When pulling over a car or approaching a pedestrian, Portland police officers should introduce themselves with their full names, explain the reason for the stop, clearly state if they are detaining someone or not and ask if they could do anything to put people at ease.

That’s the unanimous recommendation approved 8-0 Tuesday night by a community group appointed by the mayor to oversee Portland police.

“This recommendation would radically change the interactions at stops or searches by laying out everything about the stop,” said Lakayana Drury, co-chair of the Committee on Community-Engaged Policing. “The Portland Police Bureau under Chief Outlaw has championed procedural justice. This recommendation would put that into practice.’’

Police Chief Jami Resch, who took over for Outlaw on Dec. 31, said she’ll take a look at the idea, but the head of the rank-and-file officer union expressed reservations about officers required to follow a script.

Both Resch and Officer Daryl Turner said police already do most of these things.

The committee’s proposal also urges the Police Bureau to note in police reports why officers make the stops.

Portland officers stopped African American motorists and pedestrians at more than twice the rate of white people stopped during 12 months ending in June, according to data examined by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. African American motorists also were more likely to be searched, yet less likely than whites to be found with contraband.

City auditors reported in May that the bureau still doesn’t document investigative reasons for motorist and pedestrian stops by the former Gang Enforcement Team, now the Gun Violence Reduction Team. The auditors also said police have no comprehensive data on what they call "mere conversations'' – defined as contacts with people who are free to leave at any time.

The audit also found the Gang Enforcement Team lacked records to explain why its officers pulled over so many African American motorists during traffic stops or if their tactics were effective in reducing violence.

“If people are being treated fairly and justly, they’re more likely to follow the law,’’ said Marcia Perez, a member of the oversight committee who worked as a Multnomah County juvenile court counselor and now serves as a youth and gang violence prevention coordinator.

“This will help increase trust with the community.’’

She said she hopes police officials will work with committee members to iron out specific language for a new policy. “We’re not policy experts but can make recommendations to develop one collaboratively,’’ she said.

The bureau now requires officers to display their badge and name tag on their uniform, identify themselves by name and offer their police business card when responding to an emergency call, making a stop or conducting an investigation. They aren’t required to identify themselves when it would compromise their safety, interfere with police duties or if a supervisor says they don’t have to because of a safety concern, special assignment or other reason.

Resch said she believes officers now do a lot of what the committee is recommending but she’ll review the proposal details with the bureau’s policy team.

Under Outlaw, the bureau began to include procedural justice concepts in all training. The four main principles are: giving someone a voice, being neutral in decision-making, promoting transparency or respect in officers’ actions and trustworthiness.

Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, said officers practice the protocols the community group has recommended. Officers, though, shouldn’t be required to provide specific instructions in a specific order because of the different dynamics involved in each stop, he said.

“There is no one-size-fits-all and only the officer involved in the interaction can access what information shall be given and in which order it’s given in,’’ he said.

Drury shared an experience he had last Sunday night when he received a call from a young man of color, a student of his from his work in the community, who was stopped and pulled over outside Portland. The student called him and asked him to remain on FaceTime with him.

“He feared for his safety, wanted me to stay on the line,’’ Drury said. “The officer was agitated. He (the student) began recording the incident, when for him it was a matter of personal safety.’’

Drury had taught at Rosemary Anderson High School before becoming executive director of the nonprofit Word is Bond, which works to build positive relationships between young black men and law enforcement.

Drury also criticized the question that police sometimes ask motorists, “Do you know why I stopped you?’’

“It’s a backwards question, asking me to incriminate myself,’’ Drury said.

He wants officers to ask motorists if there’s any “reasonable accommodation’’ the officer can make to make the motorist feel more safe. That can range, he said, from stepping back slightly, writing down their instructions and showing them to the person or giving a motorist a chance to call a mentor.

Acting Capt. Chuck Lovell, a supervisor of the Police Bureau’s community services division, said everything officers do when they stop a car is intended to keep the officer safe, as well as the motorist and passengers in the car. Officers are instructed to “over convey’’ information, asking such questions as the location of someone’s driver’s license so the officer knows where it is before a motorist reaches for it.

The committee also adopted an idea offered by Dan Handelman of the police watchdog group Portland Copwatch: The officer should ask motorists to keep their hands visible for their safety and then ask if there are any other reasonable accommodations they can make to ensure the driver feels more comfortable.

Amy Anderson, a committee member who works as a peer wellness specialist for a Cascadia Behavioral health team, expressed initial reluctance to support the policy recommendation, concerned it could put officers at a greater risk.

“Every single stop is a potential risk to life and limb,’’ she said.

But she ended up supporting the idea after other committee members pointed out that officers would be excused from the requirement in certain circumstances if it would impair their duties or when a crime is in progress, weapons are visible or where force may be necessary.

In other action, the community group didn’t endorse the use of body cameras for officers but adopted recommendations governing their use if police ever decide to provide them to officers.

Resch has voiced support to outfit officers in a pilot program before providing the cameras to the full bureau.

The community group said: Officers should be randomly selected for the pilot project; an independent third-party should store the footage and make the footage available to the public; officers should write their police reports before viewing footage so they don’t tailor their accounts based on the video; and officers who turn off their cameras when they’re supposed to be operating should face strict discipline, including termination.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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