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.
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Tags: Christopher Humphreys, Dan Saltzman, james chasse, portland police, rosie sizer
How big was the girl, what was she doing? How big is Humphries? What is the rest of this story? Was she hurt? Were there charges?
Nice. Saltzman made the right call. And Wasterman is probably correct in that there is a bias at work here, that an officer who did not kill Jim Chasse likely could expect to be given a pass on beanbagging a 12-year-old girl.
“He said both Sizer and Saltzman have lost the confidence of police rank-and-file.”
Excellent, now maybe those police officers will move on.
Sorry, but it goes with the job that some suspects have to be dealt with differently than a full-sized, un-subduable male. The girl started the problem by aggressively resisting arrest, but there simply wasn’t the need to use the bagger–just less effort for a lazy cop who clearly designates some people as subhuman.
All he’s done is created a lot more anger and conflict in the community, again, while protecting us from nothing. The cops need him gone as much as the public does.
After watching the video, I really don’t see how the bag served any purpose whatsoever. And, once again, Portland officers failed to understand the mental/developmental status of the individual.
And now the cops are gathering on facebook, making themselves look like nothing more than a street gang. This is getting ludicrous. How much of this police force does not understand the community it is supposed to serve and protect? The amount of insularity is astounding.
So, to recap:
Aggravated assault, murder of James Chasse
Aggravated assault on 12 yr. old minor female
And so far, all this pig Humphreys gets is a pissant “administrative leave”?
I sincrely believe that if Humphreys, who is a cowardly thug, were to literally stomp a baby to death, he would STILL not be fired or prosecuted!
What’s a 12 year old girl doing out at 10:47pm with a group of gang members? If she was told several times to get off TriMet and didn’t she deserves to be beanbagged. What in the world is this world coming to?, espeically our City?
The public wants,deserves and pays to be protected. I don’t care what age you are, if you don’t comply with rules of society, you get what you get. Humphrey’s could have shot her in the leg with a bullet and I would applaud! Somebody ought to bag Saltzman in the head and knock some sense into him!
Totally retract comment..have a right to an opinion but don’t know all the facts.
retract…opinion given without all the facts
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