Initiative petition to expand Portland police force ruled unconstitutional

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – An initiative petition from the Portland Police Association was ruled unconstitutional by a Multnomah County judge on Thursday after the ACLU of Oregon challenged the proposal.

Circuit Judge Katherine von Ter Stegge found that initiative petition PDX-24-OL-02 violated the Oregon Constitution because it is administrative and not legislative in nature, according to court documents.

The initiative petition would have amended the city charter to increase police patrol officers, detoxification centers, and street response services.

The ballot text, cited in court documents, said if the measure were approved, the City Council would be required to increase and maintain the number of sworn police officers in patrol services and create and maintain 24-hour drug and alcohol detox drop-off and treatment centers.

Additionally, the council would be required to increase and maintain street response services -- including social workers working with police and fire personnel to connect people to services -- and would also be required to issue an annual report.

The ACLU of Oregon argued the initiative petition violated the Oregon Constitution on two grounds.

First, the ACLU argued the initiative violated a requirement for initiatives to be "truly legislative in nature, rather than administrative," according to court documents.

Second, the ACLU argued the initiative violated the Constitution's single-subject requirement.

“This initiative clearly seeks to increase the size of the PPB patrol division within the existing administrative framework for officer allocation and the transfer of individual officers from other divisions into patrol. For this reason, the Court finds that the Initiative proposes an impermissible administrative change in the consideration about how and whether to transfer PPB officers from other positions into the patrol division,” the ruling said.

Regarding the single subject provision, the ruling stated, “because this Court determined that the Initiative is impermissibly administrative and cannot appear as drafted on the ballot, there is no need to reach the single subject analysis.”

Now, the initiative, as written, will not appear on the November ballot, according to court documents.

In a statement, PPA President Sgt. Aaron Schmautz said “Our goal with the measure was to give Portlanders a voice in the future of their City: more police, more street response, more detox centers. We are dismayed that a single court has blocked the opportunity for all voters to have a say in their own City’s affairs. We will continue to engage with Portlanders in every way we can to improve public safety for all.”

Kelly Simon, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon, told KOIN 6 News, “The law applies equally to everyone, including the Portland Police Union. As the court found, the initiative petition’s attempt to dictate an increase in police cannot move forward because it was not a proper legislative act under the Oregon Constitution.”

ACLU Oregon Executive Director Sandy Chung added, “The Portland Police Union’s initiative did not propose real solutions to issues like homelessness, drug addiction, and mental health. These are top-of-mind issues for Portlanders, but arresting and jailing people do not solve them. If the police union’s petition were permitted to go to the voters, we would have risked taking our limited tax dollars away from real solutions that do not involve police.”