The Portland Police chief's hiring last week of a prominent businessman to an assistant chief's job at the police bureau has drawn outrage from the Albina Ministerial Alliance (AMA) Coalition for Justice and Police Reform.
Advocates for the community of color organization charged this afternoon that Chief Mike Reese's appointment of Portland Business Alliance Vice President Mike Kuykendall, a former Multnomah County Assistant District Attorney, is a conflict of interest and a "slap in the face" to efforts to bring racial diversity to the police bureau's command staff.
Portland Police leadership has been in the hot seat over a string of fatal citizen shootings this year, which have triggered new calls for reform.
Although former Chief Rosie Sizer was forced out this spring, management of police was taken away from City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, and Mayor Sam Adams has taken over bureau oversight, the past week has seen a spike in complaints that police reform efforts are weak.
"In the same way Mayor Adams selected Chief Reese without input from the community, Reese has now picked an Assistant in direct contradiction to input from the community, and without doing a broader search," said Pastor T. Allen Bethel of the Coalition, in a statement.
"When he says he is trying to rebuild relationships damaged in the last 8 months by police shootings, 'beanbagging' a 12-year old, and the union march on City Hall, instead he has given us a slap in the face."
The group says they urged Chief Reese to hire a person of color to the all-white command staff during a meeting last month.
Instead, Reese has chosen Kuykendall, not only not a police officer, but a member of Reese's rock and roll band, "The Usual Suspects."
The unprecedented hiring was made possible because last Wednesday the Assistant Chief of Services job was reclassified to a civilian position on the City Council consent agenda.
The AMA this afternoon said Kuykendall's hiring, given his lack of bureau experience and obvious close personal relationship with the chief, "gives the appearance of insider influence."
"Some members of the Coalition also worry about Kuykendall's advocacy of the 'Sit/Lie' laws, which target poor and homeless people in the downtown core," the AMA's statement said.
"If Reese is trying to build trust in our communities, he should not hire someone who is seen as not representing our communities," said Bethel.