Regional Shootings News: Stripped-Down Deadly Force Law Passes in Oregon
Hillsboro, Vancouver, Clackamas and Salem Police Kill Suspects; Eugene Considers Tasers

--A bill passed in the Oregon Legislature in its final few hours which enshrined into law the ideas generated by Attorney General Hardy Myers' task force (PPR #35). The law requires every county to come up with a plan to respond to police deadly force incidents, including whether to hold grand jury proceedings, what kind of community outreach to do, and how to examine the incident for making changes to policy or training. Each County's body that establishes these standards will include at least one citizen. Perhaps the most meaningful part of the bill is that officers are now required to attend at least one session with a psychiatrist after a shooting; failure to do so could result in the loss of certification.
The original bill included long-sought provisions to open grand jury testimony to the public in police deadly force cases (PPR #30); unfortunately, as a compromise, that provision was stripped at the last minute. On the bright side, that means a section prohibiting the use of a coroner's inquest until after the grand jury was also not passed.
--On May 16, Hillsboro police shot and killed 53-year-old Songseumsack Tanovan when he came to the door with two guns, firing at Washington County deputies. Tanovan's son had called for medical help, as Tanovan was experiencing pain in his arm; firefighters say the father shot a gun in the air when they arrived (Oregonian, May 17).
The Washington County DA decided not to hold a grand jury hearing. Tanovan was hit by just two bullets, even though six officers fired their guns: Hillsboro police Officers Mike Johnston and Chris Rasmussen, Forest Grove police Sgt. Dean Foster, and Washington County sheriff's Deputies John Egg, Chad Lotman, and Charlie Irving (Oregonian Blog June 27 and May 22).
--About a month later, Vancouver Police Corporal Steve Lobdell fatally shot 24-year-old Sean Makarowsky when officers came to the door of the house Makarowsky was visiting to serve a search warrant on another man. Makarowsky was at the window with a gun, which his family says he picked up in self-defense since the police arrived at midnight, forced their way in, and shot his dog. The family filed an intention to sue over the June 16 incident (Oregonian, June 30).
--In June, Clackamas Deputy Hilary Robinson shot and killed 24-year-old Luke Lewis Seal, who was armed with two knives. The Medical Examiner, whose work we often have criticized in this newsletter as excusing police behavior (PPR #39, for example), called it a "suicide by cop" (Oregonian, June 21). That is not one of the state-statute-delineated conclusions for cause of death.
--The M.E. also ruled Tonya Yut, 39, committed suicide by shooting herself, though she was simultaneously shot by a Clackamas County Deputy on July 14 (Oregonian, July 17).
--On August 13, Salem police Corporal John Humphreys shot and killed Cesar Gonzalez-Meza at a traffic stop after the motorist allegedly zapped Humphreys with his own Taser (KGW.com, August 13).
--The shooting of Ryan Salisbury in Eugene last November (PPR #40) was ruled justified by "a shooting review board composed of a Eugene police lieutenant and four sergeants" (Oregonian, March 1). His death has led to Eugene Police Commission discussions of how officers handle incidents with people in psychological distress, and a pilot project to introduce Tasers in Eugene.

Washington County has decided to make Crisis Intervention Team training mandatory and give Tasers to all deputies in response to the shooting of Lukus Glenn (PPR #40). However, Sheriff Rob Gordon claims that these tools wouldn't have changed the outcome of Glenn's case, saying he was "armed, violent, angry, and uncommunicative and fueled by severe intoxication" (Oregonian, April 6). Gordon's statement is predicated on the idea that CIT de-escalation skills only work on people with mental illness.