Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: APRIL 2016 17 CHUCK CANTERBURY & TERRENCE CUNNINGHAM OPINION/EDITORIAL O ur two organizations (IACP and FOP) have long been ded- icated to improving the pro- fession of law enforcement and the practice of policing the United States’ streets and neighborhoods. Our members serve the public because they have heard and answered the call of duty — a call that places the highest premium on the protection of human lives, even of those who seek to take the lives of others. Improving the profession does not and should not mean that officers abandon the oath they took when they promised to protect citizens. We cannot reasonably expect law enforcement officers to walk away from potentially dangerous situa- tions and individuals in the hope that those situations resolve themselves without further harm being done. Reasonable use of force in any given situation must be at the discretion of a fully sworn and trained officer. This is why we train our of- ficers for so many different scenarios. One of the tools an officer relies on the most is his or her judgment. Officers are not just taught how to shoot or how to restrain a violent suspect — they are trained to use their best judgment to re- solve any given situation and to do so with the safety of the public, the officer, and the suspect as their foremost objectives. Sound judgment, not their marksmanship or physi- cal skills, is the reason our officers have the tools and authorities they possess. At a traffic stop, in the dark alley, or during a call of shots fired, we are relying on the judgment of that officer. These brave men and women are thoroughly trained to respond appro- priately to a variety of dif- ferent situations, especially those in which the just and lawful application of force is necessary. That is why both of our organizations reject any call to require law enforcement agencies to unilaterally, and haphazardly, establish use-of-force guidelines that exceed the “objectively rea- sonable” standard set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court nearly 30 years ago (Graham v. Connor). It is clear that we must continue to place our trust in the hands of the law enforcement practitioners who protect our streets and neighborhoods. However, as part of our continuing efforts to further advance the profession, the FOP and the IACP will be convening a law enforce- ment leadership summit to examine use of force by law enforcement officers, discuss our differences with recent proposals, identify areas of consensus and, collectively, map out a path forward on use of force issues. Our organizations are committed to improving our profession and look forward to working together to do so. Chuck Canterbury is the na- tional president of the Fraternal Order of Police. Terrence Cun- ningham is the president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. T he city of Port- land, Oregon is in peril. Over 1000 bullets have indiscrimi- nately riddled our neigh- borhoods this year. Gang violence is up 65 percent, well exceeding the problem in past years. Property and person crimes continue to go un- solved. Our children are fac- ing unprecedented threats daily at school and at play. Our community deserves safe streets. We all deserve closure for crimes that tear at the fabric of our families. Portland rightly demands proactive, community engaged polic- ing. Yet we’re falling well short of these incredibly important goals because of one very basic reason: the Portland Police Bureau is catastrophically and danger- ously understaffed. Nothing is more funda- DARYL TURNER mental to city livability than public safety. Right now in Portland, our Police Bureau is over 700 officers short of national staffing bench- marks. Even as our City has con- tinued to grow, the number of police officers has dwin- dled. Officers are forced to do more with less and the community suffers. The expansion and revital- ization going on all around the City is fantastic. It’s good to see our City grow and thrive. But the Mayor and City Council have not allowed the Police Bureau to keep up with the pace. As a 24-year veteran po- lice officer and now Presi- dent of the Portland Police Association, it’s alarming to watch the numbers of officers and investigators dwindle without any real action by City Council to address the problem. Last spring Mayor Hales proudly announced there was an estimated $49 mil- lion surplus in the City’s general fund. He also called for a back- to-basics approach to city government. We agree. Public safety is one of those basic City services. By April of this year, over 90 sworn Portland police officers will be eligible to retire. So far, Mayor Hales and City Council have put for- ward a staffing plan that would bring on only 23 new officers. That’s far less than the hundreds of officers and investigators we need. We must do more to ensure there are enough officers to proactively patrol the neigh- borhoods they serve, engage the community, and meet our community’s public safety priorities. Daryl Turner is president of the Portland Police Association. He can be reached via email at daryl@ppavigil.org. Providing quality service means more hiring Trust the officers, not the “reformers”