US v. City of Portland - Compliance Assessment Report

The United States has prepared the enclosed periodic compliance status assessment report (hereinafter, ‘Report’) in preparation for our September 14, 2015 meeting with the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform (AMAC) regarding the City of Portland’s (the City) progress in implementing the parties’ Settlement Agreement,

see Collaborative Agreement 15, Dec. 30, 2013, ECF No. 55-1. This Report also serves as a platform to respond to the Court’s order to "describe to the Court the progress being made toward achieving substantial compliance with all provisions of the Settlement Agreement and any obstacles or impediments toward that end." Order, July 30, 2015, ECF No. 99. We will provide a copy of this Report to the Court, the AMAC, and the Compliance Officer/Community Liaison (COCL), and we anticipate presenting a copy to the Community Oversight Advisory Board (COAB) at its October meeting. We also plan to post it on our public DOJ website. In addition to the comprehensive assessment required pursuant to paragraph 175 of the Settlement Agreement, see ECF No. 4-1 175, the United States may provide additional periodic compliance status assessment reports and technical assistance as we monitor the City’s compliance with the Settlement Agreement, pursuant to paragraph 167.

For the attached Report, we reviewed extensive documentation, particularly PPB’s quarterly self-assessment reports from the First Quarter of 2014 through the present. Each quarterly self-report referred to documentation that PPB believes supports its own assessment of compliance. References to "folders" herein are to the City’s individually-numbered electronic folders corresponding to the paragraph(s) of the Settlement Agreement that the documentation reportedly supports. This Report considers the information provided by the City as of August 28, 2015, up to and including the Quarterly Report for the Second Quarter of 2015 and supporting documentation. In addition to document review, we also consulted with our two expert consultants, conducted interviews of City employees, and made personal observations at City-sponsored meetings (such as the Community and Police Relations Council, Citizens Review Committee, Community Oversight and Advisory Board, Behavioral Health Unit Advisory Committee, and the Training Advisory Council).

As the City is aware, the Effective Date of the Settlement Agreement is August 29, 2014. During this past year, however, the DOJ and City have engaged in additional settlement negotiations regarding the City’s appeal of the Court’s order entering the Settlement Agreement, which was finally resolved on July 30, 2015, when the Court entered an amended Order. To the extent that we have not yet been able to engage in a full assessment of implementation of any particular area of the Settlement Agreement, we have so noted in our analysis.

This Report uses the following color-coded compliance status levels to indicate our current assessment of PPB’s progress in complying with each provision of the Settlement Agreement:

Blue: compliance rating pending or not measured. This level indicates that either the specific provision does not have a specific measurement to assess, or that the DOJ has not yet been able to fully assess compliance, either due to insufficient documentation provided for assessment, or because DOJ must complete additional analysis/observation of how the specific provision is being implemented.

Green: substantial compliance with an ongoing obligation. This level indicates that the City has implemented the specific provision as required by the Settlement Agreement, and that the City has an ongoing obligation to continue such action to remain in compliance.

Yellow: partial compliance with an ongoing obligation. This level indicates that while there has been progress made with implementation, specific areas need further attention in order to reach substantial compliance.

Red: non-compliance. This level indicates that we have recognized barriers to achieving implementation of the provision that must be addressed to achieve compliance.

The Parties have acknowledged that the systemic reforms required by the Settlement Agreement will take time to implement.

See, e.g., Settlement Agreement 178(a) (anticipating substantial compliance with all provisions by October 12, 2017). Our analysis and technical assistance provided with this Report is intended to both acknowledge the City’s accomplishments achieved thus far in the implementation of the Settlement Agreement and to advise the City on certain course corrections that will help achieve compliance.

As always, we appreciate the various City bureaus’ efforts and progress in implementing the terms of our Settlement Agreement and look forward to a continued cooperative relationship in achieving our mutual goal of sustained constitutional and effective policing in the City of Portland.

For a copy of the original cover letter as well as the full compliance report please see the attached .pdf document.

us_v._city_of_portland_-_compliance_assesment_report_and_cover_letter_-_september_10_2015.pdf (556.05 KB)