Portland protest organizers say mayor’s police reforms don’t go far enough

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    PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s action plan for police reform and reinvestment in communities of color was released Tuesday, coming after nearly two weeks of protests following the death of George Floyd.

Organizers with Rose City Justice, the group behind the protests that have been gathering at Revolution Hall, said the mayor’s changes are lackluster.

“When you come at us with three very minute changes and expect us to jump up in arms and be happy about it, it’s not anywhere close to what we want, what we’re asking for,” one of the organizers with Rose City Justice, Darren Golden, said.

Golden said Rose City Justice wants at least $50 million taken out of the police budget, a reallocation of marijuana tax revenue, and the defunding of the Special Emergency Response Team known as SERT.

They said the mayor’s plans so far are a fraction of their asks.

“I won’t say that he didn’t do anything for us but I really want to see the police defunded. Until that happens, we’re not really solving any problems, we’re just taking a few things out and the core of it is still there, it’s still rotten,” another organizer Devin Boss said.

As far as reinvesting in communities of color, organizers said that will take a lot of discussion.

“How do we fix systemic health issues, how do we fix health systems and food systems within the black community, how do we fix cycles of domestic violence or domestic abuse or sexual assault,” Golden said.

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