From KATU
From Williamette Week
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland police sergeant embroiled in a "road rage" lawsuit will be moved to a desk job, says Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman.
The news comes three days after a driver involved in a roadway altercation with Sgt. Kyle Nice filed a lawsuit against Nice and the City of Portland.
Nice was off duty when he admits he "unholstered" his gun during that confrontation last Saturday. The driver involved, Neil Ruffin, told 9-1-1 dispatchers the gun was pointed right at him. Nice believed Ruffin nearly hit his personal truck, which held his 6-week-old baby, after Ruffin reportedly ran a red light on Southwest Allen Road.
Ruffin's lawsuit accuses Nice of menacing and threatening him with a loaded firearm.
Portland Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman told KATU on Friday he would consider taking Nice off the street. On Monday, he told KATU Reporter Dan Tilkin that he and Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer consulted, and "we have determined he will be placed in an administrative assignment off the street.”
Nice is off work and on family leave. When Nice returns from leave, he'll be "basically working in an office environment in the bureau," Saltzman said.
Meanwhile, Saltzman wasn't shy about how he feels on this matter: "I am embarrassed by Sgt. Nice in this road-rage incident, and I think it was totally unprofessional and it doesn’t set a good example for other officers. It’s not what the public expects of our officers, on or off duty.”
The case now goes in from the recently set-up citizen review board.
"I think the public deserves better from officers who are on, or off, duty,” Saltzman said.
In addition to the Nice incident, Portland police union president Sgt. Scott Westerman admitted to pulling over a woman twice while off-duty and yelling at her. Virginia Thompson was near Interstate 205 and two days later she and her husband were on the other side of town on Beaverton Hillsdale Highway. Thompson said in both instances Westerman screamed at her because he thought her lights were on high. She said he told her he was a police officer and could have her arrested.
Westerman said he was ashamed of the incident.
Saltzman said he’s going to wait for the Internal Affairs investigation to end before taking action with Westerman, who's not an active patrol officer.
He also said he’ll wait for the investigation to conclude on Sgt. Nice before deciding on further discipline.
Nice was one of the officers involved in the police custody death of James Chasse - a mentally ill man - in September 2006.
From Williamette Week
Mental Health Advocate Takes on Saltzman for City Council
In his second straight day in the news, prominent mental-health advocate Jason Renaud announced today he'll run against City Commissioner Dan Saltzman next year. Renaud, a volunteer for the Mental Health Association of Portland, is a prominent critic of the police role in the in-custody death three years ago of James Chasse Jr. Renaud (pictured above) also weighed in on Saltzman's decision yesterday to reverse himself and reinstate Officer Christopher Humphreys, who used a beanbag gun on a 12-year-old girl who was resisting arrest. (The race for Saltzman's seat also has two other candidates: Ed Garren and Spencer Burton.) More on the political implications of Saltzman's decision on Humphreys in tomorrow's issue of WW.by JAMES PITKIN 11.30.2009Sizer and Saltzman Cave; Police Union Suspends No-Confidence Vote
The Portland police union has declined to release the results of last week's no-confidence vote on Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Chief Rosie Sizer today as planned. In a news release (PDF), the Portland Police Association says the decision came after Saltzman and Sizer agreed today to give back Officer Chris Humphreys' badge. "The (union's) rally on November 24 was designed to focus on the need for due process for Officer Humphreys; to have the incident thoroughly investigated before any decision was made," the news release says. "Today's actions grant those basic due process rights." Sgt. Scott Westerman (photo above), head of the police union, tells WW by email he will have no further comment beyond the release. Salzman and Sizer issued their own news release (PDF) earlier this afternoon confirming that Humphreys — who was involved in a controversial beanbag shooting Nov. 14 — has been placed "in an off-street administrative assignment." Such an assignment was Sizer's original decision on what to do with Humphreys pending the investigation. Saltzman overruled her then and decided to to pull Humphreys' badge, placing him on administrative leave Nov. 19. Saltzman's office says he will have no further comment today on why he changed his mind.by JAMES PITKIN 11.27.2009Police Union Boss Pushes Back on Two Theories about the No-Confidence Vote
Amid all the political speculation on the Portland Police Associations's current no-confidence vote against Chief Rosie Sizer and Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman, two recurring theories have endured. Both were swatted down today by union president Sgt. Scott Westerman in an interview with WW. The first theory making the rounds has it that the union's no-confidence vote against Sizer and Saltzman for placing Officer Chris Humphreys on administrative leave is, in part, meant to benefit the cops when contract negotiations between the union and the city begin next year. Some observers believe weakening Saltzman could create leverage for the union. Others have noted that pissing off City Hall as a tactic could backfire. And Westerman today swatted down any such speculation about the vote a couple of days before the union is scheduled to announce the results. "People say this is for leverage, but that is not the case," he said. "This is about public safety. This is about our members looking at the chief and the police commissioner and saying, we followed our training, what do you expect us to do now?" Westerman also noted, as some observers believe, that "this will actually hurt our ability for contract negotiations." The second bit of speculation involves City Commissioner Randy Leonard. It's been reported that the union is working closely with Gallatin Public Affairs. Political insiders also know that Leonard has close ties with Gallatin lobbyist Greg Peden. Could it be that Leonard, a former firefighter union boss who has nursed his own designs to become police commissioner, is somehow playing puppet-master at the union through his friend Peden? Westerman scoffs at the notion, saying the union is working not only with Peden but the entire Gallatin team in Portland, with Shannon McCarthy Berg as the union's main contact at the firm. "I can assure you there has been no collusion between the Portland Police Association and any city commissioner to conspire toward anything," Westerman says. "I think Randy's quotes recently exemplify that."by JAMES PITKIN 11.19.2009Chasse Cop Christopher Humphreys Placed on Administrative Leave (UPDATED with union reaction)
Portland Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman has directed that Police Officer Christopher Humphreys be placed on administrative leave while investigators look into Humphreys firing a beanbag round at the thigh of a 12-year-old girl at close range. In this release (PDF), police say Humphreys —who also was involved in the death of James Chasse— and Officer Aaron Dauchy responded to a call at 10:47 pm last Saturday that took them to the MAX platform on 162nd Avenue. Police say officers were told there had been a large party with several gang members that had just broken up, and that a gun had been found in bushes near the party. Humphreys and Dauchy got on the MAX train heading west with about 20-30 teen-agers, including a girl Dauchy knew was excluded from the trains, police say. When Dauchy tried to take her into custody, police say she swung at him and resisted despite repeated warnings from Humphreys that he would fire the beanbag gun. Police Chief Rosie Sizer says a TriMet video of the incident left her "troubled." And Saltzman said he "directed that Officer Humphreys be immediately removed from the street and placed on administrative leave." Sizer read the prepared statement at a news conference and took no questions. Police spokeswoman, Det. Mary Wheat, wouldn't comment on whether there was a policy dictating the proper range for a beanbag shot. UPDATE: After Sizer ended her news conference without taking questions, police union president Scott Westerman held his own news conference on the steps of the Justice Center. Flanked by about 40 other officers, Westerman said Humphreys is a "well-respected" officer and called his actions "appropriate, justified, warranted and necessary" to defuse the situation. Westerman said regulations governing beanbag use require shots to the torso be from at least 10 feet away but that in closer-range situations, beanbag rounds to the extremities are OK. Westerman added that there are no restrictions on using beanbags against children. Westerman ascribed Humphreys' punishment to what he termed a "bias" against Humphreys after the Chasse death. And Westerman said Saltzman's decision to put Humphreys on administrative leave overrode Sizer's decision to only take Humphreys off the street. He said both Sizer and Saltzman have lost the confidence of police rank-and-file.by BETH SLOVIC 12.07.2009Saltzman, Fritz And Sizer Meet with Mental Health Advocate
Given all the issues swirling around Portland police, here's a meeting worth noting. City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the Portland Police Bureau, Commissioner Amanda Fritz, a former psychiatric nurse, and Police Chief Rosie Sizer are scheduled to meet this afternoon with Richard Harris, according to Fritz's calendar. Harris is the Oregon Department of Human Services' assistant director for addictions and mental health, and was formerly the executive director of Portland's Central City Concern. Detective Mary Wheat, a spokeswoman for the police, says the group is "information sharing."by HANK STERN 12.10.2009Now Look Who's Mad at Dan Saltzman
Karin Hansen, who's never been shy about weighing in on what's roiling City Hall, is now upset with Commissioner Dan Saltzman in the wake of his reinstatement of Officer Christopher Humphreys to desk duty pending investigation into Humphreys' use of a beanbag gun against a 12-year-old girl who was resisting arrest. Hansen, who's married to former Mayor Tom Potter, responded to a Facebook thread last night by the Rev. Chuck Currie that said he wouldn't support Saltzman for re-election and that he "will be looking for a progressive voice to support." Hansen's reply: "You are oh so right! Thank you for your bold commentary." In case you're wondering whether that signals any interest by Hansen in being added to Saltzman's growing list of challengers in the 2010 election, don't. Hansen (in the photo above with Jasun Wurster, organizer of the first effort to recall Mayor Sam Adams) tells WW she isn't interested in running against Saltzman next year.by HANK STERN 12.18.2009The Newest Challenger To Dan Saltzman is ...
Jesse Cornett. There's been no shortage of candidates filing recently to take on city Commissioner Dan Saltzman next year. And Cornett, who's leaving his post as assistant to PSU's president at the end of this year, has been a political candidate before. One of the founders both of Blue Oregon and the Bus Project, the now-34-year-old Cornett ran unsuccessfully for the state Legislature in 2006. He also considered trying again for a legislative seat this year before deciding against it. Now living in Lents, Cornett says he's filing the paperwork today to take on Saltzman in the City Hall race instead of Commissioner Nick Fish —who's also up for re-election next year— because Saltzman has been in office for three terms with what Cornett says are "few accomplishments." Cornett faults Saltzman for losing control of one of the more recent issues the commissioner had to deal with in Saltzman's reversal of his original decision in the case of Officer Christopher Humphreys. Cornett also wrote an op-ed in The Oregonian that also probably made Cornett no friends in the police union. Cornett says his experience in the city and state, including previous work as a senior policy adviser and legislative aide for former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, makes him the best-qualified candidate to take on Saltzman. "I didn't see anyone else in the race being a really strong contender," says Cornett, who plans to seek public financing.by BETH SLOVIC 01.11.2010Updated: A Sixth Candidate Joins Race Against Dan Saltzman
Rudy Soto, student body president at Portland State University from 2007 to 2008, will file next week to run against Commissioner Dan Saltzman, joining five others who have already announced their intention to challenge the three-time incumbent. Soto says he plans to make an official announcement next Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Soto, 24, has already seen the dark side of political campaigns. Back in 2007 when he ran for PSU student-body president, his victory at the polls was challenged in an underhanded fashion that required intervention from the state Attorney General's office. It's already been said many times that Soto has a biography tailor-made for politics in the Obama age. Of mixed Latino and Native American heritage, Soto at one point lived in an Idaho facility for juvenile delinquents. He then moved to Portland, where he graduated from Cleveland High School before enrolling at PSU. In 2008, Soto took a leave from college to join the Oregon National Guard. Currently on "drilling status" that requires service one weekend a month, Soto plans to graduate from PSU in June. Soto also has seen his share of City Hall politics recently. A member of Mayor Sam Adams' committee studying the Rose Quarter redevelopment, Soto is also an intern in Commissioner Nick Fish's office. Soto says he informed Fish, who is also up for re-election, this morning of his intention to run. "He did ask, 'Wait a second, which position?'" Soto says. Soto adds that his decision was influenced, at least in part, by the event hosted by his fellow challengers on Friday night, which was sparsely attended. "I think I could create more interest in the race," Soto says. Update at 5:30 pm: Soto filed Monday Jan. 11 to run against Saltzman. Photo of Soto with then presidential candidate Barack Obama courtesy of Soto.by BETH SLOVIC 01.19.2010Dan Saltzman Files For Fourth Term
The six candidates who have declared their desire to challenge Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman finally have a challenger in Saltzman; the three-time incumbent officially filed today to seek a fourth term. His website is DanSaltzman.com.
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