Willamette Week | Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Police Union Plans No-Confidence Vote on Saltzman and Sizer

5:13 PM November 20th, 2009 by James Pitkin
City Hall / Cops / News | No Comments »

The Portland Police Association today announced plans to hold a no-confidence vote next week on Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Chief Rosie Sizer after the two leaders yesterday disciplined Officer Chris Humphreys.

The union board representing rank-and-file officers today unanimously agreed to put the no-confidence vote to its 900 members, according to a news release (PDF).

“Leadership of the Police Bureau at the hands of Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Chief Sizer has failed Officer Chris Humphreys and our entire membership,” the news release quotes Sgt. Scott Westerman (see photo), the union president, as saying.

“The events of the last few weeks have shown that Dan Saltzman cares more about politics than he does for the lives and families of police officers,” the Westerman quote continues. “Likewise, Chief Sizer’s failure to stand by the officers of this bureau when they have done absolutely nothing wrong and are being used as political pawns is deplorable.”

Humphreys was involved in a Nov. 14 incident on an East Portland MAX platform where Humphreys shot a 12-year-old girl with a beanbag gun. The girl was resisting arrest and tussling with another officer, Aaron Dauchy.

The cops also plan a rally to support Humphreys and collect ballots in the no-confidence vote on Tuesday, according to the news release. The date and time of the rally will be announced Monday.

Rather than listing the PPA office as a contact, the news release gives a phone number for Shannon Berg with Gallatin Public Affairs, a PR firm the union hired earlier this fall. For what it’s worth, the firm’s roster includes former Mayor Vera Katz.

Four Inspiring Women Pick Up Their Skidmore Prize Honors

5:01 PM November 20th, 2009 by Brittany Rogers
News | No Comments »

Four women doing incredible work in local non-profits each got a $4,000 check today as part of this year’s Skidmore Prize ceremony hosted by City Club of Portland at the Governor Hotel.

The prize winners (from left to right in the photo above) are Fowzia Abdulle, an advocate and case manager at Bradley Angle House’s Healing Roots center; lawyer Jennifer Gilmore of Child Centered Solutions; Amy Sacks, executive director of the Pixie Project and Brandi Tuck, executive director of Goose Hollow Family Shelter.

Each works at a nonprofit featured in WW’s annual Give!Guide, which is in its sixth year of raising money for local nonprofits through Dec. 31. (This year’s effort has raised more than $70,000 so far for 79 nonprofits.)

The Skidmore Prize, funded by Momentum Marketing Intelligence, is open to people 35 and younger who work at a nonprofit. The hope is that the money helps the recipients to keep doing their work, and that the attention will inspire other young people to get involved in their communities.

“This is an amazing honor,” Gilmore said of receiving an award for what she calls the “best worst-paying job ever.”

The four award-winners were introduced by WW Publisher Richard Meeker and praised by City Commissioner Nick Fish.

The winners told the audience that the $4,000 will come in handy. Abdulle plans to use the money for her course work at Portland State University; Sacks will split the prize money with her four employees; Tuck intends to buy a car for the shelter’s use; and Gilmore will put the money toward repaying law-school loans.

Asked during an audience question-and-answer period what people can do to help, Tuck’s answer was simple: “Definitely think about volunteering … Getting out there and giving your time.”

(Photos by Tom Martinez)

What Marysville K-8 School’s Last Inspection Report Did Not Say

12:57 PM November 20th, 2009 by Beth Slovic
Education / News | No Comments »

This week’s education story,“Fire Drilled,” recounts the details of a long-simmering dispute inside Portland Public Schools’ electronics shop.

To summarize: Some of the fire-alarm technicians in the department had concerns about the kinds of inspections PPS was conducting on fire alarms at its schools. Until October 2008, PPS performed only what’s known as a “function test” on alarms. “Function tests” demonstrate if alarms work but don’t necessarily show how well they would work in the event of a fire, says Patrick Silver, a fire-alarm technician who retired in September after 21 years at the district.

(PPS, as the owner of its schools, is responsible for testing the alarms; the Portland Fire Marshal’s Office is responsible for making sure PPS has tested its alarms. An expired agreement between the fire marshal and PPS is what allowed PPS to use only the function test for so many years.)

As noted in Wednesday’s story, the last fire-alarm inspection at Marysville K-8 School (which caught fire Nov. 10) was one of these function tests, which on April 30, 2008 looked like this:

Note the bottom of the report, which reads:

This does not certify that the fire alarm system is:

fully functional
code compliant
that any devices other than those listed above have been tested
the devices listed above provide proper coverage
the devices are installed as per code and the manufacturer’s instructions

In October 2008, PPS moved to a more thorough form of inspection. Here’s an example. But the school district has not inspected all of its schools under these new guidelines yet; the district says it’s about 60 days behind schedule.

Humphreys’ Use of Force: Watch the Video

11:20 AM November 20th, 2009 by James Pitkin
Cops / News | 6 Comments »

You’ve probably heard by now that Portland Police Officer Christopher Humphreys — the cop who took James Chasse Jr. to the ground the day Chasse died in police custody in 2006 — has been placed on administrative leave.

Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman made the decision Thursday to take Humphreys off duty pending an Internal Affairs investigation of an incident last Saturday night, when Humphreys fired a beanbag round at close range on a 12-year-old girl on an East Portland MAX platform.

Sgt. Scott Westerman, head of the police union, has argued that Humphreys’ use of the beanbag round was justified and instantly put a stop to the girl’s violent behavior toward Officer Aaron Dauchy. The girl, who has not been named by authorities, allegedly punched Dauchy in the face before scuffling with him on the MAX platform.

Westerman believes that any reasonable person who watches the video will conclude that Humphreys’ use of force was appropriate and exactly what Portland citizens expect of their police. What do you think? The actions starts around 1:10.

The Fabulous Life of Mayor Sam Adams

7:26 AM November 20th, 2009 by Beth Slovic
City Hall / News | 16 Comments »

Mayor Sam Adams will be on vacation all next week. But his last day of work this week is a particularly busy one.

Friday’s agenda includes “desk work,” “Facebook next steps” and the “reindeer nose-lighting ceremony.” On his last day of work before vacation, Adams is also scheduled to attend the groundbreaking ceremony on the Resource Access Center and consider the East Portland “action plan.”

Bill Simmons Greeted Like a Rock Star at Book Signing

4:45 AM November 20th, 2009 by Jonathan Crowl
Books / News / Sports / Trail Blazers | 1 Comment »

Bill Simmons may not be bigger than the Beatles. But for pro basketball fans, he’s pretty damn close.

The ESPN sportswriter was at the Borders Bookstore in Beaverton on Thursday night to sign copies of The Book of Basketball, his tome on pro hoops. The suburban parking lot was full 45 minutes beforehand, and people were literally sprinting through the parking lot into the bookstore after they got off the bus.

Simmons appeared shortly before 7 pm wearing a black hoodie and a shirt featuring the mug of Jeff Bebe, lead signer of the fictional band Stillwater from the movie Almost Famous, which Simmons has praised as his favorite flick of the past decade. Simmons talked with the crowd for a few minutes prior to the signing and delivered the same pop culture-savvy sports commentary that’s made him so popular. Some of the juicier nuggets:

-Simmons attended the Trail Blazers’ game versus Detroit on Wednesday . He polled the Borders crowd about the Blazers’ three-guard system. Simmons felt the Blazers should play the best five regardless of their position.
-He also praised Portland for being the only city in the NBA that doesn’t play hip hop music during the team introductions. “Ballroom Blitz?” he asked. “Do they do that for every game?”
-He apologized for low-balling the Blazers in his season predictions, where he forecast the team would finish 41-41 when many predict they’ll win more than 50 games. “There’s a team every year [that underperforms],” Simmons said. “It was between Portland and New Orleans.”
-All baby-toting fans were encouraged to cut in front of the line for an autograph. “I’ve been there, I know what that’s like,” he said.

Prominent Portland Developer Shot in Mexico

5:21 PM November 19th, 2009 by Nigel Jaquiss
Breaking / News | 1 Comment »

Developer Thorndike “Dike” Dame was shot in the head and seriously wounded while fishing in Mexico over the weekend, WW has learned.

Dame —along with his business partner, Homer Williams— has been heavily involved over the past two decades in high-profile developments in the Pearl District, South Waterfront, and in California and Arizona.

A keen fisherman, the 72-year-old Dame traveled to Lake Huites in the Mexican state of Sinaloa early this month for a 10-day bass fishing trip with another Portland man, Chip Laizure. Laizure says the first seven days of fishing at the lake—which is a four-hour drive from the nearest airport—were uneventful.

Laizure says that all changed at about 3:30 pm on Nov. 14. The two Portlanders and their guide were fishing from a bass boat when Laizure heard an unusual sound and one he’ll never forget—a high-caliber bullet ripping through Dame’s cheek.

“The first announcement of anything going on was hearing the bullet strike Dike’s face,” Laizure says.

Read on »

Chasse Cop Christopher Humphreys Placed on Administrative Leave (UPDATED with union reaction)

4:19 PM November 19th, 2009 by James Pitkin
Cops / News | 11 Comments »

Portland Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman has directed that Police Officer Christopher Humphreys be placed on administrative leave while investigators look into Humphreys firing a beanbag round at the thigh of a 12-year-old girl at close range.

In this release (PDF), police say Humphreys —who also was involved in the death of James Chasse— and Officer Aaron Dauchy responded to a call at 10:47 pm last Saturday that took them to the MAX platform on 162nd Avenue. Police say officers were told there had been a large party with several gang members that had just broken up, and that a gun had been found in bushes near the party.

Humphreys and Dauchy got on the MAX train heading west with about 20-30 teen-agers, including a girl Dauchy knew was excluded from the trains, police say. When Dauchy tried to take her into custody, police say she swung at him and resisted despite repeated warnings from Humphreys that he would fire the beanbag gun.

Police Chief Rosie Sizer says a TriMet video of the incident left her “troubled.” And Saltzman said he “directed that Officer Humphreys be immediately removed from the street and placed on administrative leave.”

Sizer read the prepared statement at a news conference and took no questions. Police spokeswoman, Det. Mary Wheat, wouldn’t comment on whether there was a policy dictating the proper range for a beanbag shot.

UPDATE: After Sizer ended her news conference without taking questions, police union president Scott Westerman held his own news conference on the steps of the Justice Center.

Flanked by about 40 other officers, Westerman said Humphreys is a “well-respected” officer and called his actions “appropriate, justified, warranted and necessary” to defuse the situation. Westerman said regulations governing beanbag use require shots to the torso be from at least 10 feet away but that in closer-range situations, beanbag rounds to the extremities are OK. Westerman added that there are no restrictions on using beanbags against children.

Westerman ascribed Humphreys’ punishment to what he termed a “bias” against Humphreys after the Chasse death. And Westerman said Saltzman’s decision to put Humphreys on administrative leave overrode Sizer’s decision to only take Humphreys off the street.

He said both Sizer and Saltzman have lost the confidence of police rank-and-file.

An Update on K-8s in Portland

3:58 PM November 19th, 2009 by Beth Slovic
Education / News | 4 Comments »

A sub-committee of the Portland School Board met Monday to talk about the current state of Portland Public Schools’ K-8s, the hybrid “elemiddles” Portland created starting in 2004.

Here’s a quick take on the 90-minute meeting:

* The district recognizes some of the small K-8s may never be able to sustain the K-8 model. It’s possible those K-8s won’t stay K-8s forever.

*All K-8s in the district have bell schedules that are 15 minutes shorter than middle schools’ bell schedules. This doesn’t translate directly to 15 fewer instructional minutes (because schools in PPS are like snowflakes; every single one is different with different passing times, etc.) But the district would like all schools with sixth, seventh and eighth grades to start with the same number of minutes in the day, so they’re considering “early recommendations.” But “early” doesn’t really seem like the right word; the district has been working on the problem for three years. And “recommendations” so far seems to mean only that the district recognizes a problem exists.

There’s disagreement about why the problem exists. But one thing appears certain. PPS can’t afford to send two sets of buses to K-8s to accommodate two schedules for K-5 students and 6-8 students. And there doesn’t seem to be a clear (cost-effective) answer.

*Finally, Board Member Ruth Adkins had “urgent” words for PPS administrators. Looking at the data from administrators that showed K-8 students lacked access to geometry classes and generally had fewer enrichment classes, she wanted to know what administrators planned to do now to address the stark differences. That issue was left unresolved in the meeting. Superintendent Carole Smith’s chief of staff seemed to indicate it might be better to start identifying possible improvements now — for implementation next year.

*Adkins also asked the district to reconvene parents in public meetings like the ones around K-8s that happened in late 2007 and early 2008.

Officers Told Today At Roll Call That Chasse Cop Christopher Humphreys In Recent Use-Of-Force Incident

3:53 PM November 19th, 2009 by James Pitkin
Cops / News | 2 Comments »

East Precinct police officers were told today at roll call that Christopher Humphreys, one of the cops involved in the death of James Chasse (photo above), was involved in a use-of-force incident recently in East Portland.

Reports are not entirely complete, but apparently there was a struggle between an officer and a teen-ager and Humphreys fired a beanbag round at the teen-ager from a distance of about one foot.

Police Chief Rosie Sizer is scheduled to have a news conference in a few minutes.

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