The Portland Police Bureau maintains the gang database was kept confidential but acknowledges the fear among black and Hispanic residents that the information was spread to employers and housing providers. “Because there was a lack of trust, they didn’t believe us,” says police Capt. Mike Krantz.
Gang databases are used across the U.S. by local police departments, some states and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These law enforcement agencies create the databases by adding people they decide are gang members, often because the person admits they are in the gang, spends time with established gang members or shows gang affiliation through their clothing or tattoos. Some law enforcement experts say such lists help fight gang crime and improve public safety, while critics say they are overly broad and include people who never were or are no longer in gangs.
Last week the Portland Police Bureau announced that it would end its policy of documenting people as gang members, in what experts say appears to be the first such move by a police department in recent years. An investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive last year found that 81 percent of the 359 people on the police gang list were minorities, while Portland was 76 percent white in the latest census.
[For more on this story by Josh Saul, go to http://www.newsweek.com/gang-v...ild-community-665374]
PHOTO COURTESY PORTLAND POLICE BUREAU: Last week the Portland Police Bureau announced that it would end its policy of documenting people as gang members, in what experts say appears to be the first such move by a police department in recent years.
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