RAPPING BACK 26

Portland Copwatch analyzes info in the Police "Union" Newsletter, the Rap Sheet

Boosting Boys in BlueBy Belittling Beatings
and Bursting Blithe Brotherly Bubbles

Getting Priorities straight #1: In that order? "Despite the things we are exposed to and the setbacks we experience as a result of this work we are doing our mission. We are protecting life, property and rights." --PPA President Robert King, Rap Sheet, December 2001.

Psychological Disconnect at the PPA

Two articles in recent issues of the Rap Sheet, the newsletter of the Portland Police Association (PPA), indicate that while some officers (and ex-officers) can see ways to improve the world, they can't see that their daily actions prevent such improvement from taking place.

For instance, in an oddly progressive-sounding piece, Sgt. Bob Gorgione of Portland's GREAT (gang resistance) team reports on a talk by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman at a Youth Crime Prevention event in October (December Rap Sheet). The talk noted "how our American 'culture of violence' is producing the most dangerous youth in human history."

Having learned what fosters American violence, Gorgione writes: "Once you learn about the damage that is being done to our young people in the name of profit, you will never view the media the same again." Good point--you also might want to reform the Police Bureau to end hierarchy, patriarchy, the mandate to protect private property over human rights, and the use of violence to enforce the will of the state.

Officer Peter Simpson used his February column to report that the family of the man whose car struck and injured motorcycle Officer Chris Guzman in January has expressed sympathy, and stated that "Chris's health is their number one concern, and that the legal issues will work themselves out. It's refreshing to hear someone come out and say this instead of offering excuses or denying responsibility for another's actions," Simpson continues, "as too many times we officers get blamed for circumstances that are beyond our control."

Hey, wait a minute; shouldn't the end of that sentence read, "as too many times we officers try to offer excuses or deny responsibility for actions we take, and we can all learn a lesson here"?

Getting priorities straight #2: Budget cuts. "Early child education, homeless shelters, the arts....are all nice in a strong economic environment--but when times get tight some things have to go. Telling the Police Bureau to cut $7 million isn't acceptable, nor is it responsible"--Officer Peter Simpson, February Rap Sheet.

America United: Can't We All Not Get Along?

When we began this newsletter in 1993, we were pleased to be able to carry direct quotes from the Rap Sheet because it revealed the negative attitude that members (and friends) of the police "union" have toward the general public. While some choice quotes have passed our way since then, it seems that things are getting worse in the post-9-11 world where Americans are supposed to be uniting, and police are supposed to be everyone's heroes. The paper is going out of its way to insult other citizens­in particular, activists.

While we assume Mr. Jack Mull, listed as a "citizen" in his byline, is not currently an officer, his opinion piece "Support Portland Police Officers for a Better Community" was chosen to grace the front page of December's Rap Sheet.

His article begins: "Uninformed police critics have been an embarrassment to Portland for over a decade."

He further states that City Council doesn't "vigorously" support the police. "Unfortunately, some people at City Hall placate the unwashed, also known as police critics, and professional protestors--the rent-a-mob crowd."

He claims that an outside civilian review board is a threat to law enforcement. "It's not a question of if but when will a cop-hating, tree-hugging, anarchist terrorist be appointed to the civilian review board."

His rambling article accuses all "cop critics" of breaking the law, challenging the police and writing moronic letters. "Like cockroaches...they will always be with us."

In November's Rap Sheet, Officer Simpson reprinted an allegedly humorous article about how to deal with pacifists. The advice: when you see "a peace rally of stupid, naive, hemp- shirt wearing college idiots," go up to one and punch him in the face, remind him that he is a pacifist when he tries to get up and hit you, hit him in the face again, and repeat "until they understand how to prevent another punch."

Rap Sheet editor and retired cop Loren Christensen connected Mayor Katz to the activist crowd in his November column, claiming that orders not to arrest bicyclists at the September Critical Mass ride were a result of "Activists, protestors and anarchists [who] have her ear."

Later in the same issue, Officer Dan Jensen offered a letter claiming those orders were from Chief Kroeker, and describing the horror of 200 bicyclists holding up motorized traffic for a short time with the police being unable to do anything.

But the best example of letting out true feelings came with Christensen's February column remarking that car prowls are down in North Portland. Christensen worried that not enough is being done to the "vermin perpetrators."

"We know that the judges aren't going to incarcerate them in the already crowded jails. Maybe we can come up with a punishment that is swift and deters. I know one...it rhymes with 'hang 50 pound weights around their necks and drop them off the Fremont Bridge." Phew! Good thing he wasn't giving advice on what to do with rapists and murderers!

Getting Priorities Straight #3: Racism is All the Rage in November's Rap Sheet. Four items in November's Rap Sheet raised a few anti-racists' hackles around here. For starters: Loren Christensen's column criticized New Jersey for requiring supervisors to approve searches by troopers as a result of the racial profiling scandal there.

On the facing page was an update on Harold Ray Redfeairn of Ohio, who now runs the white supremacist Aryan Nations. The convicted robber and murderer (of a police officer!) is profiled in an article graced with the graphic of a Nazi flag!

Toward the end of the issue, two articles defend racial profiling, one calling it "necessary" after 9-11, the other from Seattle claiming that profiling is just part of a cop's job. If we were investigating suspicious activity at the PPA, this issue would go into our Criminal Intelligence file on them.

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