letter regarding Forest Grove Police Department violations of community trust

sent via email

November 23, 2020

To: the City Council members of Forest Grove, Oregon

In the early morning hours of October 31, 2020, a family living in Forest Grove was terrorized in their home by an off-duty Forest Grove police officer, Steven Teets. Later that day, that same officer returned to the family's home, terrorizing the family again without even having to raise his voice this time - he said he was there to apologize but the family was extremely alarmed by his return, as though he was there to remind them that he knows where they live.

On top of this outrage, the Forest Grove police officer that responded to the family’s emergency call didn’t say that police had anyone in custody, instead asking if the family would be able to recognize the person. And Forest Grove police don’t have body camera video of Teets' police escort home because the Forest Grove police officer who picked him up and gave him a ride home didn't record the encounter.

Violation after violation after violation. Not missteps, not mistakes and not training issues. These were willful violations by more than one Forest Grove police officer that undermine any trust in the police.

The Forest Grove police department has a systemic problem, and these series of incidents are just the ones that have made the news.

Forest Grove had a police chief through 2019 who was trying to reform this department, trying to weed out the chronic people and problems, trying to institute standards of quality and respect, trying to build bridges with a diversity of community members - and in return for her work, she was harassed and the city forced her to resign. Because, just like the police officers on October 31, what was most important was closing ranks, not addressing problems, not doing what was difficult but necessary.

It's going to take more than firing Steven Teets to restore faith in the Forest Grove police department. It's going to take more than a memo or two from anyone, no matter who they are, assuring residents of Forest Grove that there's "concern" or that "action is being taken." It's going to take more than one or two community meetings. The Forest Grove police department must be substantially reimagined and reformed.

The kind of change that's needed comes from bold requirements of the people working in the Forest Grove police department, over months and years, such as:

• Officers must be reminded regularly, through training, through actions by senior leadership and by all communications internal and external, that they are public servants, that they serve this community, and that absolutely anyone living in this community, regardless of the language they speak, regardless of their immigration status, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of how many years they may have been in Oregon, are MEMBERS of this community that police serve. The steps taken to establish and reinforce this culture must be reported to the public each year. 
• Officers must go through yearly, meaningful, substantial anti-bias training, and this training, including who leads it, how many hours it took and sample materials, must be made available to the public each year.
• There must be a no-tolerance policy for police officers engaging in threats or violence of civilians, including while off-duty.
• All officers who are not already bilingual in English and another language relatively common to this area should be REQUIRED to take classes to learn the basics of a second language. Spanish would be most practical, but Thai, Vietnamese or Arabic would also be acceptable. Results of this training should be reported to the public each year. 
• There must be a ban on any participation by Forest Grove police officers to attend "warrior" trainings, such as those by Dave Grossman, and there must be absolutely no funding whatsoever by the city of Forest Grove for such. There must also be trainings (ongoing, not just one) to undo and refute the principles espoused in these "warrior" trainings.  
• There must be better, more regular training regarding police interactions with people with mental health issues or struggling with homelessness or addiction, and this training must be reported to the public each year.
• There must be a ban on officers fired for misconduct from any police department anywhere or who left a department before they could be fired, from being hired in Forest Grove.
• The police department should release to the public a list of how many complaints were filed against officers in a given year, how many different people filed those complaints, how many officers had complaints against them in that year, and how many of those complaints resulted in disciplinary action against an officer. Even if the details of the complaints are not given to the public, nor the officers are named, citizens have a right to these numbers, and a right to look over these numbers from year to year to decide for themselves if there is a problem that should be addressed.
• Police department policies for social media must go beyond what is standard: officers should be told that, when posting on social media, even on their own time, they must
  -- take personal responsibility for the content they publish.
  -- identify themselves truthfully in any public forum.
  -- always be factual.
  -- never post content that is inconsistent with the values of the police department.
  -- never post content that would undermine the public's trust in the Forest Grove police department.

If this city loses police officers who don't like these standards, so be it: this city will be better off without them. All of this is needed much more than a new police building.

But will any of these reforms happen? I am highly doubtful. I suspect ranks will close, general statements about how "action will be taken" will be made, even defensive statements refuting that there really is a systemic problem will be made.

Actions speak louder than words - we will all be watching those actions by the Forest Grove city council, the city manager, and police officers themselves. 

Update: On Tuesday, November 24, the following was received by me via email:

Jayne,

I have been requested to respond to your email. I want to thank you for expressing your concerns and recommendations. I also want to let you know that I share your concerns. I have spoken the victim in this case, and assured her, as I do you, that the City takes personnel matters very seriously and allegations against any officer will be investigated and they will be held accountable to assure compliance with local, state, and federal policy.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the criminal aspects of the incident. Once the case is resolved, we will proceed with an independent review of the incident. If it violated policy, personnel action will be taken at that time.

To assure objectivity and accountability, we have also requested an outside, independent investigation of the Department’s response to the incident. This will include, but not be limited to, the use of body worn cameras. As with all investigations, our goal is to assure impartiality and objectivity.

As you mention, the integrity of the Forest Grove Police Department is essential to the public trust. Please know that all allegations about the Department’s police officers are reviewed and investigated to assure compliance with local, state, and federal policy and that the officers are held accountable to those policies.

I recognize this is a difficult situation and I ask for your patience to allow the course of both investigations to be completed. These processes will take time. There are labor law guidelines that we must follow that ensure due-process. As this matter progresses, I will keep the community informed.

Your recommendations do resonate with me. Prior to this incident, I had already been working with Pacific University on implementing training in various areas, to include implicit bias training. There also policies in place that cover several of your recommendations/concerns.

Since my arrival, I have placed police policies and our stop data on our web page for public viewing. As we close out the 2020 calendar year, all of our annual reports will also be posted on our web page. This will include use of force and citizen complaints. As a quick review, in 2019 we completed 10 investigations related to complaints involving members of this agency. The complaints were categorized as follows:

Investigations – 4, Performance – 4, Use of Force - 1, Other -1 (lost property). Only one of the complaints were sustained. There were no racial bias complaints. Please note that the Forest Grove Police Department had over twenty thousand Community contacts in 2019.

Again thank you expressing your concerns and sharing the recommendations. Please have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Respectfully,

Henry

Henry Reimann
Chief
Forest Grove Police Department
2102 Pacific Ave
Forest Grove, OR 97116
503-992-3260

Update: Here's my response, sent via email on November 29, 2020

I did not write the interim police chief of Forest Grove. I wrote the city council, the people that I assumed you reported to. That they did not respond, that they have turned this over to the interim police chief to respond, speaks volumes about how they are treating this matter - and not in a good way. What's next - an email from Officer Teets telling me how sorry he is?

The integrity of the Forest Grove Police Department cannot be rebuilt by someone who doesn't believe that there is a problem. Your response implies that the problem is perception, not the current culture, and that policies already in place address my concerns. Therefore, I want a link to each policy for each bullet item I have posted below, that shows there are already policies in place for each of the concerns.

Your response also implies that a workshop or two at Pacific University will take care of any other perception issues. I would like the names of the people at Pacific University that have experience in police reform and evaluation studies on their work at previous police departments that show their expertise and training are effective. Otherwise - it's just a very small step on what should be a much, much longer journey. 

Without someone leading this department who will acknowledge that there is a cultural, systemic problem at the Forest Grove Police Department, and, indeed, in policing across this nation, the problems are not going away. And clearly, from your response, we still don't have that. 

I would prefer to see police officers quitting because they don't like changes implemented by the chief, like a focus on serving citizens and an absolute refutation by the police chief regarding "warrior" training and, instead, a focus on patrolling and interacting with residents, de-escalation and valuing the diversity to this community. I would prefer to see a chief that says, "I'm not here to be popular with the rank and file, I'm here to serve the residents of Forest Grove." 

I've heard over and over that you are very good at making people who are complaining or asking questions to feel better in the moment, but I need a lot more than "I'm concerned too." I need a lot more than "We did some cultural-sensitivity training with a local group." I'm looking beyond "he seems nice." I am looking for real acknowledgment of the seriousness of this systemic problem and real, even painful, changes, that will reform this local police department. I talk over and over to residents who have very bad experiences with police, especially when they call for help with someone, and when I say, "Why don't you write a complaint? I'll help you!" I hear over and over: "It won't matter, and then I'll become a target." I hear this at least once a month. While I appreciate have the ear and trust of so many in this community, a place I did not grow up in, it saddens me that this is how so many in this community feel.   

I say it again: actions speak louder than words. Many of us, not just me, will all be watching those actions by the Forest Grove city council, the city manager, and police officers themselves over the coming months. 

received via email, December 1, 2020

Jayne,

Thank you for the response and feedback. I apologize that my response did not meet your expectations.

Respectfully,

Henry
Henry Reimann
Chief
Forest Grove Police Department
2102 Pacific Ave
Forest Grove, OR 97116
503-992-3260