Portland police union, city at impasse over ‘prereview’ in body camera policy discussions

A years-long standoff between the City of Portland and the Portland Police Association over what policies will govern federally mandated body cameras ended in a stalemate this week. The two sides’ final respective proposals were released Friday and the decision now heads to an arbitrator to make the final decision.

The impasse came after the two sides agreed to a union contract last February but failed to agree on new policies over body cameras. Negotiations have been ongoing since then. Portland has the only city police force of the 75 largest departments in the country that doesn’t use body cameras.

The stickiest wicket, according to the two policies released Friday, is whether or not officers involved in use of force incidents will be allowed to view body camera footage before writing their initial reports, a policy known as “prereview.” The union wants it; the city does not.