A different commissioner, a new chief, a new union president. But the song is much the same.

wow! what a dense gal she is!!!!

This is just the first in a planned series of press releases. Future releases include:

* What to Do When an Officer Kicks You--Let the Officer Confirm Visually You Are Not a Threat

* This Will Only Hurt For a Minute: How to Stand Still When Being Tased--Let the Officer Confirm Visually You Are Not a Threat

* The Chasse Maneuver: Stop, Drop, Curl Up, and Hope to God an EMT Treats You--And Let the Officer Confirm Visually You Are Not a Threat

* Beanbags and You: Let the Officer Shoot You to Confirm You Are Not a Threat

Well, I took the item very seriously ... until I saw the link (very smirky).

And then I thought: The reality is that mentally ill people don't think like those who allegedly are not mentally ill. So that's why these common sense "let the cops know you're not a threat" guidelines are just so much window dressing.

Doesn't solve the problem: the cops in Portland assume EVERYBODY is a threat. And proceed accordingly. With beanbags, tazers or gunshots.

Tools such as reason, common sense and discussion to ascertain state of mind before blowing them away don't appear to be in their toolbox.

What scared me was what the new chief said in his interview, in not so many words, " I do what the Prince says as long as the Prince pays." How Machiavellian of Mayor McSleaze.

There's little room for reason/common sense/discussion when approaching the car of a mentally ill or deranged person with a gun.

Hundreds of people are pulled over or contacted by PPB officers every week: 99.9% of those contacts don't involve the use of lethal force.

We can't afford to send the SERT team everytime somebody expresses hostility when they're contacted or pulled over. It would be irresponsible to send an unarmed mental health practioner into most of these scenarios.

People usually de-escalate when they see the officers are getting agitated and preparing to deploy less-than-lethal force ("don't taze me, Bro!"). The majority of hardened criminals will fold when an officer draws a bead on them; not so with the mentally ill. It is a complex problem with no easy answers.

"When stopped by police officers, let them confirm visually that you are not a threat."

So, you just need to visually confirm you are not black or mentally ill. Then you will be just fine.

After Sam's unique cognitive ability of proclaiming last winter that "Ice is slippery", I can't wait for his Police Bureau having endless news releases from Mary Wheat.

Hundreds of people are pulled over or contacted by PPB officers every week: 99.9% of those contacts don't involve the use of lethal force.

You're minimizing the problem to "use of lethal force". The actual perceived problem is how force is being used in general, which includes a perception of lethal force being used too quickly and too often.

People usually de-escalate when they see the officers are getting agitated and preparing to deploy less-than-lethal force ("don't taze me, Bro!")

Chasse was never "escalated" in the first place. And the "Don't tase me, bro" guy was tased anyway. Repeatedly.

It is a complex problem with no easy answers.

Agreed.

Hey, whatever happened to Saltzman's plan to have mental health conselors do ride-alongs with police?

OK, Mister Tee, you bring up a valuable point:

How many pullovers/stops of mentally ill people in Portland result in force of some sort? How many result in lethal force? How many result in being talked down and put into treatment?

These would be valuable things to know (O, Trib, WW, Merc, KGW, KATU, KOIN, OPB, I'm talking to you). As a layperson, it sometimes feels to me as if you're mentally ill in Portland and acting wonky and encounter a police officer for whatever reason, you're tazed or dead.

I realize that's probably likely not statistically true by a long shot...but it sure feels that way.

In Portland, nobody is allowed to be more mentally ill than the mayor and his police.

Driving while targeted. In so many ways.

Wow. This confirms my worst fears. The PPD is run by robots who lack even the most pedestrian of sensibilities.

Don't they understand that there are lawsuits piling up, and that at the very least they would want to minimize the savaging of the emotions of next-of-kin?

"yeah, you know, my son came out with his hands locked behind his head after texting some jokes back and forth with a friendly cop who told him to come out and nothing would happen to him..."

"yeah you know, my son repeatedly screamed mercy mercy mercy"

"yeah you know...my son was wrestling with his demons in the car and got riddled with bullets in eight seconds flat by the officers who approached him ..."

"Yeah you know, my daughter was 12 years old and the PPD thought she needed some shooting on the MAX platform to calm her down..."

But for sure, not signaling that they were not a threat must have been an oversight on their parts.

So how does the officer confirm to me that he's not a threat?

Just a simple taser hot-shot rather than the bean bag shotgun or high velocity 5.56mm round exiting the barrel of an AR-15?

The key to revitalizing a not-so-vibrant neighborhood would be to send Mayor Creepy out onto the road drunk there and eventually crowds and reporters would gather and people would collect to watch the chaos. That would be very vibrant and even sustainable.

I still haven't see the gun of the latest man killed by PPB.....where is it?