Portlanders passed a ballot measure in November 2020 to overhaul police oversight with more than 80% of the vote. And exactly how to do that is what the volunteer members of the Police Accountability Commission have been meeting for the better part of two years to do. That commission presented its findings and roughly 100-page report to the city council this summer. The city council will be voting Wednesday on whether to adopt a modified version of that PAC report and give the city attorney the authority to decide what will be submitted to the DOJ.

The federal agency must ultimately approve elements for how a new Community Board for Police Accountability will work. That’s because the city is still subject to a federal settlement to address DOJ findings that officers used excessive force on people experiencing mental illness. That agreement included changes to a variety of police policies including the process for investigating officer misconduct. Dan Handleman is a co-founding member of Peace and Justice Works, and a member of the PAC. He joins us to provide an overview of the process, his perspective and what comes next.