PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to the Portland police chief and to the City Attorney’s Office Tuesday requesting the original, unredacted records of the city’s police training materials after an offensive slide was discovered.
According to DOJ attorneys Jonas Geissler and Jared Hager, the department was initially notified of the inappropriate slide Thursday night shortly before it was released to local media outlets.
The slide in question contained an image of what appears to be a police officer beating a person, and included text that referred to the person as a “dirty hippy.”
The presentation was meant for the now-dissolved Portland police’s Rapid Response Team.
“Some PPB and City employees knew or should have known about these materials for years,” according to the DOJ. “The City Attorney’s Office has reportedly known about them since at least September 2021.”
Additionally, the department said the training materials should have been reported to the DOJ after they were developed.
The city told the department an internal investigation was underway to find who created the “offensive” and “misleading” slide.
Both Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Police Chief Chuck Lovell issued statements on Friday saying they were deeply concerned by the offensive, and inappropriate slide.
According to the ongoing investigation, it is unclear who added the slide or if it was actually ever presented as part of a training session.