QUICK FLASHES #31

Officer with Gorilla Doll Offends Hip-Hop Crowd

One patron, Calvin Washington, sent his photo to the Portland Tribune, which posted it on their website. An immediate uproar led Shaw and an unnamed second officer to meet with Chief Foxworth to apologize for the presence of the gorilla doll. They claim that they took the gorilla away from an intoxicated suspect whom they'd brought to Detox, that it reeked of vomit and urine and they did not want to put it in their car. Portland Police Association President Robert King apologized for Shaw, saying "It was silly and unfortunate, and they never intended it to be offensive to anybody" (Oregonian, November 25).

The Oregonian also quoted Ringlers manager Clyde Fulkerson, who insightfully pointed out: "It's either a real ignorant, insensitive policeman or an insensitive, racist policeman."

Sgt. Minnis Streamlines Own Appointment to State Position

Aside from his sketchy past, including an attempt to criminalize protestors by categorizing them as "terrorists" (see PPR #29), this raises questions since Minnis' Senate Judiciary Committee quietly changed the rules about how the DPSST director is chosen. Previously, the board recommended three finalists to the governor. Now, Governor Kulongoski can appoint the director without consultation, as he does with other cabinet members.

When Minnis was challenged as to whether he used his position as Senator to ensure his own appointment, he said, "We moved 220 pieces of legislation through the Committee, and it's doggone hard to remember every piece that goes through" (Associated Press, October 31). It's also doggone hard to believe that as a legislator/cop, Minnis would not scrutinize proposed changes to state rules about public safety.

Even More Police Awards...
Shooting a Fleeing Suspect and Saving a Life

More details emerged in November's Rap Sheet about awards given out in the fall of 2002 (at the same time the officers who shot José Mejía were honored with Police Medals--see PPR #28).

Officers Randy Teig and Philip Maynard were given Police Medals for an incident on January 11, 2001 in which they shot and wounded Dwayne Tyrone McClinton after a holdup at the Clinton Street Pub (PPR #23). According to the Rap Sheet, they chased McClinton into an alley where he was fleeing from his car after the officers rammed it. Teig shot 5 times and Maynard shot 8 times at the man, who was wounded in the leg. (Teig also shot at a suspect in May, 1998, firing 11 shots and hitting the suspect once.) McClinton was "considered armed and dangerous" (Oregonian, January 12, 2001) but there is no evidence he had a gun at the time of the chase.

Similarly, Officer Paul Kennard was given a Police Medal for the November 6, 2000 shooting of 20-year-old Daniel Brink. Brink was allegedly threatening to commit suicide with a knife, but ended up critically wounded by Kennard's bullet instead (PPR #22).

Sgt. Dale Larson won the Life Saving Award for an incident in which he used his baton to smash a car window and pepper spray the man inside, who had cut his own throat. Although pepper spraying suspects is sometimes ineffective and makes them more agitated (which seems to have happened in this case), Larson was able to put direct pressure on the wound and save the man's life. Whereas the first two stories involving shots fired were in the newspaper, this last one was not, only re-inforcing the image of police routinely using guns. Portland Copwatch encourages our newspapers to print more stories where police do actual caretaking.

Portland Police Target "Zoobombers"

"Zoobombers," the daredevil group of bicyclists who rocket down the West Hills into Portland on Sunday nights on their small, BMX-size bikes, appear to be targeted by the Portland Police in an effort to disrupt their Sunday night rides. The Zoobombers rendezvous Sunday nights at Rocco's pizza at SW 10th and Burnside, board onto MAX for the Zoo station, and then "bomb" down into downtown Portland via city streets reaching speeds close to 40 mph. According to an article in Willamette Week (June 25), over the past year the Sunday night ritual has grown to 50-strong on some nights, with many of the Z-bombers wearing costumes and decorating their bikes.

Perhaps due to the increased visibility of the Zoobombers in the press (particularly a front page article in the November 2 Oregonian), and complaints from local residents, the Portland Police are attempting to disrupt the Zoobombers' weekly rides. In June, TriMet officers ticketed 31 Zoobombers with 6-month bus/MAX exclusions as they got off MAX at the Zoo station for failure to stow their bikes in the vertical racks. TriMet later rescinded all of the 6-month exclusions after many of the Zoobombers contested the validity of the exclusions.

On September 5, Portland Police confiscated the group's communal bike pile locked up across the street from Rocco's pizza by picking the lock and hauling away the 14 bikes. Police claim the pile of bikes obstructed the sidewalk and that they had given several warnings over several weeks. Most of the bikes were later reclaimed by their owners. The Zoobombers claim they are being unfairly targeted by the police. According to Willamette Week, later in the month approximately 3 dozen police officers detained about 50 Zoobombers prior to boarding MAX en route to the Zoo station. As reported in the Oregonian, on November 16 four squad cars were staked out at different locations, and at least five Zoobombers were ticketed for various traffic violations. The November 18 article reported that Central Precinct Commander Rosie Sizer denied the existence of any campaign to stop the Sunday night rides.

Cop Arrested for Sex Assault

This seems to be the first officer arrested for on-duty conduct in several years, although the officers in the off-duty beating scandal (see p. 7) did try to use their badges to ward off witnesses.