Steve Duin outlines the litany of recent complaints about the Portland Police Bureau in an article for The Oregonian:
In the brutal chain of personalities and events that have licensed Portland police to turn a beanbag shotgun on a 12-year-old girl, the aloof commissioner, absentee mayor and anything-goes police chief aren't nearly as significant as James Chasse Jr., Eunice Crowder and Barbara Weich.
Chasse, of course, died after Officer Christopher Humphreys pancaked the 145-pound schizophrenic when he had the audacity to flee the cops' approach.Click here for the full story (you'll find a quote from me near the end).
Crowder? In 2003, police pepper-sprayed the 71-year-old blind woman with such enthusiasm that her glass eye popped out of its socket, then used a Taser on her four times as she lay in the dirt.
And Weich? In 2005, the 58-year-old gallery owner tossed a derogative term at one of Portland's finest -- Officer Greg Adrian -- after the motorcycle cop gave her a ticket, she says, then mocked her annoyance.
Adrian followed Weich over the Hawthorne Bridge and pulled her over again. "He then hit her in the face with enough force to leave bruising on her cheek and neck," said Greg Kafoury, her attorney. "He then grabs her arm, pulls it out the window, twists it, puts his weight down on it ... fractures the arm."
Weich subsequently moved to rural Idaho. "She was shattered by the experience," Kafoury said.
Adrian? "He received no discipline," Commissioner Randy Leonard reminds us.
Portland police are all about imposing discipline, not exercising it. For years now, escalating displays of excessive force have prompted nothing but shrugs from the police chief and six-figure settlement offers from city attorneys.
KXL invited me to discuss this most recent incident - where a 12-year old girl was shot with a bean bag gun - with C.W. Jensen, a former police bureau official. The "debate" aired yesterday morning and you can listen to the podcast here:
Our conversation starts at about the 1/2 point on this 8 minute recording.
(some browsers - like Firefox or Google Chrome - will allow you to simply click on the link and listen...otherwise click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose “Save Target As” and save to your desktop or other folder – once downloaded click on the file to listen).
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