Police Union Wins

It was a chilling site. Off-duty Portland police officers protesting and wearing tee-shirts that said "I Am Chris Humphreys." Humphreys is one of the police officers who tackled and kicked James Chasse to death three years ago for the crime of looking out of place and running away. We strongly feel Humphreys should have been fired at the time. But while the tee-shirt wearers were tone-deaf and insensitive, we think we know--or at least we hope we know--what they meant. They were talking about Humphreys being recently suspended with pay for using his bean bag shotgun on a 12 year old girl.

Now, this latest Humphreys incident is not cut and dried. The girl is the size of an adult. She apparently struck another officer. Humphreys had his bean bag gun out because he had been at a growing mob scene. He couldn't put his gun down on the MAX platform and he couldn't subdue the girl with just one arm. They were escorting the girl off the train because she had been excluded after a purse snatching. It may have been excessive force, but an investigation is ongoing. What the protestors are worried about is that if they have their guns and badges taken away, like Humphreys, at the behest of City Commissioner Dan Saltzman just because they might have been involved in wrongdoing, they will be second guessing themselves in the future and someone else is going to get hurt.

The police union's no-confidence vote against Chief Rosie Sizer is absurd. If anything, Sizer's decision not to hold Humphreys accountable for the Chasse death is the only major black mark on her record. With Sizer in charge, excessive use of force complaints are down sixty percent. Training is far better and more complete. The Bureau has reached its authorized strength. Her community outreach efforts are unsurpassed. Crime is down. And she has one quality that the police union leadership does not have She is willing to say she was wrong.