Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer has signed a letter of proposed discipline for the cops who arrested James Chasse Jr., despite a public disagreement with Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman over the punishment he recommended.
Officer Chris Humphreys and Sgt. Kyle Nice got letters on Wednesday proposing 80 hours of unpaid leave for their role in Chasse’s 2006 death in police custody. Sizer’s signature was on the letters, says Sgt. Scott Westerman, head of the police union.
That’s notable because Sizer in September proposed punishing only Nice, with just 40 hours of unpaid leave.
And it’s a stark difference from 2007, when Sizer split with then-Mayor Tom Potter over discipline for Lt. Jeff Kaer for his role in a 2006 shooting death. Sizer had proposed a suspension, but Potter made the final decision to fire Kaer.
Sizer at the time refused to sign the letter of discipline Potter sent to Kaer. Kaer was kicked off the force, until an arbitrator overturned the decision and returned Kaer’s badge in 2008.
Sizer declined to comment because, she says, the discipline is a personnel matter and the case is the subject of a lawsuit.
- BREAKING: Chief Sizer takes on Mayor Potter—sort of WW caught
- Police Union Prez: Board Cleared Chasse Cops, but Sizer Still Mum The newly
- Chief Releases Chasse Findings (UPDATED with response from Chasse family) More than
- UPDATED: Mayor stands by decision to fire Lt. Jeff Kaer Mayor Tom
- Mayor proposes firing Portland Police Lt. Jeff Kaer Mayor Tom
Tags: Dan Saltzman, james chasse, Jeff Kaer, police, Portland, rosie sizer
I bet most murders wish they had unions defending them.
The defense some union environments provide is exactly why some dysfunctionals seek protection through them…they are enabled to; bully, harass, threaten and I gather now kill? with little, if no consequences. When it’s discovered that a union employee’s behavior is so heinous, they attempt to harass whistle-blowers into silence and/or pay the dysfunctional to go away, the facts are suppressed, with the public being none the wiser.
Imo, unions actually incite this vicious cycle. It’s a racket. Organized crime out in the open, enabled by officials deep-rooted relationships with them, and it’s all unfortunately funded for the most part by clueless taxpayers. With unsuspecting citizen victims viewed by authorities as collateral damage, having little, if no value, in the grand scheme of things. What’s next? Whose next? Read yesterday and today’s news. I guess it’s officer Elliott.
It’s quite sad actually, that public servants in authority can draw obvious reasonable and responsible conclusions on behalf of public interests, yet choose not to take the appropriate steps to intervene, and stop this “stuff” from EVER happening again. I don’t understand why it doesn’t make them complicit in these acts.
[...] – One Notable Difference in How Chief Sizer Handled the Chasse and Kaer Cases (Updated with Sizer No-C…, Willamette Week, November 5, 2009 MORE – Officers’ suspension recommended 3 years after [...]
Sickening..