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Profiling Complaints Frequently Asked Questions

 

 

Before filing a profiling complaint intake, you should read through the following frequently asked questions.

 

 

  1. What is profiling?  House Bill 2002 defines profiling as the following, “‘Profiling’ means that a law enforcement agency or a law enforcement officer targets an individual for suspicion of violating a provision of law based solely on the real or perceived factor of the individual’s age, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, language, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, religion, homelessness or disability, unless the agency or officer is acting on a suspect description or information related to an identified or suspected violation of a provision of law.”
     

  2. What is a Law Enforcement agency? Any of the following in Oregon - The Department of State Police; The Department of Justice; A district attorney’s office; and any of the following that maintains a law enforcement unit as defined in ORS 181.610:(A) A political subdivision or an instrumentality of the State of Oregon.(B) A municipal corporation of the State of Oregon.(C) A tribal government.(D) A university.
     

  3. What is a Law Enforcement officer? Any of the following in Oregon - (a) A member of the Oregon State Police; (b) A sheriff, constable, marshal, municipal police officer or reserve officer or a police officer commissioned by a university under ORS 352.383 or 353.125; (c) An investigator of a district attorney’s office if the investigator is or has been certified as a law enforcement officer in this or any other state; (d) An investigator of the Criminal Justice Division of the Department of Justice; (e) A humane special agent as defined in ORS 181.435; (f) A judicial marshal of the Security and Emergency Preparedness Office of the Judicial Department who is appointed under ORS 1.177 and trained pursuant to ORS 181.647; (g) A liquor enforcement inspector exercising authority described in ORS 471.775 (2); or (h) An authorized tribal police officer as defined in section 1, chapter 644, Oregon Laws 2011.
     

  4. Who are the LECC?  Oregon’s Law Enforcement Contacts Policy and Data Review Committee (LECC) is an independent state-wide Governor-appointed committee made of citizens and professionals whose purpose is to ensure public complaints of profiling by Oregon law enforcement are recorded and addressed by law enforcement to the extent possible. The LECC is staffed by the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute at Portland State University. The LECC is not an investigative or legal body.  The LECC also engages in a variety of activities related to the issues of profiling in Oregon including law enforcement training; stops data collection, analysis and reporting; and public opinion survey research on perceptions of Oregon law enforcement and law enforcement contacts. You can learn more about the LECC here:https://www.pdx.edu/cjpri/lecc
     

  5. Who are the LECC staff?  The LECC staff work at Portland State University in the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute.  At this time LECC staff include two individuals - Dr. Brian Renauer, Director CJPRI and Salome Chimuku, LECC Project Manager.  Ms. Chimuku will be contacting the person filing the complaint after its receipt.
     

  6. How will the LECC protect my identity if I wish to remain anonymous?  The LECC staff will have access to your original complaint intake form and any notes from follow-up conversations.  Thus, you will not be anonymous to the LECC staff.  LECC staff will keep your name confidential and protected in locked cabinets and password-protected databases.  If you choose to remain anonymous on the intake form all identifying information from your complaint will be removed.  LECC staff will talk to you about this decision because it may require removing the location, date, or other key details of the profiling incident; therefore, making it less likely that law enforcement could actually investigate the incident.
     

  7. Can I file a complaint but not have it forwarded to law enforcement for investigation? If you wish to file a complaint, but not have it forwarded to law enforcement we will need to know upon completion of the first follow-up phone call.  If we are unable to reach you the complaint intake will be forwarded after 30 days from initial receipt.  Please note that any complaints that are not forwarded to law enforcement will: 1) not be counted as a real profiling complaint for our reporting purposes to the State, they will be considered an intake only, and 2) there will be no investigation of the complaint by law enforcement.  Please also note that any complaints that entail State mandatory reporting requirements (e.g. abuse of child/youth under age 18 - ORS419B.010) will automatically be forwarded to law enforcement.
     

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