Oregon Public Broadcasting

Wednesday morning, a crowd packed a church in North Portland, to say goodbye to 25-year-old Keaton Otis, who was killed last week in a shooting incident with police.

Family friend, Adrian Lewis, read a letter from Otis' uncle, Richard Sanders, who recalled baptizing his nephew in the ocean at Lincoln City.

Funeral of Keaton Otis in North Portland

Adrian Lewis: (reading for Richard Sanders) "I take great joy in God for allowing Keaton to have been a gift, not only to his parents, but to all of his family. Our family has the opportunity to see the wonderful person Keaton is, before he fell ill."

Family members described Otis in the Oregonian as gripped by a mood disorder. They indicated they'd had trouble intervening to get him help.

Otis was killed during a traffic stop, becoming the third man this year to die during a confrontation with Portland Police.

Each of the three incidents played out under very different circumstances. But there's little doubt that these cases have contributed to feelings of fear and mistrust.

April Baer reports some Portlanders are now looking for answers outside the traditional policing system.

It's not an easy conversation: if you're reticent about calling the police, what other option is there?

Imani Muhammad: "Can you turn me up a little bit?"

Imani Muhammad was the facilitator at a meeting last month. Standing before a North Portland crowd of black activists, people from the street community and advocates for mental health, anarchists, and a few curious folks from the neighborhood, Muhammad posed a challenge, and a question.

Imani Muhammad: "We want to try start thinking of how to police our own community. How do we become neighbors to one another, instead of calling the police as our first option?"

This idea has been brewing since the Skanner, a newspaper serving Portland's black community, suggested black citizens think twice before calling 9-1-1 in a February editorial. And the roots of the discussion are even older.

Rahsaan Muhammad: "This is something I've basically heard mentioned all my life."

Rahsaan Muhammad, no relation to Imani, is a life-long Portlander who had a few brushes with police when he was a kid in the late 80s. That's when he started thinking about policing alternatives.

Rahsaan Muhammad  "Talking to uncles in the community who weren't necessarily political, but who knew everyone on the block. And they speak to me of times in the 70s, in the so-called black liberation era. There was sort of a gentlemen's agreement among parties, with regards to police entering certain neighborhoods. Even if there was a murder suspect, negotiations took place with these community captains and the police before anybody was every turned over to the police department."

Not many activists are advocating a return to those days. Muhammad says what he's interested in is seeing people take more control over what they can.

Another Portlander who attended the meeting, Kevin Raysor, agrees. He's worked in security as a private contractor. While he's in favor of exploring alternatives to traditional policing, he's not sure if the average Portlander is prepared for the commitment.

Kevin Raysor: "I think some people don't truly know what it's like to police your own neighborhood. It still starts with the community and people trusting each other, trusting the people walking the streets."

There is, Raysor points out, one group that's been formally providing a police alternative for a long time.

Paul Grudzinski: "I'm Paul Grudzinski, and we are at 111 SW 5th in Portland, Oregon."

Grudzinski's red beret is the first tip-off. He's chapter president of the Portland Guardian Angels.

The group's been active since 1983. Membership's not large right now - about seven people. But you can sometimes see them patrolling downtown, or on the MAX. 

Grudzinski, who's an Army veteran, says he knows tensions are high around town. But his experience tells him that a strong police presence plays a role in defusing dangerous situations.

Paul Grudzinski: "Being that aggressive and being that authoritative figure, that works."

But Grudzinski says sometimes he puts on an aggressive face himself for that very reason, after sizing up a situation to see if it's safe.

Portland's police spokeswoman Mary Wheat says the issue comes down to this: Who would you rather have respond to your call for help?

Mary Wheat: "We understand there are trust issues with certain members of our comm., we want to continue to work on that and fix if we can. We want people to feel they can call us. But I do think people have to be realistic about a police officer's job."

Terry Gingerish is a former LA County Sheriff's deputy. He's also been a beat cop in Washington DC. Now he teaches Criminal Justice at Western Oregon University.

He says police do think about these issues. Gingerich says across the country – and especially in Portland, police departments have decided it's a much better philosophy to engage the community.

Terry Gingerich: "I'd suggest when citizen does have a complaint, to go to a commander or their representatives, and ask for help resolving your complaint. I think that's the easiest way to affect change, really."

Gingerich says all too often officers are asked to cope with situations that have gone untended a long time.

Maria Bonnacci with Rose City Copwatch, agrees with that. Her group considers itself a watchdog for law enforcement. That's why she believes problems like mental illness or drug abuse  should be handled in the community first.

Maria Bonnacci:  "I believe that people are good and we care about each other, and we live in a world where we want to take care of each other. What if people don't feel confident in showing up on a scene to de-escalate something. And I don't expect everyone will have those skills, but there are people who do."

Portland has something of a reputation for growing hybrid systems, of community intervention and traditional  policing.

Brian Wong is a cardiac recovery nurse who lives with his life and kids on Southeast 82nd.

Brian Wong: "The first weekend after we moved in, two doors down from us there was a huge drug raid with a whole SWAT team, and I said, ‘What did I just buy myself into.?'"

While Wong never considered himself a Guardian Angel-type, he and his neighbors started talking in their driveways about solutions. Nothing fancy or confrontational. Just walking around at night, and reporting problems  they saw to the police.

Brian Wong:  "There was a couple instances where people joined the foot patrol were just shocked about what they saw, and got very upset and wanted to confront what they saw.

April Baer: Like what kids of things?

BW: One time there was an act of prostitution going on behind a local business, another time, a john trying to pick up a girl.

Wong was more worried about his neighbors than about the offenders they were observing.

Brian Wong:  "You almost weren't sure if you could de-escalate and get the person to back off and let officers handle the situation."

And that's why he says it's a partnership. His neighborhood group worked for months and got results. But he says they never would have succeeded without police help.