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Slightly More than Halfway Into 2021,
Portland Police Shootings Up by 200%
Cops Fatally Shoot Man in Crisis, Wound Two Suspects; DA Investigations Make News

The headlines have been relentless this year about the increase in civilian-on-civilian shootings and homicides being doubled since 2020 in the same time frame. Why don't the media also blare out that with three shootings in May, June, and July, the Portland Police use of deadly force has quadrupled since last year at this time? Likely because even after a year of racial justice uprisings and the conviction of the Minneapolis officer who murdered George Floyd, the mainstream narrative in Portland continues to be that police have the right to kill with impunity. The police wounded Darren Carr, 37, on May 22 when he was pulled over in the wrong stolen car. They shot and killed Michael Townsend, 40, on June 24 after he called 911 when feeling suicidal, which followed the April killing of Robert Delgado when he was in crisis (PPR #83). Then they wounded Joshua Lyle Merritt, 32, on July 20 in a convenience store downtown after Merritt "had taken food without paying and then laid down [sic] on the floor refusing to leave" (PPB News Release, July 20). This brought the PPB to four incidents in seven months versus one in that time frame in 2020 (PPR #81). That is twice as many as the two deadly force incidents in all of last year. Another incident is being investigated as a death in custody, while a blunt-force blow to a protestor's head is sort of being considered deadly force. Updates on the Delgado case include that it is being jointly investigated by the State and County.

Michael Townsend: First Killing by African American Officer in Portland?

Although Portland Copwatch hasn't necessarily tracked the race of every officer involved in deadly force incidents since we were formed in 1992, we believe when Officer Curtis Brown (#37135) killed Townsend, it marked the first time a Black officer in Portland killed a suspect. A person of color being on scene may be partly what led to rumors Townsend was Black (he was not), which in part prompted the Police Bureau to release surveillance camera footage of the shooting days after it occurred. It showed Townsend sitting on the stairs of a motel at NE 6th and Holladay surrounded by two paramedics and two cops. In the video, he jumps up and the responders back away; Brown pulls his gun and kills Townsend. It's not clear why Brown didn't seek cover, ensure he had an escape route (see: many earlier cases including Jack Collins [PPR #50] and Thomas Higginbotham [PPR #53]) or, perhaps, use a less lethal weapon against the "tire repair tool" similar to a screwdriver Townsend was holding (Oregonian, July 2).

Townsend's sister explained he had mental health issues. The police and paramedics showed up to attend a possibly suicidal individual. This death and Delgado's in April show that nine years under the US Department of Justice Settlement Agreement have not done anything to stop police from killing people in mental health crisis.

Darren Carr: Cop with Racist Past Shoots at Moving Vehicle

While police were out looking for a stolen pickup truck, they came across Darren Carr in a different pickup truck of similar make and model which also happened to be stolen. The incident occurred at NE 33rd and Sunderland. Media reports Carr drove toward the officers, at which time Officer Colby Marrs (#52826) fired at and hit Carr. He apparently was able to continue driving but was stopped by police spike strips on I-84 in east county (Oregonlive, May 23). Carr wasn't immediately identified, leading to concern he was African American (he is not)-- because Marrs' previous claim to fame was harassing a Black bicyclist, leading to a $25,000 settlement (PPR #75). Strangely, Multnomah County's booking information gives his name as Darren Ronaldalden Carr; a 2013 Oregonian article says he was 27 when he was arrested then, though he would have been 28 or 29, with the name Darren Ronald Alden Carr, but the PPB's news release called him "Darrin R. Carr." Carr received "non-life threatening gunshot injuries."

Joshua Merritt: Charged with "Unlawful Use of a Weapon" After Breaking a Bottle

While the details of the shooting of Joshua Merritt are still sparse, the police have made it known he is being charged with "unlawful use of a weapon." A little later it was revealed the "weapon" was a bottle Merritt broke inside the store at NW Naito just north of the Steel Bridge (Oregonlive, July 21). The officer who shot Merritt was Craig Lehman (#51073), who is known as one of the officers pulled off of crowd control duty for being too violent in 2020. It seems the City cannot blame this uptick in police violence on the rash of community gun crimes, since none of the four shootings involved officers being confronted with an actual firearm.

Addressing the Conflict for the District Attorney Investigating Police

There is an inherent conflict of interest in which the District Attorney, often called the lead law enforcement official in the County, has to consider prosecuting police, on whom he relies on a daily basis to investigate civilian-on-civilian crimes. In recognition of that conflict, Multnomah DA Mike Schmidt asked the Oregon Department of Justice to co-lead the investigation into the April 16 death of Robert Delgado in Lents Park. Officers mistook Delgado's orange-tipped BB gun for a real firearm. The unusual team-up came after a call by the family and its lawyers for an independent investigation (Portland Tribune, May 5).

Schmidt previously reached out to the state to investigate Gresham Officer James Doyle, who shot and killed Israel Berry in Portland last May (PPR #81), but when they declined, he hired a private attorney to investigate. The case took over a year to get to a grand jury, which found the Gresham cop did not violate the law by shooting at Berry's moving car (Portland Mercury blog, July 9). It is not clear who is investigating the Townsend and Carr shootings. Similar concerns led to unusual developments in protest-related cases (see Protests article in this issue).

Other Portland Deadly Force News

--A March 31 incident in which officers surrounded the car of Tai Anh Tran, 46, at 122nd and Mill, is being investigated as a death in custody because Tran was boxed in at the time he (allegedly) took his own life. Portland Copwatch called attention to this case when it was listed in the "Independent" Police Review's Director's reports starting in April; IPR Director Ross Caldwell claimed the PPB would not provide Tran's first name because he died by suicide. When PCW pointed to at least 7 other cases where a person was said to have died by their own hand during a police action, Caldwell said he would look into it. The details were revealed on July 15 by the Portland Tribune.

--The case of Teri Jacobs, a woman forcefully hit in the head with a baton by Officer Corey Budworth at a protest last year, prompted a criminal review (see Protests article in this issue) and, after prodding from the US DOJ and Compliance Officer Dennis Rosenbaum, an internal investigation. The DOJ explained they demanded the investigation because striking a person in the head is considered deadly force, but the review is taking a "hybrid" format between a deadly and non-lethal force since the cops didn't cordon off the crime scene at the time. While this means unlike in most deadly force cases, Jacobs may be able to appeal the findings, it is a ridiculously literal reading of the Directives about deadly force.

--The Justice for Keaton Otis Committee held its annual memorial for Keaton on May 12, eleven years after he was killed by the PPB. Monthly vigils continue to be hybrid virtual/in person events at NE 6th and Halsey. In July, a PCW member and one other attendee walked due south six blocks to the site where Robert Townsend had been killed 18 days earlier.

--At Portland State University, three years after public safety officers shot and killed Jason Washington (PPR #75), they have agreed to stop arming their campus officers starting in September (Portland Tribune, June 16).

September, 2021
Also in PPR #84

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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