Dear Mayor Ted Wheeler, 

I'm emailing to urge you to take the pledge to enact the #8CantWait Use of Force policies. I live in Portland, OR in the Sellwood neighborhood and I believe our city would benefit from these policies. The #8CantWait policies are simple, common sense and would make our community safer. Portland, OR has five policies that are part of the #8CantWait pledge. Can you commit to enacting these additional policies listed below right now?

1) Ban Chokeholds and Strangleholds - Law enforcement officers should not use chokeholds, strangleholds, Lateral Vascular Neck Restraints, Carotid Restraints, chest compressions, or any other tactics that restrict oxygen or blood flow to the head or neck. In a Minneapolis case last month, officer Derek Chauvin used his knee to apply pressure to George Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. As Floyd lay on the ground, he pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” His words echoed the last pleas of Eric Garner, an unarmed man who was killed in 2014 when a New York police officer placed him in a chokehold. Both African-American men died as a result of police officer chokeholds or carotid restraints stopping their ability to breathe.

2) Exhaust All Alternatives Before Shooting - In the middle of the night on  March 13, 2020 Louisville police officers used a no-knock warrant to crash into the apartment of Breonna Taylor, an African-American emergency room technician who was sleeping. They fired several shots, striking her at least eight times. Had the police identified themselves and exhausted the skills and abilities that would've allowed them to resolve the confrontation without resorting to the higher levels of allowable force, Breonna would've lived to her 27th birthday this past week. 

3) Ban Shooting At Moving Vehicles - In 2018, a Texas jury sentenced a former police officer Roy Oliver to 15 years in prison for the shooting death of an unarmed 15-year-old African-American Jordan Edwards in a Dallas suburb. Officer Oliver fired into a car full of teens in 2017, saying he believed it was moving aggressively toward his partner. In 2019 two L.A. County sheriff's deputies fired 34 rounds killing Ryan Twyman, a 24-year-old African American and father of three, as he slowly drove his car in reverse Iin a parking lot. No gun was found in either Edwards' or Twyman's car.

Require Police Body Cameras - Police body camera footage plays a crucial role in convictions for the three policies mentioned. As incidents of police brutality make headlines nationwide, major police departments must implement use of body cameras to provide transparency and accountability. 

Mayor Wheeler, as a concerned citizen and mother of four children in Portland, I ask that you implement the three policies listed above in fulfillment of Portland's #8CantWait pledge and require police body cameras. The list of needless deaths at the hands of police is much longer than the few names provided above. Research shows more restrictive use of force policies can reduce killings by police and save lives. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Kristen Downs