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Portland Police Show Bias After Two Shootings in July

As reported in a late-breaking article in PPR #24, the Portland police were involved in two shootings in early July. The first involved Raymond Youngberg, a 50-year-old man with psychological problems, who was shot and killed in Southeast Portland. Officers Michael Kemp and Christian Barker say Youngberg shot at them first. The second shooting happened at a mini- mart in Northeast where Bruce Browne, a citizen who had wrestled a gun away from a would-be assailant, was shot and wounded by Officer Kenneth Duilio.

If articles and letters in the Portland Police Association (PPA)'s newsletter, the Rap Sheet, are any indication, the police‹who are involved in investigating these cases for possible criminal or administrative wrongdoing‹were quickly convinced the shootings were justified.

In August , Daryl Turner, Vice President of Services, writes that Duilio "had no choice" but to shoot at Browne. He complains how "during the past few years, the police bureau has taken a beating in the media when it came to critical incidents and police-involved shootings."

Apparently this problem with the media has been addressed by PPA President Robert King, who created a policy wherein the PPA leadership will work with the Chief and the investigating officers. They will inform the PPA membership and the public about their version of the story, Turner writes, "before the media has a chance to come to their own baseless conclusions."

Officer Jon Yochim wrote a letter in the August Rap Sheet to complain how Mayor Katz said her "thoughts and concerns are with Bruce Browne...his family...and with the officers."

Yochim thinks the officers should have been listed first, saying Katz is "sending a negative message." That's odd, this is the first time we remember Mayor Katz sending her thoughts of concern to the police and the victim of a police shooting and their family. It actually seems balanced and humane, though also perhaps designed to lessen the amount being sought in the lawsuit against the City.

Another Troubled Individual Shot

Fortunately, Tyrone Waters was hit only with "beanbags" when police came to his house to calm him down­the live rounds they fired missed him completely. Waters, who is the son of state Senator Avel Gordly, has psychological problems and had called police on September 17 threatening to hurt them. Numerous articles were written on this incident (including Willamette Week, September 26), all of which imply that Commander Derrick Foxworth of NE Precinct came to the site instead of calling for Crisis Intervention Team members.

In his September column, Officer Peter Simpson criticizes the Oregonian's coverage of police shootings in the wake of Duilio's grand jury hearing. Simpson thinks the headline "Grand jury decides not to indict officer" is inflammatory, suggesting as alternatives "Grand jury refuses to indict officer" (inaccurate, unless the jury actively refused to issue an indictment) or "Officer justified in shooting of armed man" (similarly inaccurate, since the grand jury's scope is limited to whether the officer violated any criminal statutes‹an administrative ruling could still find he was not justified).

Simpson states that "Officer Dulio [sic] did the right thing. He confronted, engaged, and shot an armed man pointing a gun at him." The facts that he didn't assess the situation, wait for backup, or hit his target with 4 of the 6 shots fired are apparently irrelevant.

Finally, Officer Chris Barker, who was shot in the hand during the Youngberg incident, wrote a letter in the October issue. He gives his side of the story, which one would imagine his lawyer getting nervous about: "From the moment I started to say to the suspect, 'Sir, can I...?' and then caught sight of a weapon pointed directly at me, the suspect firing, and then fearing for my life and that of Officer Kemp's [sic], my TRAINING kicked in! I instinctively drew and fired to stop a threat...There was a 'reasonable perception of endangerment,' for those who continue to question police actions, or my hand and arm would not look like it does [sic], I would be working and not on disability, and a member of the Portland community would still be alive!"

We will continue to monitor police shootings to the extent that information is publicly available as we await review by Portland's police review board of deadly force cases.

Washington County Sheriff's Deputies Kill Distraught Man

On October 31, Washington County Sgt. Gil Gregg shot and killed 58-year-old Eugene Kirk Lockwood outside a bar in Aloha. Lockwood reportedly came to the bar to confront his wife, who had filed for divorce, and fired a gun into the floor to get everyone but his wife to leave the premises. After police arrived, Lockwood's wife was able to get out as well, as hostage negotiators and Tactical Negotiations Team members talked with Lockwood over the phone "on and off for hours" (Oregonian, November 1). About six hours into the standoff, deputies appeared to have lost their patience. They moved in on the building, at which time, they say, Lockwood pointed his gun at them and Gregg, a sniper, shot him in the head (Oregonian, November 3).

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Department of Corrections

In PPR #24's articles on the July shootings, we mis-spelled Mr. Browne's name once. We also pointed to that piece with a box on the front page which should have directed readers to page 4 (rather than page 3). We also mis-spelled the name of Alberta Street suspect Bjorn Einertsen.

December, 2001
Also in PPR #25

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.

People's Police Report #25 Table of Contents
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