MENTAL ILLNESS <<Legislative leaders often say they don’t want to criminalize mental illness. But data reviewed by KOIN 6 News shows that is literally what they’re doing. The bar is so high for involuntary civil commitment in Oregon — that is, forcing someone into treatment — just about the only way to get into the …
Category Archives: News and Analysis
2/24/23 News Update
ACCOUNTABILITY <<Special police teams in Southwest Washington that investigate when fellow officers use deadly force have followed many best practices in their first investigations, yet have also made several administrative errors. That’s according to a handful of recently published reports from the Washington State Auditor’s Office. The documents show a dozen errors in procedure during …
2/23/23 News Update
RIOT COPS <<In January 2022, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced the city had discovered an offensive meme in police training materials. The discovery of the meme, which depicts violence against protesters and is affiliated with the far-right movement, ignited a firestorm. Now, more than a year later, the Portland Police Bureau is disciplining the officer …
2/18/23 News Update
RIOT CHARGES <<A soldier stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington exchanged text messages with people on the street in Portland, egging them on to smash windows and damage property and broke out windows himself at the Blazer Boys and Girls Club during protests in 2021, according to an indictment filed in court this month. …
2/11/23 News Update
POLICE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (40%) <<Larry Wenzel, 52, a deputy at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested Jan. 31 for allegedly punching and then choking his wife. He was indicted on charges of felony assault earlier this week, and is currently in Clackamas County Jail. He lives in Gladstone, according to court records.>> <<Wenzel had …
2/9/23 *Special Edition*
POLICE UNION <<WW reviewed a list of arbitration decisions published by the state’s Employment Relations Board. The list is incomplete—until recently, arbitrators were not required to submit their decisions to the state. But a review of even this limited set of decisions illustrates the cycle’s persistence. Out of the 10 cases in the past two …
2/9/23 News Update
SHOOTING <<Two Albany police officers shot and killed a man in a mental health crisis Wednesday morning after the man pointed a gun at them, the Associated Press reports. The officers were initially responding to a welfare check for a man reported to be suicidal at a home in southwest Albany. The Albany Police Department …
2/5/23 News Update
BODY CAMS The O has an editorial: <<You would never know about the lethal violence inflicted on Tyre Nichols from reading the police report filed after Memphis officers brutalized the 29-year-old man. According to news accounts, the report does not mention officers kicking Nichols in the face, nor does it acknowledge the multiple times they …
2/4/23 News Update
LAWSUIT <<A Portland protester who was yanked off the street and thrown into a van by federal officers in 2020 has lost his case in federal appeals court, because… *checks notes*… Congress hasn’t made a law about the feds kidnapping citizens off the street?>> https://www.portlandmercury.com/good-afternoon-news/2023/02/03/46334872/good-afternoon-news-multcos-new-plan-to-house-homeless-today-in-wealthy-portland-crybabies-and-balloon-balloon-ballooooooooon SHOOTING <<The Marion County District Attorney’s Office says five Salem …
2/3/23 News Update
POLICE UNION <<Brian Hunzeker, the Portland police officer responsible for leaking false information linking former city commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty to a 2021 hit-and-run, has been reinstated to his position with the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). While Hunzeker was originally fired in March 2022 for his involvement in the leak, a labor arbitrator from the …