By Denis C. Theriault, Portland Mercury, Oct. 2, 2013 Will Aitchison, the longtime (and now retired) attorney for the Portland Police Association (PPA), was known for many things over the decades he spent defending his client in contract talks, court fights, government hearings, and arbitration cases. He’s sharp-tongued. He’s deft with explanations. He’s disarmingly charming. […]
By Pastor Mark Knutson and Dan Handelman of the Albinia Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform In late May, consultants from the Los Angeles-Based OIR Group released a study on Portland Police Bureau shootings and deaths in custody. The Oregonian has supported the consultants’ call for the Bureau to learn more from its […]
Will They Ever Learn? Report on Cop Shooting Investigations Finds “Room for Improvement” Portland Mercury, June 27, 2012 The day after the city released an outside analysis of seven police shootings since 2004—a report that raised significant concerns about the Portland Police Bureau’s ability to learn from its mistakes—the bureau’s official response didn’t inspire much […]
By Denis C. Theriault, The Portland Mercury, October 20, 2011 They are questions, for any curious citizen, that ought to come with simple answers. How much does the use of excessive force and other inappropriate actions by Portland police officers—the stuff of tort claims and jury trials, but not always newspaper headlines—wind up costing taxpayers? […]
From the Portland Mercury, May 22, 2011 Mike Reese Didn’t Grow Up Dreaming He’d Be a Cop. But he’s the guy who just led Portland’s police force through its most “tumultuous” year in memory. We talk shootings, mental health, and Tasers—and how next year might be better. Symmetry is a funny thing. When Mike Reese, […]
From the Oregonian, December 10, 2010 Dismissing what he called the “ubiquitous critics” who will never be satisfied with what police do, Portland Police Chief Mike Reese promoted controversial Leo Besner to sergeant Thursday. Reese told the crowd assembled at the Portland Building that he, as chief, has certainly experienced the critics the last week […]
From the Portland Mercury, December 7, 2010 Plans to promote Portland police officer Leo Besner—the police sniper who shot Raymond Gwerder in the back in 2005, while Gwerder was on the phone with a hostage negotiator—are raising an outcry among community members who complain that his conduct over the years has cost the city nearly […]
From the Oregonian, December 6, 2010 Portland Officer Leo Besner, who has cost the city at least $852,000 in tort claims or jury awards since 2003, is among five officers to be promoted to sergeant on Thursday despite lingering questions regarding his fitness as an officer. Bobbie Jo Foster, sister of a man shot in […]
Despite a recent warning in The Skanner, Derald Walker, CEO of Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, thinks Portlanders can, and should, call 911 in crisis, if needed. It’s appropriate, Walker said, and can connect people with resources. The Skanner’s warning came after the shooting death of Aaron Campbell on Jan. 29. Campbell was, according to The Oregonian, […]
Oregon State Senate Bill 111, passed in 2007, in part requires each Oregon county to create a plan regarding the use of deadly force by police offices and sheriff’s deputies. Persons with mental illness and addiction, and their friends and family members are particularly concerned how police officers are trained to use deadly force, and […]
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