Saltzman wants cops involved in Chasse case suspended

Submitted by KATU Communitie... on Wed, 2009-11-04 18:29

Portland's police commissioner is recommending that two officers be suspended without pay for their role in the death of James Chasse, who died in police custody in 2006.

An internal investigation cleared Sgt. Kyle Nice and Officer Chris Humphreys of excessive force.

But in a statement released Wednesday, Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman wrote that he believes Humphreys and Nice should be suspended without pay because "I believe that their interactions with medical personnel fell short of the Bureau's legitimate expectations."

Sgt. Scott Westerman, President of the Portland Police Association, fired back at a press conference, saying that is absurd.

"Officer Chris Humphreys and Sgt. Kyle Nice are being unfairly disciplined for purely political reasons," Westerman said. "Commissioner Saltzman is unable to discipline medical crews or jail nurses, so he is taking aim at these officers for political posturing."

The two officers will be given an opportunity to discuss the suspension recommendation with Saltzman before a final decision is made.

For more coverage of James Chasse's death

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Comments

Submitted by PoorPDX (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 18:58.

I feel sorry for all of the officers at PPB. To be a cop in such a disgustingly liberal environment must be tough. Don't let this crap get you down, ladies and gentlemen. Keep doing your job and try to let the political crap pass you by. James Chasse made a series of poor decisions which led to his unfortunate death. His choices. If he hadn't fought with the police, he'd be urinating on a streetcorner near you and begging for change.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 19:41.

He was mentally ill. Is this something you missed in all the diaglogue that you missed? He didn't react or think the way you would expect. The police officers over reacted to what Mr. Chasse did. There is no way what he did that should have ended with how they treated him. They SHOULD be suspended or more.

Submitted by PoorPDX (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 20:16.

So what if he was mentally ill?? I would think that fact would justify their use of force even more. Just because somebody is crazy doesn't mean they get to do whatever they want to do with no consequence. I'm not saying this guy should have died, but people drag out this mentally ill crap all the time to bash the cops.

Submitted by Medic 41 (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 00:49.

THANK YOU! It so nice to hear you say that! I too am so freaking tired of that old cliche that the bleeding heart crowd pulls everytime. They need a new, and original, line to throw at us so that someone doesn't always have to say what you just did.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 20:02.

Ugh listen pal, the police refused to allow him to go to a hospital after they injured him in their custody. While they didn't know he was mentally ill at first, after they did they still refused him medical treatment from injuries sustained when they dug their knees into his body and didn't allow him air to breathe. After he blacked at for a short time on the way to the police department they still denied him medical treatment. After the showed up towing a semi-unconscious man into booking was when someone stopped and said, "hey that guy doesn't look so good."

He was not drunk. He was a man that the Portland Police gave such inhumane treatment to, and you really think that it's okay for them to do this?

No it's not okay.

They should be fired for excessive for simply because that's exactly what happened.

Just because you passed a few tests and carry a badge doesn't give you a right to kill.

I'm not aright side or left side person here, I just actually give a shit about right and wrong ~ that's it.

Submitted by PoorPDX (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 20:18.

I'll refer to my original post.

"I feel sorry for all of the officers at PPB. To be a cop in such a disgustingly liberal environment must be tough."

Pal.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 10:31.

You don't have a clue. The police never refused Mr. Chasse medical treatment. The firefighters and paramedics on scene cleared Mr. Chasse and said he didn't need to be taken to the hospital. Once the police arrived at the jail, the nurse didn't even bother to examine Mr. Chasse or call an ambulance...she just refused to accept him and told the police to take him to the hospital...which they tried to do. Mr. Chasse died on his way to the hospital.

Police offficers aren't trained medical professionals. If you want to debate the manner in which they arrested Mr. Chasse, fine. But don't criticize them for the post arrest medical attention he received.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 20:10.

What precinct are you assigned to ?

Why aren't cops tested for drugs ? Especially steriods .

Submitted by PoorPDX (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 20:19.

You don't think they are? Check your facts before you open your mouth.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 22:24.

FUCK YOU, WHORE!

I would rather him urinating on a streetcorner and begging for change. Why? HE WOULD BE ALIVE! Instead, the cops were filthy pigs (as Portland cops are) and decided to kill him. No one dies of 2 broken rib cages and a collapsed lung just by being 'pushed down' by the officers.

I hope all officers involved die on duty!

Submitted by Medic 41 (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 01:07.

How do you know that no one dies from that?
Are you a doctor? A medical examiner? Give me something that PROVES that you are an EXPERT.

I've been doing Paramedicine for 15 years. You buddy, would be suprised at the things that people die from, and very easily too.

If this guy was living on the street, with an mental illness, the likelyhood of him being in good health is poor. Poor diet, fatigue, MENTAL ILLNESS, alcoholism, drug use, all of these things can very easily contribute to what this man's health condition was.

Granted, many people (in good health) live (for a while) with a pneumothorax; but some people in poor health may pass away many times faster than those that aren't.
This man could have had "brittle bone disease". These people's bones break very easily, they do it to themselves inadvertantly from time to time, as well as others.

I had a call once where a person with Brittle Bone Disease was choking on some food. Unfortunetely, after doing chest compressions (the protocols for unconscious victims of choking, not abdominal thrusts anymore), the person had 8 broken/cracked ribs. Spit happens. The person lived, but had a bilateral pneumothorax afterwards which we then had to decompress. What would have killed the person 1st, choking or doing nothing because of BBD?

The point is, you don't know the extinuating circumstances. You wern't there and you obviously hate cops. You probably hate yourself, and I wouldn't blame you if you did.

P.S. - you need some serious counseling to get over your not-to-subtle anger issues.

Good Day.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 02:46.

Now you show your true intelligence with that posting. Maybe instead of surfing the internet and contributing nothing to society, you should go find yourself a job. Leave the cops alone. Maybe there were some mistakes made....we all make mistakes don't we? Or are you perfect? Instead of blaming the cops all the time, maybe we should start putting some of the responsability and fault on the people who don't always choose wisely and run from the cops. Now go back to sleeping on the street corner...oh and educate yourself on that case a bit before you start posting a bunch of BS that isn't true. :)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2009-11-06 08:51.

Im a corrections officer so in this type of work i can tell what is going over the line and whats just doin your job, but Officer Nice pulled me over on marine drive about 5 years ago and gave me a speeding ticket for going 1mph over. have a nice night he said.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2009-11-06 08:54.

Im a corrections officer so in this type of work i can tell what is going over the line and whats just doin your job, but Officer Nice pulled me over on marine drive about 5-6 years ago and gave me a speeding ticket for going 1mph over. have a nice night he said

Submitted by Y3 4U (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 19:05.

No matter what you think of what the officers did, the city has paid a settlement and the investigation is over. The chief knows a helluva lot more than a city commisioner about tactics and procedures in these types of incidents. Let Rosie make the decision and then stick with it. Saltzman was a horrible choice for police commissioner.

I can see it now:

In the Circuit Court for the County of Multnomah, State of Oregon

C. Humphreys City of Portland

K. Nice vs D. Saltzmann

Submitted by PoorPDX (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 19:25.

It's a long standing tradition to pay out a settlement based upon how much it would have cost to litigate the matter. What they don't take into consideration are all the future frivolous lawsuits down the road from people who see the deep pockets of the city/county/etc. It might cost you more at first to take these civil suits to trial, but it's cheaper in the long run when people realize you won't pay them just to go away.

Submitted by Localpdx (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 20:39.

They should have been suspended w/pay while a complete investigation was done. This was an in custody death after all.

It should not have taken this long for some of this information to be made public. Since when is urinating in public a death penalty offence?

I support Saltzman and Leonards position on this matter, just wish they would have stepped up right after the investigation was done.

IMO over zealous officers that should find a new position in a senior centre or some other place where they would not have any authority

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 21:51.

Scott Westerman shot and killed a demented man in SW Portland in the late 1990's. Additionally, Officer Westerman harrassed me on a track field on false pretense, was threatening and harassing to a Portland tax payer to the extent that he brought an adult female and her 9 year old daughter to tears over dog poop.

I cannot believe that Scott Westerman is now President of the Portland Police Association. Do they do Psych Evaluations on these officers....

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 02:51.

I'm pretty sure they do psych evaluations on all officers. To bad they don't do them on all people who post on on this site...you sir or miss would surely fail. Next time don't poop in public on the track and you probably won't get talked to by the police.

Submitted by webbfoot (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 23:04.

Frirst off all of the broken ribs and damaged lungs have not been explained....falling down does not qualify, unless the story soon changes and he was two stories above the officers.

Submitted by Lorraine (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 05:33.

Enough of the police bureau obscenities. Enough! That spokesman should be ashamed of himself (and of our better deserving public servants protecting this city) than to try to offer up a defense for Officer Humphrey and Sgt. Nice. That is just plain nauseating of him. And shameful.

And Commissioner Saltzman - what's up with the 40 hour suspension - why do you continue to demean James Chasse - and all other murder victims? When all along what is REQUIRED for the death of a innocent man is their being FIRED. Nothing less than that.

And no amount of time off is going to instill in these two a respect for life. They have no respect - for themselves, the badge they wear or for others. They are stone cold killers - who got away with it. Enough of the suspension talk and/or of the money talk. Saltzman - be a true respresentative of the people of this city - and demand they both be FIRED! And if Ms. Sizer won't do so - then YOU be our public representative and fire Ms. Sizer and then fire these two murdering thugs.

Step up and do the right thing Saltzman. Today. No more "suspensions". No more.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 06:44.

Hey Lorraine...why don't you become a cop and try and fix the streets with your goody two shoes attitude. When you discover that won't work and come down to the reality that there are really bad people out there...maybe then you'll understand that this stuff unfortunately happens. You'll get your @ss kicked within a couple days on the street. My father was a cop for years...a dick at times as a dad, but I saw all to often what a bunch of nasty people he had to deal with which is what changed him over the years. So quit calling these guys killers when they do a whole lot of good that never gets reported.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 06:22.

Being a lic Elecrtician , over the years i have worked a lot in lower burnside area both east and west burnside , i cant tell you how many times i have gone to my truck to get something and found a homeless person (your words not mine ) peeing on my truck , it stinks , the whole area stinks of old beer, and pee , The portland police have tryed over the years to clean the area up and make it safe for everyone.

, Now if this person was high on drugs and from drinking , you not being there do not know how much of a fight this person put up or what else this person may or may not have done to the police officers .

Did this person have a record with the police dept ???

what has his life been like before this night , Did the portland police have interaction before with this person ???.

If you dislike the police so bad , the next time your car is stolden or your house is broken into dont call the portland police , call a homeless person so you feel safe , No we have laws that everyone has to live buy , if you dont think this is a problem for the police , find an officer and ask him or her to find a building the homeless have taken over and to take you inside , simply they live that way because THEY want to .....

Submitted by Lorraine (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 07:19.

Stop defaming Mr. Chasse -he had no criminal history. His life lead as a mentally ill man was a SUCCESS story. He was living independently. He was compliant with his meds. He had the right to be on that street or any other on the day the police - for no just cause - chose to kill him.

He is the victim of a murder. Not a commodity that deserves us all discussing him as if HE is the guilty one.

Two police officers targetted him - for no just reason. Accosted and assaulted him - killing him in two short hours, hog tied and held him in the back of THEIR patrol car until he indeed DIED - silencing him forevermore. Denying him his right to life - by their thug wileding hands and steel toed boots. There is nothing - not a thing that Mr. Chasse did "wrong" other than meet up with the worst of the worst of Portland's "best" on that day he died.

And for Portland's police bureau and police chief to refuse to acknowledge as much - and for Commissioner Saltzman to suggest 40 hours of suspension is appropriate a consequence is an obscenity. To the tortured and murdered. To innocent man James Chasse.