Educational Media Reviews Online

Portland, Oregon is rated as one of the best places to live in the United States. It’s widely considered as a progressive city because of its careful urban planning, wide use of mass transit, and protection of freedom of expression. But the documentary Arresting Power shows quite a different Portland, one that’s miles apart from outsiders’ popular perception.

One of the most shocking things, learned early in the video, is Oregon’s historic disapproval of African Americans in the state. Black author/educator Walida Imarisha says Oregon was founded as “a white homeland, as a place where white folks could come and get away from the issues of the day, the main one at that time was slavery.” Before Oregon became a state, Imarisha says there were lash laws that dictated any black resident be whipped every six months. Upon statehood, the Oregon Constitution said Oregon was for whites only. This statement remained in the Constitution until 2001.

Despite what the Constitution said, blacks did and continue to live in Oregon. But police seemed to want to enforce the prohibition, given the number of cases of violence against African-Americans the documentary mentions. Names of people who died from police violence are listed, along with the date of death. In an interesting artistic touch, a photo of the scene where a death occurred is accompanied by scratched celluloid. As is explained at the beginning, the motion picture film is dragged and scratched on the sidewalk to give a tangible representation of what happened.

Stories of some of the deaths are explored in more detail. Family members of the deceased and local activists recount what happened. The police explanation is dealt with in a sentence or two, and there are usually no police voices heard describing the scene, even in archival footage. One exception to this is a bizarre case involving police who threw dead possums in front of a soul food restaurant. The documentary shows clips of the officers involved who try to explain they were doing this as a humorous gesture, to try to lighten tensions between the police and the restaurant owners.

It could be said Portland police are equal opportunity offenders. White residents are seen describing the beatings they received from police. A mental health advocate relates the sad tale of an artist whose behavior, caused by his unmedicated mental illness, caught the attention of police and lead to his eventual death.

The repercussions for the police involved in these incidents were small. Even in cases where officers were suspended for their actions, the police union was able to get the decisions overturned. Firings didn’t happen, and a speaker says no officer has been charged with a use of force crime in the county since the early 1960s.

Given the lack of punishments for deaths or violence at the hand of police, getting accountability seems a pipe dream to Portland activists. Some state outright that the goal shouldn’t be police accountability, but abolition of the police, a view also expressed by the filmmakers in a booklet accompanying the video. Control by the community is seen as an alternative, although the idea is not explored in depth.

The video as a whole could use more historical background about Oregon and more details about the various cases. What’s presented on the screen is a stark indictment, but a fuller explanation would have helped bolster the case the filmmakers want to make, and not make it so easy for some to automatically dismiss their stories.

This video is recommended for college classes as a springboard to further research and discussion on the issues involved.