In April, Portland lost a true crime fighter. Activist Dan Handelman: anti-war advocate, co-founder of Peace and Justice Works and the brain behind Portland Copwatch, died of a stroke at age 60. Dan wasn’t your typical crime fighter. His brand of justice was hyper-focused on pursuing those legally bound to stop crime — cops themselves.
The announcement of his death on April 9 sent a tremor of sadness across Portland’s robust activist and social justice community. Many went to their social media accounts to reflect on Dan — leaving messages of gratitude and grief.
He was the kind of organizer that almost always left an impression. What I noticed most about Dan when I started attending City Council meetings over a decade ago was his consistency. That guy was always there. At least when anything pertaining to the Portland Police Bureau was on the docket. His commitment and hardened determination for justice complemented a stern and serious disposition.
So, when I was invited to chaperone an elder activist to Dan’s funeral at Lone Fir Cemetery in late April, I was more than pleasantly surprised to hear friends and colleagues reflect on Dan’s warmth and humor.
People described how he was the influence that got them active in social justice. They talked about his deep sense of community and collectivity, from potlucks to envelope stuffing parties. Many remembered Dan’s office. How not only was it center stage for his meticulous notes and resources on police misconduct and other programs for Peace and Justice Works, but that it also held dozens of little moments like newspaper comic strips and other subtly funny political ephemera.
It was a place, I heard, that easily put a smile on anyone’s face who was used to Dan’s public and more hardened disposition. Stacked to the brim with files, reports, excessively mended equipment and the occasional smile. It was a true reflection of his mind, one colleague told me.
Dan, too, was full to the brim with information, “a walking encyclopedia,” or a “radical keeper” some would say. He kept copious notes and records, tracked immense amounts of data, then made it all public on portlandcopwatch.org.
The website, a hand-coded digital space so rife with 1990s blog-like aesthetic you’d think it was uploaded via reel-to-reel. If you didn’t know Dan, you might guess Portland Copwatch’s retro styling was satirical. Instead, it was the result of a mindset: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “if it is broke, fix-it-’til-it’s-broke-again.”
Available there is every copy of “People’s Police Report,” a triennial newsletter that summarized his police surveillance going back to the early 1990s. It included the column “Rapping Back: Analysis of the Portland Police ‘Union’ Newsletter, the Rap Sheet,” which pointedly, and humorously, exposed the police union’s disdain for public scrutiny and even at times, their own jobs. Both of these (along with seemingly everything else) are archived on the website.
While the face of Copwatch was ever present at police accountability meetings, Dan was also a fervent supporter from behind the scenes. If there was a call for a march, he could be counted on to map the route. If there was a protest or a public event addressing police accountability, Flying Focus, the video collective he was a core member of, was there to film it. In the wake of a police murder, Dan was there to support the surviving family in a way that never centered himself or the organization. “Humble” was a word I heard most often when collecting folks’ thoughts about Dan. And all of this tireless work was done strictly as a volunteer and spanned back decades to the early 1990s.
It’s hard not to dwell on this loss at a time when so many are looking to seasoned activists for direction and hope.
However, while he was single-handedly synonymous with Portland Copwatch, Dan’s work has continually been supported by a myriad of organizers, volunteers and partner organizations over the past 30-plus years. Many are still active and very much in the fight to stop police violence, fight for peace and put an end to oppression in our communities.
It’s impossible to summarize all the ways Dan fought for and protected community. But if one thing is true, it’s that Dan certainly left a deep impression. Some of these impressions are collected below to remember his contributions, reverberations and dedication to the movement.
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“Dan taught me so much, both about the history and politics of policing in America and in Portland, but also about principled advocacy. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of public safety issues in Oregon, and I often reached out to him with a question, to share some news, or to talk through an issue. I’m beyond grateful for his immense contributions to our community, and his invaluable insights and depth of knowledge. I’m grateful to have been in community with Dan, to have had the gift of his presence in my life, and to have known the generosity of his spirit. His principles and actions were grounded in an unwavering commitment to peace and justice, and vision of public safety where everyone — community members and cops alike — got to go home safe. He believed in transparency and police accountability, unradical ideas that somehow get distorted by those opposed to these concepts, and he strove to attain these goals on a daily basis. May we honor him with our continued advocacy for a world where peace and justice thrive.”
Ashlee Albies
Friend, fellow advocate and attorney,
Albies & Stark, LLC
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“Under Dan’s leadership, (PCW) accomplished critically important advances in promoting police accountability by educating the public on police misconduct. He also contributed to the development of citizen-positive municipal ordinances and state laws in accordance with higher standards of justice.
Just one of the many ways Dan significantly contributed to the advancement of true justice in law enforcement was when he exposed the state’s attorney general’s office for being negligent in ensuring law enforcement agencies collect and report data on firearm usage.
In this effort, Dan and PCW volunteers conducted painstaking research which was presented to the attorney general. This work made the public and media aware of this serious failure to protect the public.”
Mr. Wiley Barnett
Retired educator, colleague of
Dan Handelman
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“Dan Handelman made sure that the people who are harmed in police encounters weren’t forgotten. He built an indispensable public archive that lives on through how we all engage and continue that work.”
Kaia Sand
Writer and former executive director,
Street Roots
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“Two things to remember about Dan are his bravery and dedication. He set aside a great deal of quality and pleasures in life in order to completely be attentive to the question of police accountability — and he did that largely alone.
Dan had some allies and colleagues, but when it came to the nuts and bolts — the details of his work — Dan was quite alone with those. He did that in part because he was concerned about harassment and surveillance of others. He felt that he could take that on, along with the drudgery of running an organization and the thousands of police accountability meetings, so that others would not have to.
We see the people demonstrating when something happens, but who comes into City Hall and who engages in the dialogue, and who reads the police reports, and oversight committees reports? Dan did that. Then he would report back to the community and eventually build an ownership in police accountability.
As a result, Portland has a great deal of engagement regarding police affairs compared to other cities, which is fairly unusual. He accomplished that mission.”
Jason Renaud
Colleague and Board Secretary,
Mental Health Association of Portland
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“Dan had a staggering reaction to racial injustice and the violence and death caused by war and police brutality. At the same time, his humble way of existing allowed him to dedicate his life to gathering, sharing and testifying about — with accuracy — information and data that brought the moral failures by the powers that be to the forefront.
Dan advocated against the egregious amount of money spent on deadly wars and policing. He passionately fought to bring about accountability, to meet community needs and keep people safe. Ultimately, Dan fought to provide long overdue justice and reparations to the people. Miss you Dan, try to rest in peace.”
Charlie Michelle-Westley
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Decolonizing Indigenous, defender of justice for the people
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“I met Dan when I was hired by the Albina Ministerial Alliance to facilitate community feedback for the inquest for Kendra James, a Black woman killed by a Portland police officer during a traffic stop in 2003. He and I were like foot soldiers when it came to the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition. I remember the first time I saw him, he looked like a nerdy white dude that was very humble.
I have always appreciated the relationship he had with the AMA, with Dr. Rev. Leroy Haines and Dr. Rev. T Allen Bethel. He is a really good model for someone who works with others who don’t actually share all the same values. Bethel was a lot more conservative, so seeing Dan be able to very successfully navigate between these two extreme Black ministers left an impression. A lot of white people can’t do that. He was able to push back when he disagreed but while being very mindful of the traditions of Black churches. For him it was really about peace and bringing people together and not seeking the spotlight. I loved that about him.
He was the kind of organizer that did everything he said he was going to do. That is rare in movement work. For a march, you could rely on Dan to show up, bring a sound system and have signs to pass out. If you needed help planning he would figure out the route, the timing and which direction we were going. Dan was your guy for that. For over 20 years, I have been able to depend on him like that.
I could also depend on him because we had a shared philosophy in nonviolent direct action. Not once had I been at any march with Dan had anyone been arrested, or pepper sprayed, or any negative violence took place. That’s not safe for people of color to ever organize around, or kids. So I appreciated having a partner that protected that same value.
Over the years I saw him be very gentle and committed to families impacted by police brutality, he would center what the family wanted to see done, not himself, or what kind of publicity he could get out of it.
When Quanice Hayes was killed by a Portland Police officer in 2017, a city attorney argued that the mother and grandmother had some percentage of fault for his death because he should have been in school that day. It was so below the belt. Dan, outraged, called members of City Council and wrote about it for Portland Copwatch. It’s just one example of how he used his privilege as a white male to talk about issues that he didn’t really have to talk about. He didn’t have to talk about the experiences of Black men and interacting with the police and how quickly Black men end up dead if there are situations where cops feel threatened in any way shape or form.
Dan and I were really good friends with Keeton Otis’ dad, Fred Bryant. We were very supportive of him getting his story on the record so he could tell his truth. Dan would show up at the monthly memorial for Keeton that’s been going on since 2012. He was there every month like clockwork. The only thing that could keep him from going was another cop accountability meeting.
He was always someone in the back asking, how can I support the family? What does the family need at this moment? I’ve seen him do that over and over again. I really appreciated that about him.
He was committed to making sure that he had a record on anything that had to do with police action and accountability in the city of Portland. So he became someone that many people relied on. Anytime I wrote about the subject, I could call Dan to check my facts before publication.
We spent years together in countless police accountability meetings. I could get him to laugh but it was only after we spent four or five freakin’ hours in a conference room with the DOJ or something, hitting our heads against the wall trying to make changes to a settlement agreement, or something else. I’d be like, ‘ok, if you hold ‘em down, I’ll punch’ em’ and he’d laugh. He is going to be a missed force, without a doubt.”
Jo Ann Hardesty
Former Portland city commissioner
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“I moved to Portland in October 2009, and within three months, I found myself at Maranatha Church for a community rally in response to Aaron Campbell’s murder.
I learned so much from that experience. Including the Albina Ministerial Alliance and the Black faith leaders who had been demanding accountability and justice for decades, as had Dan Handelman and Portland Copwatch.
I remember first meeting him in 2011 when I was 20 years old, at the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street movement in Portland. I immediately noticed his quiet, composed demeanor. But also his steady, knowing presence.
Over the years, I saw him show up at city council meetings, grassroots rallies and community forums. Dan was always kind, and had something thoughtful to say.
Portland was a better place because of Dan Handelman, and all the ways he modeled selfless service. These will be big shoes to fill.”
cameron whitten
Founder, CEO and chief healing officer, Brown Hope
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“There was just a very nice and considerate side of Dan that I really always appreciated. In the ways that he interacted with people at PJW. More than a social justice organizer, he was also a social organizer. He really wanted people to meet and respected people’s time by having materials prepped.
You know if he was in college in a chemistry class, he would have gotten an A+ on his pre-labs because he always set things up so nice for people coming in to volunteer.
Dan’s meetings are very particular in flavor. Everything was timed down to the specific minute. Even at the mailing parties he would calculate out how long exactly it would take to put mailing addresses on a certain number of envelopes with a certain number of people to do it, keeping in mind who was slower or faster. Even calculating out how long his traffic time would be in getting to the post office.
Dan was one of the fastest people at the mailing parties. Him and another board member that he nicknamed “lightning fingers.” So, some of us would have fun trying to beat him. We would distract Dan with some kind of movie question, he loved funny TV shows, MST3000 and Ghosts were some of his favorites. We would be like “oh gosh, when was the first Jaws movie made?” Then he would pause on his stack of mailings and go to his computer. We would then rush to see if we could beat Dan while he was distracted.
Before COVID, at our meetings we would often involve vegetarian potlucks. I remember folks bringing special banana bread, some folks would bring these little fruit candies, almost like Turkish delight style. Dan being vegetarian, he always brought a tofu vegetable assembly. The vegetarian potluck was an extension in which Dan sought peace throughout all of his life. Not just in holding cops accountable and in rallying for nonviolence.
A surprising aspect of Dan is he was an archivist at heart. The office might look overwhelming in the amount of materials there are but it’s a reflection of Dan’s mind, and its capacity. Oftentimes Dan’s brain was a little overwhelming in how much he kept up on as our city’s unofficial police historian. A close friend calls him a “radical keeper.”
And Dan had room for humor. I’m sitting at his desk right now and looking at a wall with a ‘Life in Hell’ comic strip from Matt Groening on it, and a cut out cartoon from the Portland Mercury taped to his computer monitor. There are photos, graphs, protest posters and buttons. I’m looking at one right now that says “fund the poor, not the war.” This place is an extension of Dan’s brain, he had so much going on there.
We found things like his office chair. It’s been mended ten different ways with gaffers tape and plumbing clamps, with glue and pieces of wood. His dedication to reuse and getting the most out of an item. He never wanted to buy an answer, but rather fix the problems that arise.
Through the humor in his office, and seeing photos of young Dan, with all smiles, that his brothers have brought around — it’s nice seeing the levity side of him considering the very hard and serious issues he kept at the forefront of his mind. I’m glad to see those, and I hope there were many more lighthearted moments that Dan had in his life that I didn’t get to see.
The overriding lesson during the aftermath of Dan’s passing is that mourning someone’s death is best done in community. Grieving individually has its importance but grieving for a friend with others is really the best way to do this.”
Jocelyn McAuley
Colleague and board member,
Peace and Justice Works
Friends, family, colleagues and comrades will be celebrating Dan’s life on Saturday, June 28th 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Following the service at Clinton Street Theater will be a vegetarian potluck at Woodstock Park. RSVP at bit.ly/43X9VOc to attend.
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This article appears in June 25, 2025.