The department says the 48 percent jump does not necessarily reflect growing public dissatisfaction
Complaints about Portland police rose 48 percent in
2003, with rude behavior, false charges and harassment topping the list
of the most common allegations against officers, according to an
oversight group's report to be released today. But the Internal Police
Review Division's second annual report cautioned that the jump in
citizen complaints doesn't necessarily reflect growing dissatisfaction
with the Police Bureau. Director Richard Rosenthal said the increase
probably is the result of more people knowing about in the
21/2-year-old division, which serves as an intake center for complaints
against police. Another theory is that the public's attitudes toward
police have returned to where they were before the 9/11 terrorist
attacks. "That's a trend in other cities," Rosenthal said. "Complaints
have returned to the prior levels." The division's 164-page report
shows 761 complaints, compared with 513 in 2002. [more ]
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