Codification of Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing (PCCEP) Introduced

(PORTLAND, OR.) —"The Portland City Council meeting, held on April 15, 2026, was marked by significant tension, particularly during budget discussions, and highlighted deep divisions within the council and between council and community members,” OpGov.news reports.

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The city's agenda, including seven items, was unanimously approved without amendment.

Public communications brought a wide array of issues before the council.

Addie Smith addresses the council remotely, challenging Home Forward's CEO, calling her 'unfit and unqualified' for spending 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' on conferences and networking events. She offered her own name as CEO, claiming she could remedy Home Forward's issues within a year. 

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“Currently, there are over 1,000 vacant units and a waiting list for people to move in. It should never take nearly 200 days to turn a vacant unit and fill a vacancy,” Smith said.

President of the David Campbell Memorial Association Don Porth pleads with the city for help to partner on the Portland Firefighter Memorial project. He stated that volunteers have contributed thousands of hours for planning, design, engineering, and restoration, but funds are needed for the final phase.

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“I have to wonder why we struggled to complete the Portland Firefighter Memorial. Portland Fire has been in service in this city for 173 years. The messenger bell that can’t be put back until we finish the project went into service, alerting Portlanders and firefighters 152 years ago,” Porth said.

Porth highlights the city's care for other heritage projects (like the Thompson Elk) over the Firefighter Memorial and urged creative funding solutions.

Tanisha Renee, the Deputy Executive Director of Williams and Russell, advocates for funding for Self-Enhancement, Inc. (SEI) and Williams and Russell for homeownership development. She emphasized the historical significance of the Albina and Vanport areas, where these organizations are building, for communities previously displaced by city policies. 

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“I will say that since becoming a homeowner and with the help of the preference policy, a down payment assistance, a veteran loan, as well as just having a low interest rate and being able to purchase in the right time, has given me stable and secure housing for a lifetime,” Renee said.

Renee shares her personal journey from housing insecurity to homeownership, stressing the importance of homeownership for building generational wealth, and implored the council to reconsider their decision to remove this funding.

City Administrator Raymond Lee updates the council on the Macadam ICE facility. Previous updates for those following this issue can be found here and here.

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The consent agenda was approved with 11 yes votes, signifying a procedural improvement for the council.

“The item to codify the Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing (PCCEP) was introduced as an emergency ordinance by Mayor Wilson,” OpGov.news said.

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Codifying the Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing (PCCEP) was generally well-received as a step toward accountability, but faced criticism regarding internal processes and youth engagement.

Philip Chachka, a member of Portland Copwatch, expresses support for the codification of PCCEP, citing Copwatch's mission since 1992 for a police bureau free of brutality, corruption, and racism. He praised PCEP's purpose of engaging with Portland's diverse communities on issues of constitutional policing, racial justice, and interactions with vulnerable populations.

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“We are grateful that there is an ongoing project to track these formal recommendations and that will provide additional transparency around how the city takes into account recommendations from the public. We urge you to codify PCCEP,” Chachka said.

Ultimately, due to time restraints, codifying PCCEP was held over for further debate and vote until the following day.

If you would like to comment or add to this report, please email me at rory.h@lead4earth.org or comment below.

Update: Portland City Council reconvened on Thursday, April 16th and passed the emergency ordinance to codify the Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing (PCCEP), making its existence and functions a permanent part of city code, independent of the federal settlement agreement.