Archival Series
Portland Police Museum Archives collection
Monday, December 31, 2012
A2014-004
AS/19
Administrative History The Portland Police Bureau Museum records collection is comprised of records and correspondence previously collected and held at the Portland Police Museum. This museum was established in 1976 to preserve the history of public safety in Portland and to celebrate the history of the officers and staff at the Portland Police Bureau. The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) is the largest law enforcement agency in the state of Oregon. In 1870 the State Legislature passed the Metropolitan Police Bill in response to a rapidly growing city. This bill established a salaried police force called the Portland Metropolitan Police Force, now known as the Portland Police Bureau. The PPB divides Portland into three precincts, Central, East, and North. Each precinct is divided into as many as 20 districts that are generally based on neighborhood association boundaries. According to its mission statement, the PPB aims to “reduce crime and the fear of crime by working with all citizens to preserve life, maintain human rights, protect property, and promote individual responsibility and community commitment.” The City of Portland Archives and Records Center gained ownership of these records in 2014 when the City Archivist was alerted that museum staff was storing official City records in a way that did not meet city security standards. As a result, officials from the city archives, accompanied by the assistant police chief and members of the police bureau's personnel division, reclaimed about 90 percent of the museum's archived records which now comprise this collection. Scope and Content Note This collection is divided into six sections; administration; precinct, division, and special unit; personnel; reserve officer records; publications and reference materials; and maps and plans. Records include brochures, reports, forms, memos, newspaper clippings, photographs, negatives, scrapbooks, correspondence, plans, rule books, and manuals. The administration series contains the operational records of the Portland Police Bureau and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE). Operational records include general orders, memos, forms, memoranda, and by-laws. The administration forms subseries contains brochures, reports and forms related to police, property, missing persons, overtime, arrests, complaints, vehicles, and Portland Police constitutions and by-laws. Most of the forms in this series are blank and undated. The Portland Police Bureau internal communications subseries contains police bureau orders and memos sent from the chief’s office to bureau personnel that are organized by year. The orders and memos are categorized using different acronyms; P.O. are personnel orders; P.T. are all assignments, transfers, retirements, and deaths of sworn officers or civilian employees; G.O. are general orders; S.O. are special orders that deal with assignments to specific events or duties, items of interest to bureau personnel, or miscellaneous orders not included in other categories; P.D. are all disciplinary actions concerning any member of the bureau. The administration personnel subseries contains police personnel assignment books from different offices throughout the Portland Police Bureau. These books include position title, class code, and date appointed. The police bureau general orders subseries contains orders for members of the Portland Police Bureau. They are organized into different tabs, including bureau organization, personnel general administration, discipline, disability, field operations, weapons, uniforms, maintenance, emergencies, arrests, and report writing. The NOBLE subseries contains materials related to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement. This organization was founded in 1976 to address crime in low-income urban areas, police community relations, justice administration, and the hiring and promotion of black police officers. NOBLE has a chapter in NW Portland that has been operating since its founding. In this series there are documents, newspapers, and VHS tapes related to NOBLE conferences, fundraising, planning, correspondence, and city and county diversity files. The precinct, division, and special unit records series contains records related to specific precincts, divisions, and units within the Portland Police Bureau, including the Traffic Division, Detective Division, Juvenile Division, Civil Defense Unit, deputy chief office, Crime Prevention Unit, and North Precinct. Records include reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, educational materials, correspondence, plans, and manuals. The traffic subseries contains reports from the Portland Police Bureau and the City of Portland regarding accidents, vehicles, and general traffic in Oregon. The materials from the police bureau include reports from the Traffic Division of the PPB which was founded in 1919. These reports include stolen vehicles, towing, hit and runs, pinch books, traffic citations, traffic reports, and accident investigations. Materials from the City of Portland include the Oregon Traffic Accident and Financial Responsibility Report and traffic statistics. The major cases subseries contains news clippings, officers’ reports, hospital reports, and photographs related to significant cases addressed by the Portland Police Bureau’s Detective Division. These cases include individual criminals, missing persons, murders, riots, and burglaries. The juvenile education subseries contains traffic accident reports, Juvenile Division reports, and K-12 educational materials related to traffic safety, drivers’ education, crime prevention, and community officer programs and outreach. The disaster relief subseries contains flood plans, flood fight operations, newspaper clippings, and chief’s office correspondence primarily related to two major Portland flood disasters in 1956 and 1964. This series outlines the importance of civil defense for disaster relief. The Captain Wayne Sullivan files, deputy chief subseries contains correspondence, memos, photographs, investigations, orders, and proposed charters during the years Wayne Sullivan served as both the East Precinct Captain and the Portland Police Deputy Chief. Both positions are high ranking in the police department and report directly to the chief of police. The crime prevention and community policing subseries contains materials from different neighborhoods in Portland, primarily the Buckman and Brentwood-Darlington neighborhoods. There are photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, programs, and documents. This series addresses community policing plans as well as rules and procedures about crime prevention. The North Precinct and St. John’s subseries contains documents, plans, project manuals, and committee information for the North Portland Police station, also referred to as the North Precinct, and St. John’s City Hall. The construction of St. John’s City Hall began in 1906. After St. John’s annexation in 1915, the City of Portland used the building to house members of Portland Fire & Rescue and the North Precinct of the Portland Police Bureau. This series primarily includes plans for the remodeling and restoration of the North Precinct and St. John’s City Hall in 1977. It also includes project manuals for community policing facilities. The Crime Prevention Unit subseries contains goals, objectives, programs, traffic safety statistics, annual reports, and correspondence related to the Portland Police Bureau’s Crime Prevention Unit, also known as Portland’s Crime Prevention Program. This unit was created to empower and organize Portland community members to participate in public safety efforts. The personnel series contains records related to Portland Police Bureau officers, including personnel folders, ceremonial records, Fire and Police Pension and Disability Fund, wages and compensation, labor agreements, and the Portland Police Association. Records include journals, constitutions, memos, programs, bulletins, photographs, negatives, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, ballot measures, compensation plans, and correspondence. The Portland Police Association subseries contains documents about associations within the Portland Police Bureau, including the Portland Police Association, the Police Athletic and Beneficiary Association, and the Portland Police Athletic Association. The Portland Police Association was established in 1942. It is an independent labor organization representing individuals who work for the Portland Police Bureau. Documents in this series include journals, constitutions, histories, programs, and bulletins. The police retirement personnel subseries contains materials about Portland police officers, including fingerprint cards, police portraits, appointment and retirement photographs, negatives, personnel forms, lists of retirees, memorial services, and retired officer directories. This series also contains some sensitive materials, including police officers’ social security numbers. These materials have been placed in redacted files. The police retirement celebration subseries contains materials from retired police officer celebrations, including retirement banquets, picnics, holiday parties, and golf tournaments. The series houses photographs, negatives, slides, scrapbooks, programs, tickets, and newspaper clippings. The police pension, disability, and retirement subseries contains documents, newspaper clippings, booklets, and manuals about the Fire and Police Disability and Retirement Fund. This fund is led by a board of trustees and was created to provide benefits for fire and police employees who have become sick or disabled or have served for a certain number of years. This series provides background on changes made to the fund throughout the years, and the manuals outline the benefits that employees are eligible for. The wages and compensation subseries contains documents related to payment for police officers and city employees. Documents include job announcements, ballot measures, salary ranges, compensation plans, payroll adjustments, characteristics of successful applicants, and police salary schedules. The labor agreements subseries contains labor agreements between the City of Portland and other organizations, including the Portland Police Association, District Council of Trade Unions, corrections officers, and City of Portland employees. The labor agreements are booklets that establish procedures for the resolution of differences and the establishment of rates of pay, hours of work, and other conditions of employment. The police awards and associations subseries contains materials about awards for members of the police bureau and fire department. This includes awards correspondence, memos, letters of recommendation, committees, nominations, and potential candidates. The awards are distributed by the Portland Police Bureau and other organizations throughout Portland. The reserves series contains records related to the Portland Police Bureau’s police reserves and the police academy. Records include newspaper clippings, documents, reports, photographs, correspondence, meeting minutes, tests, grades, and schedules. The reserves subseries contains news clippings, documents, reports, and photographs regarding the Portland Police Bureau’s police reserves which includes the auxiliary police, assistant police, special police, and the veterans’ guard and patrol. The reserves are typically volunteers or part-time officers of a regular police force. They assist with general law enforcement and crime prevention duties to supplement the full-time, regular police officers. This series includes police reserves trainings, meeting minutes, operational guidelines, calendars and papers, correspondence, reports, statistics, photographs, and interview transcripts. The police academy subseries contains lists of students, graduation information, correspondence, tests, grades, schedules, training programs, modules, and class photographs. The Portland Police Academy was created in 1919. It is a training school for police cadets that is designed to certify them as police officers and prepare them to join a law enforcement agency. The publications and reference materials series contains publications created by and for the Portland Police Bureau and press releases related to general crime and public safety in Portland. Records include bulletins, manuals, rule books, press books, reports, and newspaper clippings. The publications and references subseries contains documents and publications related to the Portland Police Bureau. Records include progress reports, interrogation logs, auto theft bulletins, chief’s newsletters, accessibility guides, organizational charts, street index guides, internal audit reports, and cop creative writing. The rules and regulations subseries contains manuals and rulebooks created by and for the Portland Police Bureau. These materials cover various trainings, procedures, codes, rules, resource guides, and vehicle laws. The manuals and rule books do not provide complete documentation of their subject matter, but instead are intended for quick reference for officers. The training and tips subseries contains bulletins designed to keep officers up to date and informed on new policies and procedures to better the bureau. Bulletins include tips on techniques, public relations, reserves training, and special bulletins. This series also contains course lists, officer qualifications, and training manuals from the Bureau of Police Training Division. The press releases subseries contains press books, reports of criminal offenses, newspaper clippings, and other stories from major news outlets in Portland such as Willamette Weekly, The Oregonian, and The Skanner. The stories cover the Portland Police Bureau and general crime and public safety in Portland. The maps and plans series contains maps and plans of Portland Police Bureau buildings, city buildings, and the Portland area. The subject matter of these maps includes floor plans, remodeling, neighborhood association boundaries, record drawings, city boundaries, county maps, interior modifications, and demolition diagrams.
