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Back East, Charles Moose continues to have troubled troops

Since leaving his position as Portland Police Chief, Charles A. Moose is still dealing with trouble. In his position as Montgomery County, MD, Police Chief, Moose has requested $680,000 to install cameras in county patrol cars, as reported in the January 17 Washington Post. The cameras would go in cars in the Silver Spring District and be installed this summer. Moose chose the Silver Spring District "because that station receives more citizen complaints than the department's other four districts."

Moose's total request for $1,000,000, upon council approval, would also cover the costs of Spanish- language classes for officers and recruitment efforts targeting minorities for officer positions. Moose eventually wants cameras in all of the patrol cars.

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While Moose was still in Portland when the shooting of Junious Roberts occurred, shootings of civilians continue to occur under his watch in Montgomery County, Maryland.

According to the Associated Press (November 10, 1999), three county officers were monitoring a late-night deli following a series of armed robberies. During the stakeout, a car parked in front of the deli was found to be stolen. When police approached the car in their vehicles, the driver of the stolen vehicle allegedly accelerated and rammed a police vehicle, backed up and crashed through the deli door, then sped forward toward the same police car. Police opened fire and struck the man repeatedly. At the time, the man was listed in stable condition. Moose is quoted as saying it is not known if the man was responsible for any of the robberies.

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While Montgomery NAACP President Linda M. Plummer "hailed Moose's initiative," the idea was not the Chief's own, but the result of a settlement reached last year between the County and the family of Junious W. Roberts, an unarmed black man who was shot by a County officer in April, 1999. In addition, the U.S. Justice Department worked to require all Montgomery County officers to log traffic stops for race, gender, and age, presumably to cut down on perceived racial profiling.

The Post reports that the International Association of Chiefs of Police endorses the use of video cameras in patrol cars, and gives information on a Justice Department study about the cameras. The study found 73 percent of state law agencies, 53 percent of county, and 41 percent of municipal police use patrol car cameras. These numbers and endorsement may make one wonder why the president of the Montgomery Fraternal Order of Police voiced concerns that the use of cameras could spur unfounded lawsuits and the legal liability of the officers involved.

Good luck Charles.

April, 2000
Also in PPR #20

Portland Copwatch
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065/ Incident Report Line (503) 321-5120
e-mail: copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org

Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.

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