What if this happened in Portland?
Up in Everett, Washington, an interesting story is developing: A police officer is reportedly being charged with murder in connection with a shooting in the line of duty. Check out the facts, detailed here, and then ask yourself if even that would get a police officer indicted by Mike Schrunk here in Portland.
I'm guessing not.
| Posted at 3:24 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (8)
Hmmm...seven bullets fired, with the officer saying "Time to end this; enough is enough"...naah. In fact, you'll get a properly sycophantic editorial in the Oregonian about how this wouldn't have happened if the officer had been allowed to carry a Uzi and really hose some lead around.
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | March 24, 2010 3:34 PM
Id like to see some national stats on police use of deadly force, the outcomes and the number of incidents..
Is there a trend nationwide? Where does Portland rank? And what did the stats look like 10 and 20 years ago?
If an increase has occurred, what societal and political factors have changed in those timeframes? Has the privitization of prisons added to this situtation?
Has anybody done any research on this subject? Let's face it, we are becoming more of an authoritarian state.. Has anybody lived in a police state?
Are we in one now or are we approaching that status? Has the Patriot Act, The Military Commissions Act, Warrantless Wiretapping, and the latest legislation Ive seen, The Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010 added to this environment?
Ive only lived in the USA. I have nothing to compare these events too. Are we frogs in a pot and the heats gradually being turned up? I don't know.. any thoughts?
Posted by Robert | March 24, 2010 4:07 PM
Seven shots in the back? Westerman would justify it and Schrunk wouldn't think dream of indicting.
Posted by none | March 24, 2010 5:03 PM
Keep your eyes on this one:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/police_searching_for_man_with.html
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | March 24, 2010 6:46 PM
It's time for new uniforms for the PoPo. They need to be bright yellow.... I don't need to say why. Bawk.
Posted by LucsAdvo | March 24, 2010 6:52 PM
I agree with Robert. Was just wondering how many police killings there are per resident in other cities near Portland's size. Sure do wish there was still a newspaper in this town that actually did some investigative reporting rather than reprinting the AP and press releases from city hall and the justice center jail.
Posted by jfwells | March 24, 2010 9:18 PM
There is some reporting going on at the Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/12/portland_payouts_on_police_use.html
I also seem to remember they had a table showing cop killings in other cities, and Portland was somewhere in the middle, but I can't find it online.
Posted by Miles | March 25, 2010 9:36 AM
I can hear Westerman now: "The subject's shoulderblades were razor knives with six-inch handles and as he backed toward the officer torpedoes began shooting out wildly in all directions and he started spitting lightning so the officer shot him."
Posted by Bronch O'Humphrey | March 25, 2010 4:54 PM