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UPDATES People's Police Report #13 January 1998 Pepper Spray: Effective... For Torture Police departments across the continent continue to use Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) pepper spray as a weapon against both violent criminal suspects and the general populace, despite pleas for a ban from civilians, the scientific community and human rights groups. In California, where police use of the spray has taken nearly 40 lives since 1993, several cases have generated nationwide fervor in the last few months. On June 14 corrections officers at San Quentin repeatedly sprayed prisoner Sammy Marshall as he hid behind his mattress. They proceeded to spray his toilet and sink with the toxic substance, so he would not be able to wash it off. When Marshall was finally seen by a doctor an hour and a half later, he was dead. A study jointly undertaken for the Modern Warrior Defensive Tactics Institute and the American Women's Self Defense Association concluded that OC spray is largely ineffective in deterring "a determined, goal-oriented attacker." That may be the case, but the chemical weapon is gaining favor among police as a deterrent and implement of torture for peaceful protesters. The Humboldt County Sheriff's and Eureka Police Departments are being sued for civil rights violations by nine women and men who had pepper spray methodically applied to their eyes while peacefully protesting the continued logging of the Headwaters redwood forest in Northern California. Seven people sat-in at Pacific Lumber's Scotia offices on Sept. 25. When they repeatedly refused to disband, the Sheriff's Deputies pulled their heads back, pried their eyes open, and applied pepper spray with cotton swabs. One of the protesters was 17 years old. Deputies reportedly told the protesters that if they complied, they would receive water and medical treatment. One week later, three women sitting in at the office of Rep. Frank Riggs received the same treatment at the hands of Eureka cops. The civil suit seeks to demonstrate that the use of pepper spray on peaceful protesters is a civil rights violation and requests a permanent ban on the police applying the weapon in non-violent situations. Humboldt County Sheriff Dennis Lewis has continued to defend the use of pepper spray on peaceful protesters as the "safest tactic" possible. "[W]e have a job to do. When someone asks us to remove demonstrators from their private property or offices, we have no choice. It has to be done," Lewis said to the Press-Democrat. The international human rights organization Amnesty International disagrees. AI issued a global press release on November 4 calling the actions in Humboldt and Eureka "tantamount to torture."
"In this instance, the spray was clearly abusive as it was not used to protect officers or others but was applied in a calculated and deliberate way to inflict pain as a way of gaining compliance in cases of demonstrators who posed no threat," the organization said. AI also stated that given the lack of scientific testing on OC spray, its use under any circumstances is questionable. They are calling for the immediate cessation of pepper spray use on peaceful protesters, as they did in the wake of police repression in Eugene, OR in June (see PPR #12).
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PPA Secretary-Treasurer Tom Mack updates the "Special Duty" program in October's Rap Sheet.
That's the program that gives police off-duty contracts as private security. Apparently, 52 contracts
have been filled since this after-hours program for cops began. That's about 7 a month. An
example Mack cites is one weekend in which 23 cops earned a total of $7400 working 204 hours.
Quick math tells us at the PPR that these officers were earning $36 an hour! In early November, Willamette Week reported that the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) successfully petitioned the US Federal Court to lift the order preventing double-bunking in the Justice Center downtown. Lucky for Sheriff Noelle, since he had already started building the extra bunks before the order had cleared! We at Copwatch were quite hopeful when the judge ordered Noelle to stop building the extra beds. Unfortunately, the final decision came down to lift the federal cap, allowing for overcrowding, creating a more dangerous situation in the jails, and an essential green light to "warehousing" people. The lawyers who brought the original lawsuit against the MCSO are filing an appeal. Angela Hart of Reike and Savage tells Copwatch that the MCSO was warned by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Washington, DC that double bunking was not only ineffective as a cost control measure but dangerous to officers, inmates, and the public. Because the Justice Center was designed for individual cells, it could be locked down and patrolled by a minimum staff. But with two people per cell, they will need 24-hour-a-day surveillance with an increased staff! The Sheriff was warned. The Sheriff was sued. And yet, the Sheriff went ahead with a "tough on crime" policy that will win him favor in the short run, but may eventually come back to haunt him.
Back to top. Eugene: Civilian Oversight May Become a Reality Lengthy front page stories in the November 9-10 Register-Guard covered Portland's "police review board" PIIAC and Eugene's efforts to create their own civilian oversight system. Following the heavy doses of pepper-spray and police batons used during a raid on protesters trying to protect trees in June (see PPR #12), members of Eugene CopWatch and other progressive activists were able to help form an "External Review Advisory Committee." The activists have to struggle with more conservative members of the Advisory Committee who are advo-cating for the least civilian oversight they can manage. Meanwhile, according to the Register-Guard, Charles Dalton, a leader of the Eugene NAACP has concerns that "It took the police whumping a couple hundred white kids to bring this to the front burner." It is clear from his statements and others that people of color, including Eugene's substantial Latino immigrant community, have known many of the problems with some of Eugene's finest for a long time. National civilian review expert Dr. Sam Walker went to Eugene following a visit to check out Portland's PIIAC in action in late October. He seems to be advocating that Eugene adopt an auditing model such as Portland's, in which citizens can look at Internal Affairs files, return appealed cases for further investigation and suggest policy changes, but not conduct any investigations themselves. Walker cites funding as the key reason not to ask for a full-blown citizen review board -- estimating the costs for a city the size of Eugene to be about $200,000 a year. We in Portland encourage Eugene CopWatch and other activists to hold out--how much money does Eugene pay out every year in lawsuits currently? That money can be found. While an auditing model is less likely to meet with police resistance, it still leaves the initial investigation of police misconduct to the police.
Back to top. INS Raids Decline; State Makes Special Complaint Forms for Racial Harassment Following the highly visible protest in June (see PPR #12), continuing vigilance by the Workers' Organizing Committee and others has helped decrease the number of INS raids on immigrants looking for work in Portland. In addition to Migra Watch activities, WOC helped organize a public forum on November 5th featuring victims of police harassment, organizers, and state representative JoAnn Bowman. Bowman said HB 2433, which passed during the 1997 session, would lead to an increase in "Driving While Hispanic" and "Driving While African-American" stops by police. She announced that in an effort to counter the effects of the bill, the state is preparing special complaint forms that should be available in the spring of 1998.
[Note in 2023: VOZ, the spiritual successor to WOC, can be reached at 503-234-2043] Back to top. Winter Shelters Not Open Yet? Let's Sweep Homeless Camps Again! On Saturday, October 25, twenty-one homeless men and women were rousted from the places they had been sleeping, arrested, and most were set back out on the streets with nowhere to go. In what seems to be becoming an annual event, the Portland Police conducted a homeless camps sweep just days before the opening of the winter shelters. Police alerted city officials and the camp residents before conducting the "clean-ups," as required by an agreement with the city. One condition they are supposed to meet is to be sure there are a suitable number of beds available in shelters before they displace homeless folks. The October 26 Oregonian article on the arrests focuses on the fact that 19 of the 21 arrested were on felony parole or probation. Officer Ryan Hamby is quoted as saying this fact proves that "these are not nice people." But hey, won't some of his fellow officers be on felony parole and probation pretty soon? In an article on the sweeps in the November Burnside Cadillac, written by and about the homeless, mentions that "It has never, at any time, mattered to me whether or not a homeless person is, or has been, criminal. The way I view life, all societies should ensure all members receive adequate food, clothing, shelter and medical care." The Cadillac article also includes an interesting interpretation of what was probably meant to be a critique of fecal matter found in the camps, taking the Oregonian to task for referring to the campers as "unsightly human waste." While this is probably not the meaning they had in mind, it does reflect a certain attitude from Portland's only daily paper. "Recent Oregonian stories have informed readers about the arrests of a police officer, a deputy district attorney, and the son of Chief Moose, all on drug-related charges. But no story about these people had the words 'unsightly human waste' attached to them."
the Homeless Persons Legal Issues Task Force c/o Legal Aid (503) 224-4086. For other information on Portland's homeless and the police, see PPR #8,10, and 11. Back to top. McDonald's & Other Private Cop Hangouts The November 5 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sentinel-Journal reported that Police Chief Arthur Jones ordered his officers not to eat their meals in the station-house. They are required to eat out in their assigned beat areas. The police union filed a grievance, citing this order as a hardship. But other motivating factors may be involved: Jones announced plans to set up substations in McDonald's restaurants. From the Sentinel-Journal: "Cops privately grumble that a McChicken sandwich can't stack up against the crispy wings at Gold Rush or a juicy reuben sandwich at Jake's. 'Now, if he'd do that at Hooters, then we'd have a plan,' joked one arson squad officer of the restaurant chain that dresses its waitresses in short shorts and tight T-shirts. " The article also mentions a diner where cops usually hang out, and the mom-and-pop owners ask why the police didn't just set up a substation there to begin with. In other privatization of public police news, Safeway, Bell Atlantic, and the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police announced the creation of nineteen Police Community Work Stations in Safeway markets.
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![[People's Police Report]](/PPRHEADER.GIF)
January, 1998
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#13 Table of Contents
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