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UPDATES: People's Police Report #25 (December, 2001)

In early October, the hospital and processing center involved in the death of José Santos Victor Mejía Poot, who was shot by police April 1, agreed to pay Mejía's family $750,000 rather than go to court.

Mejía's widow Paula Villacis Lopez, still living in Mexico, will be splitting the settlement from Pacific Gateway Hospital and Providence Health System with Mejía's parents (Portland Tribune, October 5).

The settlement was probably reached after a number of investigative reports blamed the health care system for what happened to Mejía, an epileptic man who was misdiagnosed as mentally ill. In mid-August, a 67-page report from the Office of Investigations and Training, of the State Office of Mental Health Services, noted "substandard patient assessment and treatment, inadequate staffing levels and a failure to provide quality social work and language interpretive service" (Oregonian, August 14). The report concludes that given these circumstances, Mejía's death "while shocking, cannot be said to be totally unexpected."

Since the reports focus mostly on the mental health system, the police have so far escaped independent scrutiny. City Attorney Jeff Rogers refuses to settle on behalf of the City. "We believe that the officers acted properly under the circumstances. We'll defend it vigorously" (Tribune, October 5).

Nonetheless, in one of the few signs of follow-up to the June community meeting among Latinos, the police, the Sheriff, and other officials (see PPR #24), Chief Kroeker wrote a very long letter outlining the police's ongoing policy reviews after the Mejía death. Those reviews include: "When and how members of the police bureau will respond to mental health facilities"; whether the Mexican Consulate should be notified following the arrest of Mexican nationals, since the Vienna Convention does not require such reporting; the possible use of "electric high-wattage nervous system neutralizers (e.g. Tasers [sic]) and delivery systems for chemical agents"; increasing Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training as part of in-service training; and having mental health care workers respond to people in emotional crisis (El Hispanic News, August 1).

Meanwhile, the Oregonian ran a few articles about the CIT, noting on September 2 that 164 officers have now completed the training on dealing with those who are or who may be mentally ill. Unfortunately, only 75 of those 164 officers are out on patrol; presumably the rest are "desk jockeys" or supervisors. A non-profit psychiatric health crisis response group, Project Respond, helps the CIT in many situations, but they are concentrated in the downtown area and do not help with every crisis call.

As to the effectiveness of trained counselors over armed police, Officer Andy Madden of the CIT told the Oregonian, "[Project Respond] solves more problems with a little glass of orange juice, free crackers or a certificate for a free hamburger."

Dr. Peter Davidson, working with the county to re-design the mental health system, agreed: "The more we can take the police off the front line of people's emotional crises, the better the outcomes."

In terms of possible charges against the police officers, the FBI is waiting for a review by the Justice Department before launching a full-scale investigation into whether Mejía's civil rights were violated (Tribune, October 5). Members of the community continue to meet to demand justice and seek changes in the way the City and the County deal with Latinos.

For more information, contact American Friends Service Committee at 503-230-9427 or VOZ at 503-233-6787.

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Exactly three years to the day after the initial incident, family, friends, and supporters of Dickie Dow, a 37-year-old man who died in October, 1998 after being beaten by Portland Police, dedicated a memorial community garden in his name. The garden, put together by Dickie's mother, Barb Vickers, features flowers and a memorial plaque. The garden is located at the site of the altercation, the corner of North Fenwick and Lombard (see PPR #16).

About 30 people attended, a small handful of whom spoke, including Vickers and Deborah Howes, the neighbor who witnessed the incident and was turned away by police when she offered to give CPR to Dow. A recording of a song written in Dow's memory was played, and a silent candlelight vigil filled out the hour-long ceremony until rain began to fall.

Supporters of Dickie Dow and his family have been attending vigils at the site of the garden every month since November 1998, and organized a one year anniversary vigil at City Hall in 1999 (see PPR #19).

The memorial is first in Portland to honor an alleged suspect who died as a result of police violence. (Police shooting victim Nathan Thomas is honored by a soccer field, a soccer tournament, a memorial inside the Justice Center, and an annual award given by the Police Bureau. Thomas was killed by a police bullet at age 12 in 1992 while being held hostage by a criminal suspect.)

Eight Portland officers beat Dow, pepper sprayed him and piled on top of him. Dow was revived, but he passed away the next morning.

However, the official line differs somewhat from witness accounts. On October 19, in its community announcement the day of the dedication, the Oregonian reported: "Dow stopped breathing at the scene. Two officers attempted CPR and paramedics were able to revive him, but he died at a local hospital the next day."

The question about whether officers performed CPR--or if they were even trained to do so--is a critical part of the complaint against the City in Dow's death. As we go to press, the lawsuit filed by the Vickers family is scheduled to go to trial in early 2002.

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In early September, the 60 or so people living in the tent city Dignity Village were forced to vacate the centrally located site they'd been on for over six months and head to a desolate parking lot near the Portland Airport. Fortunately, the Police Bureau did not resort to violence or arrests, and the City of Portland, which voted to make Dignity an official "pilot project" in late August, actually helped with the move.

On the down side, the site near the airport is far from services, including buses and grocery stores, which the homeless campers need in order to function. Their large community of supporters helped to build the Village up off the pavement using pallets, camouflaged the barbed wire fences (!) the City had erected around the new site, and kept the Village going long enough to consider finding another semi-permanent site.

On the day of the move, a small group of Villagers and supporters decided to set up a protest camp on the "Field of Dreams," a site downtown which Dignity covets as the ideal place for a permanent location. Under the watchful eye of alternative media and Copwatch members, police moved in to arrest the campers on the third day (Sept. 11), citing them with trespassing. However, legal sources tell us that since they were on public land, they cannot be cited for trespass unless they were violating some other law. Most likely, the police were relying on the anti-camping ordinance, which was ruled unconstitutional last September (see article below and PPR #22).

Copwatch was also present for the move at which an anticipated police crack-down became a "psychological sweep," that is to say, the Villagers moved because of the threat of being forcibly removed and/or arrested.

As its deadline to find a permanent site loomed, Dignity Village considered the offer of leasing a privately owned site in Southeast Portland for minimal cost. Many neighbors complained, even though Villagers promised to make the site cleaner than when they arrived. Cutting off this debate, the City agreed to compost leaves away from the airport site (after a private donation was made to cover the cost), thus making it available for the winter. In a vote taken in late October, the Villagers opted to stay there for six more months while seeking a permanent location.

For more information, check www.outofthedoorways.org* or call Street Roots at 503-228- 5657.

*In 2022 we changed this link to the 2009 Street Roots article about the history of now defunct group Out of the Doorways.

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Despite their victory in a 1999 lawsuit that resulted in the overturning of the City's anti-camping ordinance (see PPR #22), Norman Wicks Sr. and his son Norman Jr. received no vindication from the Internal Affairs Division (IAD). The Wicks filed an IAD complaint after an October 1999 arrest where they felt they were harassed and discriminated against by three members of the Portland Police Bureau. The complaint alleged profanity, excessive force, and improper procedure. It was filed against Officer James Dakin, Officer John Butler and Sgt. Charles Brown.

On June 20, the IAD mailed a letter (to the wrong address) informing the Wicks that the officers had been cleared of the charges. The Wicks have appealed the finding, and the newly established Independent Police Review Division (IPR) will eventually hear their case. They have little hope, however, that the appeal will make much of a difference (Portland Tribune, July 31).

For more info on the anti-camping ordinance contact Legal Aid at 503-224-4086.

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Two days before they were to stand trial, the young men initially charged with assaulting and kidnapping a police officer in late March were offered a plea agreement by the Multnomah County District Attorney. Chad Hapshe and Bjorn Einertsen pled guilty to Assault III. They will serve a total of 90 days between jail and forest camp and spend three years on probation. Though far less than the nine years they faced when charged with the Measure 11 kidnapping offense, the plea illustrates much of what's wrong with the criminal justice system.

Supporters of the men maintain their innocence and contend that the March police raid was the climax of several months of police harassment, surveillence and intimidation of young cultural dissidents in Northeast Portland. Copwatch confirmed that friends and supporters of Hapshe and Einertsen were being surveilled and harassed by the Gang Enforcement Team (see PPR #24).

Although police produced no evidence or independent testimony that a cop had been assaulted, kidnapped, or in any way molested, the DA went ahead with the original charges, making bail and release extremely difficult for the youths. The DA's offer indicates that the police could produce no evidence that a serious crime occured. A repre-sentative of the DA pactically admitted this (in evasive legalese) by stating that "as the case progressed, it became more problematic whether the kidnapping could be sustained at trial" (Portland Mercury, September 20).

Even so, mandatory minimums enacted by Measure 11 provide a chilling weapon for prosecutors to wield. Regardless of their innocence, defendants often choose to plead guilty to a lesser crime rather than risk a jury trial which (due to features of the jury system prejudicing decisions in favor of the prosecution) could net them serious prison time.

Contact the Portland Solidarity Network, a group formed to support people facing police repression and harassment in Northeast, at 503-993-2413.

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The credibility of local authorities was dealt yet another blow in the ongoing case of Sgt. Michael Barkley. In the latest development of Barkley's tumultuous career, an Oregon State Bar investigation concluded in June that three Multnomah County prosecutors (Charles Ball, Pat Callahan, and Gary Meabe) engaged in improper conduct by refusing to provide information to Barkley's attorney during a 1998 trial.

Barkley, a multiple shooter cop, was eventually acquitted of first-degree theft. Following the trial, Barkley fought the City for disability pay related to the stress of shooting four people in a little over a decade (see PPR #24).

In July, the Bar's Professional Responsibility Board determined that Ball and Callahan engaged in "conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice" (Oregonian, July 24). Charges against Meabe were dismissed. Discipline has yet to be determined. District Attorney Michael Schrunk has continually defended his employees, and blames the incident partially on Police Bureau record keeping.

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An internal Police Bureau investigation into claims of hazing, sexual harassment and discrimination by the elite Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) was concluded in September after seven months, but will not be made public for some time yet.

In May, Officer Liana Reyna filed complaints with the City and State alleging that the SERT's training program was a sexually hostile environment and that she was discriminated against for her gender and sexual orientation (Just Out, October 19). Reyna's complaint details SERT training practices including striptease, feigning sex and defecation, public humiliation, and forcing trainees to work overtime without pay.

Following the allegations, Chief Kroeker disbanded the SERT team for seven weeks while officers were interviewed. Kroeker also refused to heed recommendations that the matter should be investigated independently of the Bureau (see PPR #24).

Sources inside the Police Bureau told Phil Stanford of the Portland Tribune that the foot- dragging of internal investigators is due to the fact that high-level officers are or have been part of the SERT program and that the allegations implicate officers at every level of the Bureau.

In addition to the Bureau investigation, the Oregon Board of Labor and Industries is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

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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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