The Former Attorney General convened Justice Forums in Detroit, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey. The Acting Attorney General hosted forums in Denver, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia.
This report chronicling the community policing work of the Department of Justice highlights innovative local approaches to policing that help foster stronger ties between officers and the people they are sworn to serve and protect. The document is meant to serve as a tool for communities and law enforcement agencies seeking to deepen their own commitment to community policing principles and practices.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon is committed to supporting communities throughout the state as they work to build strong relationships between law enforcement agencies and the citizens they serve. A recent example was an event called Building Bridges of Understanding in our Communities co-hosted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Muslim Educational Trust (MET). Please visit https://youtu.be/Y9tudt8vUKE to view a short video of this event. To learn more about the District of Oregon’s community outreach efforts, please contact Suzanne Hayden, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, at Suzanne.Hayden@usdoj.gov.