Firm Hired To Investigate Portland Police Culture

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Portland, Oregon, has hired a California consulting firm to investigate whether the culture of the city’s police force includes racial or political bias and to examine complaints that the agency is resistant to change.

The city hired the independent OIR Group after someone leaked police and dispatch reports that incorrectly identified a city councilwoman as the suspect in a hit-and-run accident.

Jo Ann Hardesty, who is the city’s first Black woman elected to City Council, has been a fierce advocate for police reform for years and has backed efforts to cut police funding amid racial injustice protests over George Floyd’s killing.