Totality of Circumstances

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Sidelwalk chalk names of people killed by police from a protest outside PPB East Precinct in 2018
Hosted by: 
Sam Bouman, JayMonay
Produced by: 
KBOO
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A holistic, people-centered conversation about policing in Portland and beyond, with an emphasis on community oversight, social justice activism, and alternatives to current paradigms.

 

Totality of circumstances is a legal concept with a wide usage, but in this context it is part of the framework used around police interactions with the public, in which the actions of an officer are viewed in terms of the “totality of the circumstances” at the moment of interaction, and specifically at the moment force is used against a civilian. It is a deceptive term—“totality” is viewed entirely from the viewpoint of the officer, and the factors at play in their mind, as opposed to the true “totality of circumstances” at play in the interaction—the place of the police and civilian in an unjust capitalist system; systemic and personal racism and bigotry; societal attitudes towards the mentally ill, economically disadvantaged, and certain subcultures; entrenched interests like business and police unions; structures of power at the city, county, state and federal levels; and the weight of history and the status quo.

 

Reach us at totalityradio@gmail.com

Streams: 
KBOO Stream 1
Program status: 
Current

October 25, 2022 | Interview with Police Accountability Commission Co-Chairs

Airs at: Tue, 10/25/2022 at 5:30pm - 6:00pm
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  This month we spoke with the co-chairs of the Portland Police Accountability Commission's fact-finding phase. The PAC is a 20-member all-volunteer group that is tasked with creating the new police accountability system demanded by voters in 2020. The fact-finding phase i... Read more

Full Interview: Teressa Raiford

Airs at: Tue, 03/22/2022 at 5:30pm - Wed, 03/23/2022 at 6:00pm
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    For this month’s show we spoke with Teressa Raiford, a longtime Portland activist and founder of Don’t Shoot Portland, and a former candidate for Multnomah County Sheriff and most recently Portland mayor in 2020.   We checked in about some of Don’t Shoot Portland’s o... Read more

Totality of Circumstances | October 26, 2021

Airs at: Tue, 10/26/2021 at 5:30pm - 6:00pm
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  This month, Sam and Jasmin speak with Ardeshir Tabrizian, a journalist currently with the Salem Reporter, and Ellen Osoinach, an attorney with the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press. This is part of our ongoing coverage of Portland's ongoing attempt to establi... Read more

Totality of Circumstances | April 27, 2021

Airs at: Tue, 04/27/2021 at 5:30pm - 6:00pm
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Sam and Jasmin chat with Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch about recent developments with the Citizen Review Committee (CRC). Watch the City Council session: City Council 2021-04-08 PM Session Read more

Totality of Circumstances | March 23, 2021

Airs at: Tue, 03/23/2021 at 5:30pm - 6:00pm
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  A Look at an Ongoing Legal Complaint against the City of Portland and Multnomah County for Violating the Constitutional Rights of Protesters   This month's show is dedicated to an interview with Vika Safarian, an associate attorney with Levi Merithew Horst LC. She is pa... Read more

Full Interview | Vika Safarian

Airs at: Tue, 03/23/2021 at 5:30pm - 6:00pm
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  This is the full version of the interview with Vika Safarian from the March 23, 2021 episode of Totality of Circumstances. Safarian is an associate attorney with Levi Merithew Horst LC in Portland, and part of the legal team representing Don't Shoot Portland and other pl... Read more

Totality of Circumstances | February 23, 2021

Airs at: Tue, 02/23/2021 at 5:30pm - 6:00pm
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  On this month's show: The Citizen Review Committee disputes the findings of a police misconduct investigation stemming from the alleged mishandling of a car theft report, and a nightmarish confusion of paperwork. Their decision forces a conference hearing with the Chi... Read more

Full Interview | Dr. Juniper Simonis

Airs at: Tue, 02/23/2021 at 5:30pm - 6:00pm
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  This is the full version of an interview with Dr. Juniper Simonis, an environmental scientist and data researcher with Dapper Stats and the Chemical Weapons Research Consortium, from the February 23, 2021 episode of Totality of Circumstances. Dr. Simonis witnessed the st... Read more

Full Interview | Dan Handelman

Airs at: Tue, 02/23/2021 at 5:30pm - 6:00pm
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  An edited version of this interview appeared on the February 23, 2021 episode of Totality of Circumstances. Dan Handelman has been a Portland activist focusing on police issues with Portland Copwatch since the early 1990s. He talks about his observations of the relations... Read more

IPR Director Ross Caldwell

Airs at: Fri, 07/24/2020 at 5:00pm - 6:00pm
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  Portland’s primary police oversight system is overseen by the City Auditor’s Independent Police Review Division (IPR). IPR was founded in 2001 after a citizen-led initiative to overhaul the twenty-year old system then in place. Since then, it has both been touted as one ... Read more