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Supreme Court OK's Police Chasing Those Who RunOn January 12, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that that running from police could constitute reasonable suspicion for cops to stop and frisk a person. While the ruling named "other factors" that must be present to justify such a stop, the National Association of Police Organizations considered it a "substantial victory" for law enforcement (New York Times, January 13). Interestingly, the ruling was upheld 9-0, though the justices split 5-4 on how to apply it to the case which brought the issue before them. In that case, a black man in Chicago ran away when he saw police cars. Justice John Paul Stevens, among the four dissenters on the case, wrote "Among some citizens, particularly those resident in high crime areas, there is also the possibility that the fleeing person is entirely innocent but, with or without justification, believes that contact with the police can itself be dangerous." Anaheim, California police Sergeant Joe Vargas is quoted in the January 13 Orange County Register as saying "Would an average citizen run from the police? No, he wouldn't. The type of person that would run either is wanted or is engaged in some criminal activity to begin with."
While this guilty-til-presumed-innocent attitude is frightening--and now legally supported--
community activist Amin David is quoted in the same article saying "People run because they're
afraid...This is very disappointing...I hope the police chiefs view this very cautiously."
Multnomah Sheriffs Use Scam to Net SuspectsThe Oregonian's February 10 subhead says it all: "Agencies celebrate the bust of fugitives getting food stamps despite criticism of it as immoral and unethical." On January 14, four hundred fifty people had letters mailed to them statinguntruthfullythat a Y2K computer glitch had dumped their food stamp eligibility information. Along with promising to reinstate their food stamps, there were "promises of cash bonuses and transportation reimbursement," which drew 28 people to their immediate arrest for outstanding felony warrants. Dubbed "Operation Talon," the effort is backed by the federal government. It involved law enforcement using the state's welfare recipient database and lying to the wanted individuals. "In this case there's no question that we misled people," Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle is quoted as saying in the Oregonian. "You have to trick them." The February 9 Willamette Week reports County Commissioners Serena Cruz and Diane Linn thought the sting was "downright sneaky." WW also says that the Portland Police worked with the US Department of Agriculture, the Sheriff's Office, and the Social Security Administration to "knock on doors of felons listed on food-stamp applications in the tri-county area." They arrested 215 people on outstanding felony warrants.
So law enforcement can lie, and Big Brother can swap interjurisdictional information...and beware
letters asking you to show up to claim prize money. Worse than con artists, it could be the cops.
Lawsuit for 1997 Shooting DismissedRonald Barton, a Portland Public Schools employee who was shot by Portland Police in 1997, lost in his efforts to sue the City of Portland for $3.5 million for the poor training and reckless actions of the officers. Officer Kyle Nice claims that he fired his gun after Barton pointed a shotgun at his partner, Officer Clifford Bacigalupi, Jr. (Oregonian, February 3). According to the August 26, 1997 article on the incident, Barton was both "a neighborhood watchdog who tried to keep crime out of [his] apartment complex" and "quarrelsome and frequently threatened people he didn't like." The more recent article states that Barton's apartment had been broken into several times and that he kept the shotgun for protection, but that it was stuck in the couch and not in his hands. A jury acquitted him on two criminal counts of reckless endangerment in March 1998.
Barton's left arm suffered permanent damage from the police bullet. His nephew, Tony Barton, told
Copwatch that Barton's left bicep was essentially destroyed and the left-handed Barton is no longer
able to work. He did not file an appeal because the City threatened to demand legal costs for the
first trial if he did.
Grand Jury OK's death in police custody
Eight unnamed Portland officers were cleared of wrongdoing in the December 5 death of Damon
Lowery, 29, allegedly high on hallucinogenic mushrooms; Lowery crashed through a window and
cut his throat after police threatened to burst into his friend's home; the D.A. says he died in a
neighbor's yard after police shot him with at least 10 lead-pellet-bag rounds and before the
ambulance arrived (Oregonian, February 3).
Cop rams citizen in bus stop
On February 29, Portland officer Brian Hubbard, attempting to chase a man who had "trespassed"
in downtown's Drug Free Zone during rush hour, lost control of his police car on West Burnside
Street and hit Mark Lajoi, who was sitting in a bus shelter (Oregonian, March 2).
Spy Scandal update
The Police Bureau has not been auditing its Criminal Intelligence Unit as ordered by Judge
Michael Marcus in 1996, according to a document filed by City Attorney Jeff Rogers. Possible
contempt proceedings and related arrest issues are scheduled to be back in court in early May
(background in PPR 19).
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April, 2000
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#20 Table of Contents
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