Potter recommends officer be fired

By KATU Web Staff Published: May 9, 2007 at 5:46 PM PST Last Updated: Apr 14, 2009 at 2:31 PM PST
Potter recommends officer be fired »Play Video
Mayor Tom Potter served a single term as mayor. He did not run for re-election.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Mayor Tom Potter is recommending that a police officer involved in a deadly shooting be fired.

In January of 2006, Lt. Jeffrey Kaer was called to a home at Northeast 64th and Alameda by his sister, after she saw a suspicious vehicle outside her house.

When Kaer arrived, he found 28-year-old Dennis Young asleep behind the wheel of a stolen car.  Young began fighting with Kaer and tried to drive away.  Kaer shot him in the chest and the man died at the scene.

Although a grand jury later cleared Kaer of wrongdoing, Mayor Potter has written a recommendation that Kaer be fired, saying "you made a number of poor decisions leading up to the use of deadly force that, in their totality, violate Bureau policy."

Wednesday afternoon, Kaer's wife sent KATU News an e-mail saying her husband was simply protecting himself and "this is unfair and we will fight this... this is a huge slap in the face."

Police Chief Rosie Sizer had recommended Kaer be suspended without pay for a month.