Well on the local TV news last night the cop shop was already feeding the media about the victims past, etc. and trying to set it up that he in fact was a perp who deserved to get shot.

There's an autopsy, too -- mostly so they can tell us if he was on drugs.

A couple of years ago, I remember reading a story about some local scumbag caught red-handed burglarizing a house. The burglar, when commanded to exit the house, did so pretty much buck naked with his hands in the air, fingers wide apart.

Now, a lot of people at the time thought he was plumb nuts or high on drugs or something. I think he was actually pretty cognizant of the PPB's long, long track record of shooting first and stating "HE WENT FOR HIS POCKET IT LOOKED LIKE THERE WAS A GUN/ KNIFE IN IT" second. Over and over and over again, they get away with this.

So, the naked perp, wishing to live, wanted to leave no doubt in anybody's mind as to whether or not he was unarmed.

The OSP, and by extension PPB have records of my firearm purchases over the years, as mandated by Federal and State Law.

You can bet your bottom dollar that, should I ever be commanded to leave my house into their crooked clutches, I'm doing it as naked as the day I was born. In the driving snow, even.

I'm no dummy, and I don't want to be shot by some under-trained, trigger happy Blueshirt.

Jack when will be doing a ride along with these "fascists" to give us an upfront account of the quiet idyllic streets of the Rose City?

Hopefully for your sake I hope it is on a quiet night, so you don't stain your unmentionables.

Police work is rough. So that gives the police the right to kill unarmed people for failure to obey their every command?

"Jack when will be doing a ride along with these "fascists" to give us an upfront account of the quiet idyllic streets of the Rose City?"
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What is very sad about this whole ordeal are the comments that come out to explain away or justify the police actions. And then they (the justifiers, the enablers) rally around the officers involved, like they did with Humphreys.

Nobody is saying that police work is easy work, nor that cops like to go out and kill as many as possible.

But it would be nice to see, once in a while, the police rank and file, admit that sometimes police officers might make a wrong call, an error in judgement instead of always covering for their own. Would every cop in town shoot a young girl who was resisting arrest with a bean-bag gun? Would every cop in town shoot this un-armed man, as was done in this situation? I doubt it. But EVERY cop in town is too scared to call out the bad apples among them, less they be relegated to some back-water assignment because of PPB politics.

Cops sometimes make mistakes, even in ending somebody's life. It would be nice if they could admit the obvious, instead of always claiming their actions are always 100% perfect.

Just a friendly reminder, when cops have you surrounded with their guns raised, don't yell out "shoot me. I know you want to."

Not justifying the cops action, I think they overreacted. But this kid was dumb.

Not justifying the cops action, I think they overreacted. But this kid was dumb.

The kid had lost his brother earlier that day to heart disease, and had been caring for him non-stop for the previous few days. He was emotionally spent, and possibly suicidal.

We pay cops a GOOD salary and even better benefits/pension because they are in a tough job with tougher expectations. Yes, I expect cops who are acting in my name to be able to handle a suicidal person without killing them. I also expect them to be able to handle a "dumb" kid without killing him. Shooting a kid in the back as he's running away from you does not accomplish any of these things.

What's the over/under on the number of days until the officer who shot this kid IN THE BACK gets a medal from Chief Sizer? 10? 20?

just curious, has any police shooting by the PPB EVER been justified in your minds?

I'm sorry, police work is hard....F*** "police work is hard". Lots of work is hard! Digging ditches is hard. Castrating bulls is hard. Wiping *** off people's ****s is hard. Working for a psychotic boss who can't be fired is hard. Working at a nursing home getting attacked by raging Alzheimer's patients on a regular basis, cleaning their poop afterwards, and making 16 dollars an hour is hard. Telling people they have a fatal illness is hard.

When faced with public shock about the absolutely glaring problem of an out-of-control police force, we hear this mindlessly repeated mantra about police work being hard. Please.

Good comment Gaye harris!
Let me tell ya about our wonderful Portland police.

I have occasion to deal with them as a landlord in NW Portland.
I was having a dispute with a neighbor which involved a police report.
The police, did the investigation, the report, and the recommendations to the DA.

In the course of all this I was questioning some of their findings.
All officers have cell phones, most of you know that.
In the course of my questioning of their findings I was using the text message feature available on all cell phones.

As my questions became more and more difficult for them the lead officer called me on the phone and said YOU DO NOT SEND ME ANY MORE TEXT MESSAGES IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!

It was not a friendly voice conversation believe me.

The reason he didn't want any more text messages was obviously, it was a written accountable record of our communications.

This is how our police behave, on even the most trivial issues.

So when I see something like this, a killing of a citizen for no apparent reason, I know these cops will not be telling the truth to the public.

They have a long and reliable record of lying and covering up the lies to the public.

And there is nothing the citizens can do about it, other than be aware that this is how our police operate.

You folks wanna complain about unions?
Well look at the police unions, the strongest most powerful unions in the entire country

Actually, you'd be surprised. Hepatitis B,C, HIV, and a lovely variant of mad cow's disease are all transmissible via body fluids. Lots of healthcare workers have died of diseases caught from sick patients. I'll never forget a lovely green-eyed hospital receptionist who died of penicillin-resistant pneumonia, likely caught from a half-dead patient who was hauled in to the ER (over his objections) by family members.

Anyway, health care workers aside. Let's try graveyard workers. Do you know that our sainted workforce that does night shift work have some incredible, I forget the details, shortening of lifespan and that they incur much more cancer and heart disease? How about truckers? They die all the time in crashes. ALL that work is HARD. And you know what? Most of the people who work hard, including mostpolice officers, like working hard and don't kill people, or taser them because they are using their VIDEOCAMERA.

mpwhatever, get a grip, there are some people working in police work who SHOULD NOT BE THERE, and your system doesn't have a way to spit them out, it appears.

I'm going to Adams' State of the City address at City Club on Friday and if I can seize the opportunity, will ask a question about the cops.

Maybe some readers here should help me word the question, lest I start out with: "Mayor Adams, you lying son of a bitch, about the jackbooted death squads masquerading as police officers..."

Don't ya also love when a police officer dies in the line of duty, a noble death, how highways are closed down for the funeral procession?

(Dead veterans get no procession)

The entire world stops for these events.

The police are sacred, at least in the mind of the media, which of course means the minds of 99% of Americans, who only think what the media tells what to think.

It is indeed a police state we are living in, don't forget it.

They need to be taking video/audio during these sorts of confrontations.

It will never happen, cause then they might be seen as what they are, just ordinary humans will all the failings of all us other ordinary humans.

(of course bus drivers have video watching everything that happens on a bus, but that is another subject, right?)

Connect the dots people. Next time someone tells you he's running for re-election and wants your support - ask him "What have you done to improve the problem with our local cops killing people?" If you don't like the answer, give $25 to someone who has a better answer. That's how you hold your government accountable.

I particulary like the part where after shooting the unarmed man in the back with an AR15 assault rifle, (he is now on his belly not moving) they sick a police dog on him, then call out a SERT team to make sure the job is finished. I am not proud of our Police Force. This looks a lot like cowardice.

Give the poor officer a break. He was just following the PPB's motto: "Smoke 'em, don't choke 'em."

Where do you start when there is zero accountability? How do you reset the whole organizational culture?

Letting go of the college degree requirement was obviously a huge mistake, but that's only a part of it.

The relevant question is whether the charge will be murder, manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide. We don't know the facts, the DA and the homicide investigators do - so guesswork is banal.

Of course there is accountability. You either voted for Mike Schrunk, Dan Saltzman, Sam Adams, or you failed to support their opponents sufficiently. They are the mechanism. You're the accountability. If the mechanism is faulty, change it or support the people who are trying to change it.

"The relevant question is whether the charge will be murder, manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide."
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How about this question: "Was there a credible threat?"

Or better yet: "Could it be remotely possible that the suspect appeared to be reaching for something, anywhere near where he might, possibly have a weapon, sort of?"

"We don't know the facts, the DA and the homicide investigators do - so guesswork is banal."
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True. But we do know how the PPB has behaved in previous situations. That is why your question about murder, manslaughter, or any homicide is a non-starter.