Comments

1
Mr. Collins was 52 and the reported incident was 42 years ago. He would have been 10 at the time.
2
Taking into account Nat 66's math, this story gets both sadder and weirder exponentially.
3
Sad is the officer who took this information from Collins, if they were trained correctly and the right sort of person, could have called the Multnomah County Mental Health Crisis Line and put this guy on the line with someone who both cared about his welfare and would have recognized an opportunity for intervention.

Sadder is we haven't yet learned from our mistakes.

Saddest is the PPB / PPA are both unwilling and unable to acknowledge or accept mistakes get made. City Hall couldn't care less. That lack of insight is dangerous.
4
@ Jason -

That lack of insight is getting mentally ill people killed, so it indeed quite dangerous.
5
Well yes, and I imagine Jason Walters, his family and his friends aren't particularly happy about it either.

It's going to take cops like Jason, arm in arm with health advocates like me, civil liberties wonks, crazy people, and local bureaucrats to march to Salem to make the necessary difference. You can calculate the challenge.
6
The article says he was directed to Cascadia Mental Health. Seems like the person who took the report did the best they could for this fellow.
7
Well, "directed to" can mean many things, ranging from being driven there and dropped off, to being casually told about it as you're walking out the door.
8
Well said, Jason.
9
Nat 66 and Dave,

Jack Collins was 58 when he died. If the incident occurred 42 years ago, he would have been 16.
10
In my experience with the homeless. There is quite a current with child molestation/sexual abuse. Of course, I'm totally speaking anecdotaly, I haven't done any sort of vigorous study on the matter.
11
Hey ch
What planet are you from . You think that that pig did the best they could ? If you don't think the coppers should at least give a ride to someone in Jackie's state to protect the well being of everyone , I don't know what to say to you . It seems to me this tragic situation could have been avoided or at least lessened if the piglets gave a damn . The release of this information doesn't help the pigs cause by attacking Jackie's charachter . It makes them more incompetent .
12
Go to sexoffenders.oregon.gov and you will see the highest concentration here in Portland is directly at the transition houses on NW Glisan and Burnside. It is sad that it is a cycle and sex offenders beget sex offenders and all the other mental illness that goes along with it but it is a fact. They are dangerous, it is a situation no one wants including the offenders but since we are not fixing the problem the police can only protect the public. They are not the end all in drug rehab, mental illness, poverty, class discrimination, etc... They don't get paid that much, they risk their lives every day and they do their best in a broken system. In return they are called pigs and spit upon.
13
One thing I haven't seen mentioned in all this is the fear of being cut and contracting Aids from the blood of you attacker. Jackie was covered (per the report) in blood, and I don't know about all you cop-haters, but I wouldn't want to be cut by anything Jackie was using. I still feel sorry for Officer Walters.
14
@ujfoyt: That issue has been brought up a few times, but over all I feel like it's a non-issue. At the time of the shooting, there is no way the officer could have known that all the blood was the victim's. The appearance was that someone holding a knife and covered in blood was advancing on the officer and refusing to drop the weapon. In the few seconds the officer had to make a decision, the logical conclusion to make was that the victim had already assaulted someone else and was covered with that theoretical victim's blood. I really doubt that the fear of a blood-born pathogen counted in the decision making process.
15
Today as I was walking alone to the max station, just after dusk, and a crazy homeless man began to harass me. From the opposite side of the street he began to yell, "What are you going to do about it?'' viciously at me, and after a brief pause to quickly harass a young couple on his side of the street he decided to cross traffic to follow me. It took a whole two seconds after he, again, asked me what I was going to do about it to decide exactly what I was going to do. I called the cops on his ass. While this man continued to target a women who had no one around to help her, the kind dispatcher stuck with me and was concerned for my well being. After this horrible man's attempts to intimidate me failed he decided to come within swinging distance of me. That is when I turned around, took out the hammer I had in my bag and told him if he did not back off I would use it on him. Luckily he was a chicken and backed off. But before the women start commending me I would like to say that I was wrong. I should not have given this man a chance to evaluate the situation. The only element of an advantage I had on him was the element of surprise and by warning him, I lost it. Next time I will hit first and ask questions later. This man was physically stronger than me, was crazy and probably had a bigger weapon. In this case, I would've loved to see him beat within an inch of his life. So to those of you who love the homeless I say, go visit a shelter but for those out there like me, we love the police and think they are doing a fine job, but citizens need to give them a hand.

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