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Did you know that anyone with a library card can freely access (and easily search) the recent years of the Oregonian by using the Multnomah County Library's link to Newsbank? Many grade school children have learned to use the magic and muysterious library to access info, but I will make it easy for you cause you may have missed that fifth grade field trip. Go to: http://www.multcolib.org/ref/a2z.html Look under O for Oregonian. (The letter O comes after the letter N)
I am surprised the O itself doesn't doa quick search of its archives when an incident like the campbell shooting involves specific, named, officers. So good work on following up.
If your usual workplace is a high school baseball team.
I suspect the fact that the O has laid off so many reporters may have knocked its institutional memory, somewhat. Nevertheless this is a real glaring oversight. Nobody remembered her name?
Consider your nit picked.
Portland Police, Chief Sizer... Pardon me- but GET it THE EFF TOGETHER... Chasse should have NEVER died for pissing on the street. Damn- why don't you issue the police force "Bad Kitty" water guns; which probably WOULD have worked in this case.
I'm embarrassed not to mention; frightened any time I'm faced with a Portland Police officer. I once had one do an unlawful search & seizure in my OWN home when I was there alone. I was even charged with "disorderly conduct" in my own residence- and the police officer even LIED about it in court over a STUPID sound complaint from a mentally unstable neighbor who "looked" more "normal" than I did. It was TOTAL BULLSHIT... if my other neighbor hadn't taken TIME OFF OF WORK to TESTIFY for me... I would have had a $1,200 dollar fine plus a record. What a dis-service to the city and myself- my neighbor your LAME, SHORT, Ass of a COP whose name I will not mention did. I was even too traumatized by the cop's threats to go and pick up the equipment he confiscated. I wonder HOW many OTHER stories never even get the time of day... Especially when big one's like this don't get the attention or action they deserve.
If your officers are so eager to overlook a person's rights on such a small level- I have to ask myself what they are willing to do when they've got bigger decisions to make.
PPD: you get a FAIL in my book. I feel more comfortable walking down the street lined with drug dealers and prostitutes than being bullied by the likes of you. At least I can deal with them without fearing for my life or being threatened & taken to jail. What ever happened to Officer Friendly, the normal "beat-walking" cop who was on YOUR side?? Instead of making me feel safe- I usually feel fear; what a sad state to have to feel living in Portland, Oregon.
SO LAME. This stinks.
Sincerely-
astrogirl
If the O's lawyers want us to pull it down, or link it somewhere else, we'll gladly do it. My first instinct was simply to share the information in an accessible way. But I appreciate your raising the question. We do think about this stuff. Heat of the moment. Quickly unfolding situation. Yadda yadda.
Seriously though, I am a man, and I can't figure this out. I have been on many sports teams, in locker rooms, gyms, a fraternity, etc. At no time, in any of these male-dominated institutions have I seen anything like this stuff taken place. They go on a retreat together and dance around in thongs, simulate masturbation, and sing YMCA to each other? They sit naked on someone's face?
What the fuck is wrong with these people?
Now that I've picked up the broken tea cup and the dog has stopped howling in fright from my exhortations ...
Please disclose from somewhere in the public domain records which Matt C Davis and the MERC - but no other Portland media - have with due diligence exclusively already obtained:
1- the law firms and attorney names of all the parties in the Sergeant Liani Reyna state and 9th circuit cases against the Portland Police Bureau's SERT team?
2- The case numbers of the state and appellate cases?
3- both case numbers please?
4- Final Judgments and orders of both cases?
Is the MERC planning to file MORE public records requests with PPB and City Law Dept to identify current an former woman officers subject to hostile environment and sex bias? (Or does Portland CopWatch know of other cases or women too intimidated to file who decide to quit instead of challenging the thin blue line of command and control?
The facts pled and disclosed so far are not a mere one-off anomaly - the incidents complained of are indicative of 'pack' behavior.
It defies credulity and case law to suppose that an entrenched culture of institutionalized misogyny and homophobia would result in only ONE actionable case of hostile environment gender discrimination.
Matt and Sara's gum-shoe, concrete-pounding, deep throat sourced reporting is meritorious and deserves submission & consideration for national journalism awards.
These, and more, of the dirty little secrets of the PPB really are due ful exposure in a national news or TV magazine story (Democracy NOW, Mother Jones, Atlantic, National Journal, Vanity Fair, 20/20, 60 Minutes). as well as prolific dissemination by the digital truth warriors ...
There can be no more compelling argument needed to justify the necessity for the Mayor of Portland to & immediately do his spin PR thang to commit to conducting a a full-on national search for chief to replace Sizer - as the Mayor of Seattle is currently doing, and by asking citizens for on-line answers to 4 threshold questions formulated by a diverse, 28 person commission that is holding public, video taped neighborhood hearings.
a TWISTED tale of two americana frontier towns ..
The DDA did not want Reyna to testify at the Grand Jury proceedings because she may have been asked why she didn't call the SERT team. She would have probably also been asked if she had had any reason or 'experience' not to feel confident that they would have handled the situation with competency. She would have had to either talk about her complaint, which would have made it look like she willfully failed to bring in the most qualified individuals to handle the situation because of her personal vendetta. This would mean she has some personal responsibility in the death of Aaron Campbell. Or secondly, she would have to lie, and subsequently, the Mercury would have likely found her complaint against the SERT and exposed her dishonesty, and she would be in serious trouble for lying under oath.
Perhaps, did the District Attorneys Office not call Reyna because they believed the transcript might eventually be released to the public, as it was at their request...
So here's the million dollar questions:
Did DDA Don Rees know about Reyna's past problem with the SERT and not call her as a witness because he believed that she would likely be asked why she hadn't called for their assistance?
Did DDA Rees ask Reyna to lie under oath and not mention her problems with the SERT, and she refused, and subsequently was left off the witness list because of it?
If the answer is yes to either of these questions, the Grand Jury findings are tainted and should be ruled invalid.
People, this community needs a new Grand Jury to take a look at this case and determine if, any of these individuals involved, and the list is getting long, are culpable in the death of Aaron Campbell, or in attempting to cover up the investigation, including tampering with the Grand Jury process.
The truth is that most officers (including those in PPB) do not put up or participate in the kind of crap Reyna describes. AND they pay for it by being left high and dry when they make a mistake due to lack of training, support, and leadership. Those on top will stay there and those on the bottom will be left to fend for themselves.
I think there are two processes left where Reyna would still have to testify under oath - a civil suit brought by Campbell's family or a federal civil rights case if the feds file one in District Court. I am not sure what an inquest might accomplish as the GJ has already spoken.
Another way to check out the possibility that Reyna did not call SERT in a timely manner in the Campbell case would be to research Reyna's past SERT call outs and look for timeliness in those cases, the circumstances involved, etc. If a pattern develops that would be cause for concern.
And good job Sarah&Matt, this stuff is very good.
@Ex-Human: The Grand Jury can look at the case again, there is no double jeopardy clause for Grand Juries. In practice it isn't done unless something substantial changes, (like this, for instance,) but there is no reason the DA couldn't bring a case again and again just because they felt like it. I doubt the DA would bring this one again, it would just make them look bad when it everyone knew that they'd been hiding something the first time around, but the DA can be replaced at the ballot box if people are pissed enough...
I'm going to make a quick call to the city tomorrow. If they can't get it together, I'd bet this issue has become big enough that the DA will be handed his walking papers in our next election.
p.s. I'm an Army Vet who served in the Infantry. Which means all men. And I *never* wore a g-string to sit on another dude's face while singing YMCA. What self-described hetero does that? (Oh....right. None.)
Another idea is file a complaint with the BAR against Rees because of his failure to provide Reyna to the GJ as a witness under the theory that Rees had acted willfully and committed an ethics violation by not zealously representing the citizens of Portland. Surely, her testimony was germane to the entire chain of events and chain of command surrounding the death of an unarmed man. Perhaps public pressure and national attention would force the BAR to 'do the right thing', and sanction Rees.
Hence, in light of this, the cry for a 'new' GJ would be a reasonable request from the community. I'm sure the Justice Department would prefer that the State of Oregon resolve this matter internally.
And perhaps, a new Grand Jury would find that Reyna is truly the one responsible for the death of Aaron Campbell. the scene was chaotic, and it may have been due to a lack of respect Lewton and Frashour had toward Reyna that caused them to act as they did: 1. Ryan Lewton starts screaming commands at a emotionally-suffering, cooperating man who had walked out backwards and put his hands on his head; 2. Lewton shoots Campbell with beanbags; 3. Frashour has no ear phone to receive a command from the commanding officer, so he shoots too when Campbell moves-
Stop this crap about trying to create a conspiracy about Reyna and her past with the SERT team. She made the call to walk away, remember. It was her male superiors that probably took over and created the chaos and mess for this unfortunate victim.