WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, requesting an investigation into the City of Portland and the Portland Police Bureau (the Bureau) for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through unlawful, race-based policies embedded across city government. AFL’s letter provides new information connecting the Bureau’s “highly questionable police practices” to the City of Portland’s “equity” priorities.

Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race or national origin by entities receiving federal funding. Despite this, the City of Portland—through its Office of Equity and Human Rights—has imposed “Citywide Racial Equity Goals” that direct city agencies, including the Portland Police Bureau, to make race a central factor in their policies and decision-making. Even Portland Fire and Rescue has fully embraced harmful “equity” principles that, as defined, necessitate discriminating based on race, stating that “we cannot be colorblind until we address all the issues that color consciousness has created.”

Across the city, agencies are instructed to: 

• “End racial disparities within city government.”

• “Eliminate racial inequity in all areas of government, including education, criminal justice, environmental justice, health, housing, transportation, and economic success.”

• “Use a racial equity framework that clearly articulates racial equity; implicit and explicit bias; and individual, institutional, and structural racism.”

• “Use a racial equity lens when changing the policies, programs, and practices that perpetuate inequities, and when developing new policies and programs.”

• “Achieve racial equity in the community.”

• “Create greater urgency and public commitment to achieve racial equity.”

Instead of leading with a goal of making Portland safer, “[t]he City of Portland leads with race and disability.”

The Portland Police Bureau also cites the “harmful history of color blind policy” as justifying modern racial discrimination against groups that have not been historically marginalized. Its Racial Equity Plan Commitments (targeted priorities for 2023 through 2028) demonstrate how discrimination in the name of equity is embedded Bureau-wide, affecting hiring, staffing, training, leadership, and even the Bureau’s evaluation of whether to abandon technology that keeps Americans safe.

The Bureau admits that “race is at the forefront” of its equity policies and that it is “critical to lead with race.” Its official goals include:

• Commitment 3.06: “Prioritize and innovate in the recruitment, hiring, and retention of a diverse workforce.” The Bureau defines “diverse” as explicitly including differences in “demographic characteristic[s], including but not limited to] race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.”

• Commitment 3.07: “Ensure an Equitable process for promotions, assignments to specialty units, and career development for both sworn and professional staff.”

• Commitment 3.08: Devote “time, money, and priority” to achieve “outcomes that remedy or address disparities that negatively impact marginalized populations.”

• Commitment 3.09: “[E]nsure equitable use of current and future technology” like drones, bodycams, and ShotSpotter gunshot detectors.

• Commitment 3.12: “Integrate the Equity Lens into all facets of bureau business and operations.”

Law enforcement agencies should not consider “racial equity” when upholding the rule of law. Officers must be chosen for their ability to protect citizens and uphold the law—not for their immutable traits.

“Americans of all creeds, colors, and identities rely on law enforcement to enforce the law without regard to their race. Portland’s citywide equity mandates institutionalize modern discrimination by telling everyone from firemen to police officers that being colorblind is bad. Portland must abandon its focus on diversity and equitable outcomes and return to the neutral principle of ‘equal justice under the law.’ The best officers should be hired, and police decisions should be made without putting race or the desire to reverse historical disparities over public safety. If you have two standards of justice, you really have none. We have the law, and that is the only standard we need,” said Will Scolinos, Attorney, America First Legal.

AFL will continue to fight to uphold the rule of law and ensure that federal funds do not support programs that divide citizens, demoralize law enforcement, or make America less safe.

Read the full complaint here.

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