People's Police Report Updates Setpember 2006 (Issue #39)

Stunning New Directive Calls for Tasers in Psych Wards; Amnesty Expert Visits Portland
...While U. of Oregon Considers Arming Campus Safety

About a month after Tim Grant became Portland's first Taser-related death (PPR #38), a national expert on the electroshock weapons visited Portland. In late April, Mona Cadena of AI's San Francisco office (accompanied by Portland Copwatch) met with Chief Sizer and Taser training officers Tom Forsyth and Robert Day. Sizer generally deferred to the officers, who claimed that the Taser is safe to use. They noted that they follow AI's advice by creating their own training classes and materials, not relying on information provided by manufacturer Taser International. While some safeguards are in place, it is still not clear how the Bureau acts to prohibit the weapon from being used for compliance or intimidation purposes, rather than as an alternative to lethal force. It is also not clear that safety claims are accurate, with Taser-related deaths now totalling over 160 since 2001.

Dr. John Webster, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, found that Tasers may stop the heart from beating. He noted that previous research done on Tasers by applying them to pigs did not adequately replicate how humans are affected by electricity. (Unfortunately, to correct the error he cut away at pigs' heart muscles.) "Pigs suffered ventricular fibrillation when a Taser barb was placed within 0.7 inches of their heart; in humans, the heart is situated 0.4 to 2 inches under the skin" (NY Times, May 25).

Elsewhere, the campus safety officers at the University of Oregon in Eugene may soon be carrying the stun guns. Apparently, they are concerned about "a rising number of potentially violent confrontations on campus" (Associated Press, June 4). Note that the "potential" for these situations to turn violent will increase if officers simply have to squeeze a trigger to administer a a paralyzing shock and immobilize students.

On May 19, the UN Committee Against Torture issued a report calling for strict regulation of Taser use by law enforcement in the U.S, requesting that use be limited to incidents that would otherwise justify lethal force, and that use on those already in custody be banned.

The Orlando Sentinel released a report on May 7 studying 1243 police Taserings from 2003 to 2005, finding that "more than half the people were not violent or suspected of committing felonies." We hope to see a Portland-area paper conduct the same kind of analysis.

On June 22, Multnomah County Commissioners paid out $200,000 to the family of Dennis Saban, who was killed by his cellmate in June, 2005 while under Giusto's Deputies' care (Willamette Week, June 21). These incidents, along with the mistaken release of an inmate who later stabbed a man to death, were enough to prompt District Attorney Mike Schrunk to empanel the annual grand jury which reviews the jails several months early. Giusto said he will cooperate with the grand jury but hopes they will not focus on these specific cases, instead looking at the "big, large things that we do, like our funding levels" (Portland Tribune, July 21).

When asked why he didn't release the information about the sex incident earlier, Giusto claimed it was to avoid jeopardizing the rape investigation. Referring to the County Commissioners who grilled him about the incident, Giusto said, "They're entitled to their opinions, but I have nothing to hide" (Oregonian, June 9).

In December, 2004 the Portland City Council enacted the Obstruction as Nuisance Ordinance, (aka "Sit/Lie"), a sanitized name for dealing with those in our city who don't have a home anymore (see PPR #35). As was the case seventy years ago, the Ordinance gives the police the power to roust the homeless from our sidewalks. The Ordinance was slated to expire in June, but Council voted to extend it until November. In the prior 18 months it appeared the main use of the Ordinance was to move the homeless along. According to former Central Precinct Commander Dave Benson, only eleven citations were issued. Citations can only be issued after an individual has received a warning within the past seven days (Oregonian, May 24). Previous efforts by Portland Copwatch to obtain specific statistics regarding those warnings revealed that no such information seems to exist.

In May, Mayor Potter introduced a resolution before the City Council called the "Street Access for Everyone" Initiative. The acronym, SAFE, implies a predetermined mind set­that our streets are not safe. The initiative passed on May 24. A work group of representatives from law enforcement, businesses and social service agencies has met several times with the goal of presenting recommendations to Council by November 1.

Mayor Potter is encouraging the work group to focus on the roots of "street disorder" (Skanner, May 31). While various newspapers, including the Skanner and the Oregonian continue to refer to "disorder," the June 1st Portland Mercury states that "The premise of the mayor's ordinance--that downtown streets are unsafe because they are flooded with 'aggressive panhandlers' and public drunkards--is belied by a report released by the police bureau three weeks ago stating that crime in the downtown area has actually dropped by 19 percent." In recent People's Police Reports, we have stressed that perceptions and reality of downtown crime are at odds and that laws already exist which can be utilized when criminal acts are being committed.

To lump all people who find themselves living on the streets with the generic phrase "street disorder" only serves to dehumanize and criminalize them. The work group should give weight to developing and utilizing resources to meet the many needs of those on the street. Perhaps then these individuals will have a home in this world and won't be subject to citations, warnings and roustings by the police just because of their circumstances.