PORTLAND — A black Oregon state representative says one of her constituents called police on her Tuesday while she was canvassing alone in a neighborhood she represents.
She looked over at the deputy in his patrol car and thought, “I don’t believe this.” He asked if she was selling something. She introduced herself as a state legislator and said that she was out canvassing and that she guessed someone called him.
The deputy said someone called and reported Bynum appearing to spend a long time at houses in the area and appearing to be casing the neighborhood while on her phone.
Bynum, 43, said taking notes on her cellphone is something she often does while canvassing neighborhoods to recall conversations she has. She said she only had campaign fliers, her cellphone and a pen on her.
She estimates knocking on more than 70,000 doors over her years campaigning and said Tuesday was the first time someone reported her to police.
“It was just bizarre,” Bynum told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It boils down to people not knowing their neighbors and people having a sense of fear in their neighborhoods, which is kind of my job to help eradicate. But at the end of the day, it’s important for people to feel like they can talk to each other to help minimize misunderstandings.”
Bynum represents House District 51, which includes east Portland, Gresham, Boring, North Clackamas, Damascus and Happy Valley, where she lives. She won election to the House in November 2016.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately response to a message for comment on the incident.
This comes amid a series of recent racial-profiling cases that have caused public outrage, including someone in Ohio calling the police on a 12-year-old boy mowing a lawn, a California woman calling police to report black people barbecuing, and a San Francisco woman threatening to call police on a black girl selling water.
Bynum said the deputy told her another woman made the 911 call, but she didn’t know the caller’s race. She asked to meet the woman in person, but the deputy said she wasn’t home. Bynum said she didn’t know which house the woman called from.
She said she asked the deputy to call the woman so she could speak to her, and he got the woman on the phone.
The woman was apologetic and said she called 911 for the safety of her neighborhood, Bynum said. The woman wouldn’t confirm where she lived.
The deputy who responded, who Bynum only knew by his last name, Campbell, was courteous and professional, she said. He later agreed to take a selfie with her.
She recalled telling him that, “when people do things like this, it can be dangerous for people like me.” He said he hoped he didn’t make her feel that way. She said he didn’t.
Bynum said she understood the woman’s concerns but felt the woman could have tried talking to her first or contacting a neighbor to speak to her rather than calling the cops. The deputy could have responded to a more urgent call instead, she said.
“We all know that we’re not in a society that is perfect, and we have wounds that still need to heal, but at the end of the day, I want to know my kids can walk down the street without fear,” she said.
Bynum said she hopes to meet the woman who called 911 in person one day. She’s going to keep campaigning and may plan to return to the neighborhood, she said.
“I hope everyone gets a good look at my face, because I’m coming to your door,” she said.
