Hundreds march in support of suspended officer
This is a new version of a story posted earlier in the day
PORTLAND, Ore. – Hundreds of Portland police officers and their families marched from police headquarters to City Hall Tuesday to show support for an officer placed on paid leave for firing a beanbag gun at a 12-year-old girl and to demand an end to political meddling in police and safety.
“Today isn’t about one officer. Today isn’t about one incident. Today is not about a no-confidence vote. Today is not about one politician. Today is not about one police chief. Today is about support,” said Portland Police Association President Scott Westerman as he stood on the steps of City Hall before a crowd of cheering supporters.
Members of the police union who were at the rally said Officer Chris Humphreys, the officer who was placed on paid administrative leave, was just doing his job.
“The way he’s being treated is wrong,” said Bob Clevenger, a Portland police employee. Clevenger also said the decision to suspend Humphreys makes officers more apprehensive on the job.
“It’s not knowing what’s going to happen next,” he said. “Not knowing if you’re going to go out and do your job the way you’re trained to do it [or] if you’re going to get in trouble for doing things you’re trained to do.”
Humphreys was taken off the job last week by police Commissioner Dan Saltzman and police Chief Rosie Sizer for firing a beanbag gun at an aggressive 12-year-old girl.
A handful of those gathered at the rally defended the city’s decision and interrupted Westerman’s speech from time to time with boos.
“There’s no reason for them to do what they did,” said John Macinnis. “She’s 12 years old. There’s got to be a limit. Now if this happened once, OK, something happened accidently.
But this is a two-time deal on this guy.”
Many at the rally said they believe the true motivation for Humphreys’ suspension is payback for his role in the death of James Chasse Jr. in 2006.
In response, union members who support Humphreys took their own political action at the union ballot box.
Casting a vote of no confidence for Sizer and Saltzman “says stop playing politics with Portland police officers’ careers [and] lives,” said Ken Jones, a Portland police criminologist.
“To Mayor Sam Adams,” said Westerman. “We don’t ask, we say it’s your job. You stand with us.”
Meanwhile, on Monday police Chief Rosie Sizer backtracked a bit from comments she made last week after the suspension of Officer Humphreys. In an e-mail to the Police Bureau obtained by the Willamette Week newspaper Sizer said:
“I have been told by various people inside the Police Bureau that my comment in last Thursday’s press conference that I was ‘troubled’ by the video made the situation more difficult. For that, you have my apologies. It was clearly not my intent. After this investigation is completed, I will decide if the use of force was consistent with policy and training doctrine. We will also use this case to assess our policy and training.”
Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman released a statement and said, “I have the utmost respect for the men and women of the Portland Police Bureau. I resolve to maintain good relations, or at least frank discussions with the Portland Police Association on a myriad of issues.”
The results from the no-confidence vote will be released next week, the union said. Westerman wouldn’t give specifics on what action he wants the mayor to take, but he said if the majority of the union membership doesn’t support Sizer and Saltzman then the mayor shouldn’t either.