Reputation of police suffers in city

• Survey finds that more than a fifth of Portlanders have lost confidence in cops

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, May 4, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Portlanders have less confidence in the police than other Oregonians do, according to a new poll conducted for the Portland Tribune and KOIN (6) by Maryland-based Research 2000.

The survey asked residents statewide whether they have more or less confidence in their local police force than they did 10 years ago.

The survey found that 22 percent of Portlanders have less confidence now. That’s twice the statewide figure of 11 percent.

Only 8 percent of Portlanders have more confidence in the police than they did 10 years ago, compared with 17 percent of statewide residents, the survey found.

Just under half Ñ 49 percent Ñ of Portlanders said they have the same level of confidence in the police, compared to 56 percent of the statewide residents.

Chief Derrick Foxworth did not dispute the disparity, saying Monday that years of budget cuts have eroded community policing efforts.

“We’ve taken over $1.7 million in cuts since 1997. We’ve lost over 100 officer positions, over 60 nonsworn positions and we’ve had to close precincts overnight. All of that reduces the community’s opportunity to interact with the police,” Foxworth said.

And, he said, the public has lost faith in many institutions during the past 10 years.

“You ask people what they think about the Legislature, the schools and the media, and they’ll tell you the same thing,” he said.

Portland Police Association President Robert King blamed Mayor Vera Katz for the public’s loss of confidence.

“When you have the instability in leadership we’ve had over the past decade, a mayor that cuts the budget, all but eliminates training and ties the bureau’s hands on such things as dealing with protesters, it’s not surprising that confidence would be down,” King said.

However, Katz said she has a lot of confidence in the police bureau and in Foxworth, whom she appointed to replace former Chief Mark Kroeker last September.

“Unfortunately, there’s a focus in the media on the bad news Ñ if it bleeds, it leads Ñ and a lot of good news gets lost,” said Scott Farris, Katz’s press aide. “But we have the right person in charge of the police bureau to address the things that need to be done.”

Shooting may be influence

The survey did not ask people to explain their feelings about the police. But pollster Del Ali of Research 2000 believes the Portland results were influenced by the publicity surrounding the shooting of an unarmed black motorist. James Jahar Perez was killed by a white officer, Jason Sery, during a traffic stop March 28.

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