Communicating with people who think differently
DRAFT - seeking input from PAC members
Jason Renaud - Portland Accountability Commission November 2022
As the Police Accountability Commission is considering how to engage with people who bringforward allegations of police misconduct, I’ve heard the question, how can the Police
Accountability Board communicate effectively with people who have symptoms of mental illness- and other people who think differently?
Portland Police Bureau data has consistently shown that people with mental illness are mostharmed by police. Even after several years of policy changes and millions of dollars spent on
consultants and training, the PPB’s “pattern and practice” of force found in the 2014
investigation by the US Department of Justice, persists, has increased, and the severity of harm
has also increased.
Further, the Independent Police Review does not accommodate people with mental illness.
They hire no knowledgeable staff, keep no inclusive data, provide little communication method
flexibility, and anecdotally we know of no person with mental illness whose complaint has beenfound valid. The case of Matt Klug, with a video of the assault, physical evidence of violent
misconduct, twenty-three months of review, and no officer was held to account, exemplifies theirstiff barrier to safety.
For definition, PPB makes three distinct categories of persons in their data collection (in addition
to all sorts of routine demographic data). They are Mental Illness, Transient, and Alcohol andDrug.
Mental Illness is selected as an option in data collection by officers for both real and perceived
mental illness. The Settlement Agreement in US DOJ v City of Portland also has a very widedefinition of mental illness:“Mental Illness” is a medical condition that disrupts an individual’s thinking, perception,mood, and/or ability to relate to others such that daily functioning and coping with theordinary demands of life are diminished. Mental illness includes, but is not limited to,serious mental illnesses such as major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
obsessive compulsive disorder (“OCD”), panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder(“PTSD”), and borderline personality disorder. Mental illness includes individuals withdual diagnosis of mental illness and another condition, such as drug and/or alcohol
addiction.
The term Transient is used by PPB to identify people who do not have a fixed address. As weknow from media reports, about half the people arrested in Portland are identified as homeless,in this case Transient, and a high rate of contact between any group and police may result in an
increase in complaints. A high percentage of people who are chronically homeless also have1

the ailments in the definition above. Experts are unclear on the exact amount - but somewhere
between 50% and 80% is a good guess.
If an officer toggles Alcohol and Drug they may be indicating addiction - or over-use ofsubstances. Either one may lower impulse control and cause behavior to draw the attention ofpolice.
Experts are unclear about the percentage of people arrested who are impacted by these andadditional ailments - especially in the areas of trauma, personality disorders, autism, orintellectual disabilities. The percentage may be as low as 60% or as high as 100% of thosearrested exhibit symptoms of these ailments.
It’s unknown how these three categories are kept distinct from each other since many of one
category might also qualify or be confused for another. So in general the independent data
scientists who have looked at PPB data consider the output both muddy and alarming.
Recommendations
PAB should employ a full-time trainer. That trainer could assure quality work from PAB staff
and volunteers, onboard new board members, and also educate outside allies about the work ofthe PAB, allies such as PPB, the city human resources department, risk management
department, city attorney’s office, district attorney, organizations representing police officers, etc.
A trainer could also provide coaching for distinct situations, and secure additional outsidetraining. The purpose is to provide ongoing training and coaching staff about helping people who
communicate differently than individual staff members. This person should have an advancedegree in adult education or psychology with experience providing quality assurance.
PAB should employ people with lived experience of mental illness and addiction asService Navigators. These people may have additional qualities - example, they may speak
Spanish or Russian - but establishing credibility and authenticity is essential to resolving conflictand reducing trauma. Those persons should be state certified peer support specialists or otherqualified traditional healthcare workers.
All PAB staff should be available to act as Service Navigators. Once assigned to acomplainant, that staff person is the complainants primary contact until their complaint isresolved. Navigation may be a full time effort, or infrequent - based on other tasks and that staff
person’s lived experience, cultural competency, language ability, or other distinct engagement
skill. The PAB may also utilize community volunteers - including Board members - as ServiceNavigators, or hire contract workers with unique skills as Service Navigators. Service Navigators
could start and finish intakes, be available to resolve bureaucratic problems, answer questions,
make introductions, arrange mediation, keep notes, attend meetings with the complainant anddebrief afterward. When a Service Navigator, staff is always an ally of the complainant. ServiceNavigators should never treat complainants merely as a means to an end, but always as ends inthemselves.

2

The PAB should employ staff with advanced skills in outreach and community
engagement, have a line item in the budget to purchase advertising to connect to over-policed
communities, and within a couple of years set goals for outreach.
PAB should offer complainants a variety of methods to communicate - including by letter,email, voice mail, face to face conversation, telephone conversation, through intermediaries, by
the person harmed, by a witness, by a friend or family member, by a citizen. The COCL has
recommended a QR code leading to an engagement survey be included on officer businesscards. The PAB should promote the ability to make an allegation, who and where to make acomplaint, identify staff and outside support provided to complainants, describe the timeline for
a complaint to be resolved, and publish an annual outside report on the outcomes and others.
During the intake the PAB should be entirely transparent regarding all reporting-related
policies and procedures, including risk assessment, triage, and any external reporting. Staff
should be open about their perspective in respect to the incident and the surrounding persons.
Staff should avoid privileging any single explanatory framework by asking questions, expressing
interest, and resisting the tendency to relabel experiences. The tools used for messaging shouldhave a periodic review and refresh standard using people with lived experience to gauge
effectiveness.
PAB staff should be trained and supported in the validation of structural violence, fully
acknowledging the impact of violence including racism and harm within the mental health andsocial service system. An example could be, when responding to allegations of racism by police(1) fully validating the reality of this experience, (2) communicating agreement that racist
behavior is unacceptable, (3) joining with the complainant in strategizing direct action that might
be taken (file complaint, public letter, mediation, etc.)
PAB staff should be trained to understand the impact of violence from authority, tounderstand the etiology of trauma as manifests to different people, and to recognize conflict,anger, confusion, inebriation, quitting, delusions, anxiety, exhaustion, dishonesty, and a myriadof other responses are natural expressions of trauma. PAB staff should recognize thatimprisonment in jails, hospitals, and prisons cause trauma resulting in doubt in the ability ofgovernment to hold staff - including police - accountable, anxiety, anger, reactivity, and a myriadof other responses.
The PAB should acknowledge fear of retaliation is a barrier to complaints. Police holdunique and extraordinary powers in our society and no group is more impacted than people withmental illness - who are routinely arrested and held indefinitely for symptoms of their illness.
People with mental illness, along with their friends and family members, are both afraid of anddependent on police for mercy as police take action where local mental health services fail toact at all. Further, staff when working in the assigned role as a Service Navigator, should be free
to say to complainants, "I'm with you," and act accordingly without fear of reprisal from PPB, orfrom city staff, elected persons, or others.

3PAB should maintain an external contract to provide grief counseling for complainants withno wait time prior to intake, including triage and navigation to additional public or commercialservices.
Browser-based case management software should be employed to track and report on
multiple conversations with a single complainant with multiple staff members. Staff should beenabled and encouraged to accompany complainants, to walk with them through the duration of
the complaint, to stand with, to witness, and be available to maintain connection after a board
decision is made. Staff should anticipate conflict between staff and a complainant and assign
the best staff person to accommodate the most needs possible.
Information should be provided to ALL persons contacting PAB which clearly lays out
PAB decision making protocols, timelines, and accommodations. This information sheet
should be reviewed and approved by people who identify with the ailments listed in theSettlement Agreement definition.
This memo does not replace additional information which the PAB staff should have continuing
training and coaching about, including communication with people who have cultural difference
from the majority, language difference, sensory disorders, disruptive and conduct disorders,autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disorders, brain injuries, neurocognitive disorders,extensive experience with homelessness, and personality disorders not mentioned in theSettlement Agreement. This memo does not foreclose additional staff training on institutional orsystemic racism, on gender identity, on the influence of religion on behavior, on coercion andcriminality, or other subjects which may impact interpersonal communication.

4