Statement issued Aug. 26 by Chair Deborah Kafoury:
I do not condone the violence, the vandalism or the destruction that has been occurring these last 90 days. If it’s one thing we’ve learned, fighting violence with violence does not work. After hundreds of years of racial injustice in our country, our state and our city, I believe the public wants to see real transformation of the public safety system. That means changes at the legislature like eliminating cash bail, it means increased police accountability, changes to District Attorney charging decisions, ensuring procedural fairness in the Courts, and continuing reform in community corrections.
In the short term, and as part of the effort to address the violence, the District Attorney has committed to prosecuting individuals whose actions cross the line of peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights. I support that. We can’t arrest our way out of this. Heavy-handed police tactics and an increasing the level of violence are making the situation worse.
At the same time, I’ve met with the leaders of Reimagine Oregon regularly for the past two months as well as other community groups dedicated to ending systemic racism. And I’ve also been meeting with the Mayor, the Sheriff, District Attorney, Department of Community Justice and Judges. It’s critical for all of us to remain focused on the long-term work needed to transform the outdated and systemically racist institutions that make up the public safety system.
I think it’s also important for those engaging in the nightly protests to know that work is underway across our community to do that. In our most recent budget, we invested in jail diversion programs, initiatives that repair the harm experienced by people involved with the criminal justice system, and in supports for people returning to the community. Multnomah County is actively listening to communities affected by historical injustices and doing the work to create a new model of public safety that invests upstream, dismantles racial and ethnic disparities, and redefines what it means to be a safe community.