This month we spoke with the co-chairs of the Portland Police Accountability Commission's fact-finding phase. The PAC is a 20-member all-volunteer group that is tasked with creating the new police accountability system demanded by voters in 2020. The fact-finding phase involved Q & A sessions with a variety of stakeholders as well as research into best practices from across the country. The PAC has ongoing public meetings as they move into the community engagement and system-building phases of their work, including a community listening session on November 3. They aim to have the new police oversight system before the City Council for a vote in mid-2023.
We spoke with PAC Co-Chairs Faythe Aiken, Lovisa Lloyd and Seemab Hussaini for about an hour on Sunday, October 23, covering a variety of topics including their personal paths to this work; the PAC's timeline; the changing political climate around police accountability since 2020; values that drive PAC's work and outlook; lessons from other jurisdictions; among others.
This is the edited-for-air version of the interview, and you can find the full version here.
The virtual public comment form mentioned by Co-Chair Hussaini can be found here.
###
- KBOO