Hmmm. It seems that the local yokels are starting to become more like the Chicago cops day by day. Next thing you know they will be setting up fake traffic stops and doing shake downs (as in I won't give you a ticket if you give $50 or whatever) a la the Chicago goons.

Seriously? A KC Royals baseball cap is gangwear?

So should I permanently retire my cap I bought in the wake of the World Series win in the 80s?

Nah, I'm white. It's OK.

Glad to see Dear Mayor addressed the problem in his State of the City address yesterday.

Oh right, not his department.

Commenting more on human nature than a situation of which I have no first-hand knowledge: Not reacting when someone grabs or hurts you is nearly impossible. Wriggling loose is an innate reflex to being restrained and difficult to control. Try it yourselves with friends -- people you know and trust. It is nearly impossible not to flinch or wriggle loose. Seriously, I'm asking you to try it and see what happens.

If anyone applies too much pressure it is a reflex to try to get loose. Granted, a police officer does not want you to move when being searched. And it is not possible to ascertain, in the field and in the moment, the intent of the person "disobeying orders."

Add in any sens of hostility, threat, or a believed -- justly or not -- history of abuse by the person exerting force (White cop/Black teenager) and you have a great chance of non-compliance to the instructions of a peace officer. It might be an intentional provocation to escalate a situation or an unfortunate effect of trying to "secure" a potentially dangerous situation.

In any event, the outcome can be sub-optimal for all. As for me, I'm very ticklish: God help me if someone ever tries to pat me down.

“As an officer, I can see how it did. As a citizen, I can see how you think it shouldn't have.” As a Portland cop he knows there is no punishment.
I remember many years ago a New York mayor would not recognize the police union, all hell broke lose. Too bad we have no city councilmen with the gonads to challenge the union here. I left Fritz and Adams out on purpose.

The more I hear of this kind of thing, the more I realize that many cops are cowards and bullies with guns.

Not much different (and in many ways worse) than the real gang members out there.

Seriously? A KC Royals baseball cap is gangwear?

Actually, yes. Ever watch Gangland on the History Channel? Many gangs adopt certain team colors as their own.

In the 90s in Seattle, a friend of mine's daughter got the crap beat out of her for wearing a San Jose Sharks jacket in the wrong neighborhood.

Who would want to work as a Portland cop and why?

The main point to me now is that all cops realize that there will be zero accountability for anything they do. At this point, we're probably lucky that all cops aren't getting mixed up in this type of thing multiple times per night.

It's only professionalism that's keeping 99% of cops at bay at this point. Certainly not any rules or fear of punishment.

My sister's kids went to public schools in the 80's and early 90's in Northern IL.. Gang affiliation became so bad in the public schools(and still is), that kids couldnt wear certain color clothing and baseball hats were not allowed.. even for the parents when they might attend a game..

In that same town, for years there used to be several blocks of houses on Fairview Blvd that was known for their Christmas decorations, like Peacock Lane is here.. They used to have a sign that said something like "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Fairview Gang".. the city made them change the word gang.. I think the word "Bunch" replaced it..

I'm not making any claims about the affiliation of the subject in this article, but in other parts of the country, gang affiliations are out of control.

Portland is in a bubble as our gang problems are minimal compared to other areas of the country, especially Chicago and surrounding communities...

But I have a suspicion as the economy grows worse, gangs are going to be a big problem here...

I don't think women should receive "better" treatment from the police than men. That said, she definitely looks like a dude. And why is a basketball player smoking anything, especially when she uses an inhaler?

If the alleged "excessive force" complaint is a black officer on a black citizen, doesn't that make it a non-racial problem?

No, I don't watch Gangland. It's not something that interests me.

That said, it's pretty sad you can't wear the cap of a team you like -- or in my case, grew up with -- unless you want to be messed with by cops in certain areas of Portland. I'm pretty sure as as white woman of middle age I wouldn't be messed with in NW Portland when I walk in the middle of the street. Usually when the snow is piled up.

That's sad, too.

Both the mayor and his police department have impulse control issues when dealing with young men.

"And why is a basketball player smoking anything, especially when she uses an inhaler?"
Irrelevant slur.

Athletes with asthma shouldn't smoke. Full stop. I said it when Tonya Harding was skating/smoking/inhaling and I've said it to friends who jog/smoke/use an inhaler.

Breathing is a fundamental prerequisite to peak physical performance: athletes shouldn't smoke anything. Especially if they have asthma.

That isn't a racist slur.

No, not a racist slur. But a slur on her character and her judgment. And completely irrelevant.

Adams can't afford to take anything or anyone on directly. "Pretend it doesn't exist" is his motto out of fear that someone will call him on his lies if he speaks out against them.

I don't understand the point of this post. Most of my encounters with other people (family members included) end with my taking down or being taken down. Is that not the norm?

Portland Police Ride-Along Program

That said, it's pretty sad you can't wear the cap of a team you like -- or in my case, grew up with -- unless you want to be messed with by cops in certain areas of Portland.

Actually, as a couple of commenters noted above, wearing the right (or wrong) color (cuh...cuh...cuh...Colors) in the wrong neighborhood has long been grounds for getting beaten or killed by gang members throughout the country, including in Portland.

It's just that the police have joined the gangs in much the same behavior.

BTW, I see that it's Rip Torn's birthday today.

The murderous brutality of the Portland Cops is stoking anger and resentment in the community, and I fear it could one day boil over into retaliations against the police, such as the killings that occurred recently in Washington. The City leaders need to get off their progressive butts and fix this police department before this happens.

The memorial service for Aaron Campbell and his brother Timothy Douglass was held today (and is not over yet) at Maranatha Church in Portland. Both died the same day, Timothy of heart failure and Aaron of a gunshot.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/portland_police_shoot_kill_man.html

I wonder if they gave the girl their card, after telling her to shut up and calling her a "prick" while mashing her face into the asphalt.

Fricking animals and control freaks. Any "peace officer" who says "shut up, you prick" to someone who has not even been properly investigated yet, deserves to be fired, right now. Firing a single police officer for that kind of behavior would be a swift kick in the pants that would straighten these arrogant SOBs up in a real hurry.

You know, in my line of work, also serving the public, I would survive exactly one quarter of a second if I called anyone a prick in the course of executing my duties. Similarily, if I were caught in a compromising situation in a workplace lavatory with a teenager, my job and license would be last exactly one-tenth of a quarter second.

I am beyond tired of the double standard that protects public employees. It's absolutely obscene.

On a more positive note, the Superintendant of Portland Public Schools took a mayoral recall petition from us on Friday, while our pathetic disgrace of a "mayor" was smarming his way through a pitch on how well we're all doing here, in Portland.

Wonder what she'll do with it.

"....facedown with a cop's knee on her head with the sound of guns being cocked.

Not going to try and defend PPB or vilify this young person. I wasn't there. But last I heard most of PPB carried single action Glock handguns. They don't "cock". Even high capacity handguns that are double action are rarely cocked before being fired. Perceptions and the truth can sure get awful muddy when tensions are high.

Could also be that she hasn't heard that cops carry single action Glock handguns and that the sound she heard wasn't that of a hammer being cocked but rather the sliding action of a round being chambered, and that "cocked" would technically be considered the incorrect word to describe such a sound. Seems like a theory worth entertaining. At least as much as the theory that she was imagining things because she was tense.

ep

Do you actually believe that the police are on patrol without a round in the chamber? You have got to be kidding me. What do you think they do, ask the guys shooting at them to wait while they ready their weapon for duty.

Who cares? "Shut up, prick" says it all.

Out.

Of.

Control.

Thugs.

Gibby -- good call. Glocks are always cocked and chambered. Sounds like melodramatic writing to me.

Sounds like they're using the wrong gun. If cops have a bad guy on the ground and need to intimidate that guy with the sound of a gun "cocking" I feel they should have that power. I want cops to have every tool they need at their disposal. Is there perhaps another gun that does have a slide that moves and makes noise that we could get them?

This is the kind of thing that happens routinely in police states.

Expect things to get worse, much worse.

There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

Montesquieu, 1742

Is there an audio clip from the cell phone of Portland's finest yelin "...you prick..." at the subject?

I thought I had seen a link, but now cannot find it.

And as usual, I love how the police keep bringing up "gang-related activity," which in Portland, means "one or more individuals with more melanin than Edgar Winter doing anything that we might not approve of" in Pig Latin. It's the one-size-fits-all excuse, and then these same big babies wonder why they aren't loved and honored in neighborhoods where they've been stomping around for years.