PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Investigations that don’t require evidence of criminal activity remain the roadblock to the city of Portland rejoining a federal terrorism task force.
The investigations, called “assessments,” have drawn fire from civil rights groups who say they are baseless checks that run the risk of targeting people by their race, ethnicity or religion.
The issue has taken on prominence in negotiations between Portland’s mayor, its city council and the federal officials in Oregon who want the city to rejoin the task force and dedicate two officers to it.
The chief federal prosecutor for Oregon, U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton, says concerns about the assessments are overblown. He says they include duties that Portland police officers would handle anyway.
The city dropped out of the federal terrorism task force in 2005.
