Portland Police Public Records Project

In December of 2024, The ACLU of Oregon, in partnership with Don’t Shoot PDX — an arts and education organization that promotes social justice and civic participation — submitted three public records requests to the City of Portland, the Oregon Department of Justice (ODOJ), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The requests seek to identify how state and local law enforcement agencies collaborate with federal law enforcement to monitor and surveil Oregonians engaged in racial justice and other forms of lawful advocacy and protest.

After receiving the files and combing through thousands of public records from the City of Portland, we found many examples of potential violations of ORS 181A.250 — an Oregon law that prohibits police from collecting information about people’s political, religious, or social activities unless it’s directly tied to a criminal investigation.

Among the potential violations, we found that between 2020 and 2021, Portland Police monitored events organized across various social justice groups and distributed a list of these events to both Oregon and federal law enforcement agencies.

Below are highlights and patterns from the Portland Police's public records.

The City of Portland shares the final batch of public records.

The City of Portland shares the first batch of public records.

City of Portland issues a partial refund and waives additional fees for a delay in processing and reviewing the public records request.

The ACLU of Oregon and Don’t Shoot PDX submit two additional public records requests to the City of Portland and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Request sent to City of Portland
Request sent to Portland FBI Field Office

The ACLU of Oregon and Don’t Shoot PDX submit an initial public records request to the Oregon Department of Justice (ODOJ).

Request sent to TITAN Fusion Center