Some 12 hours after hostage negotiators persuaded a mentally ill, gun-waving 50-year-old man to peacefully emerge from his Goose Hollow apartment, Portland police officials this afternoon were triumphantly taking credit for averting a “huge tragedy” that could have ended, easily, with the death of the man they arrested, or maybe—in a worst-case horror story—with the man shooting as many as dozens of other citizens.
“I didn’t think it was going to end peacefully,” Central Precinct Commander Bob Day admitted during a noontime news conference to discuss the high-tension standoff with a man who had been the subject of two other police calls in the past week before a neighbor reported him making threats.
And what brought about that mostly happy ending? Among many reasons, one stands out: Restraint.
In what even top police officials would call a dramatic shift in their thinking, officers decided not to leap immediately into a confrontation with the man, identified as John Loxley Griffin—acknowledging in a way they usually don’t that sometimes officers’ very presence in a situation can lead it to spiral fatally out of control.
In fact, in the two previous incidents with Griffin, both of which also involved guns, officers “walked away” because it wasn’t clear Griffin had committed a crime, and also because Griffin had calmed down. Instead, officers worked with mental health professionals, Veterans Affairs, relatives, and the district attorney’s office to obtain a civil commitment hold for Griffin. That plan went awry after Griffin last night finally did, police say, commit a crime: pointing a gun outside his Southwest Yamhill window and actually threatening to shoot someone.
“This is a big change under the leadership of Chief Reese,” said Day, until recently the bureau’s top training officer. “[Mentally ill subjects] may not be receptive [to officers’ offers of help]. At what point do we force help, and what might be the consequences?”
Unfortunately, that message might be lost amid news coverage that has—so far—seemed to focus intensely on the huge cache of weapons turned up in Griffin’s apartment: body armor, 12 rifles, handguns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, etc.
But for a police bureau that’s facing federal scrutiny of how it uses force against the mentally ill, especially after a particularly bloody run of police shootings starting in January 2010 through the early months of 2011, it’s a shift worth noting.
Day said sergeants all across the bureau are being trained on the finer points of “walking away,” with training for all officers planned over the course of the next year. In Griffin’s case, when asked why officers didn’t try to take him into custody before last night’s standoff, Day hammered again the notion that heavy-handed action can sometimes backfire.
“That is a very difficult balance,” he said, invoking the term “risk vs. reward.” “Any action we take is…going to be an overt action, which is going to provoke a reaction from the citizen.”
Earlier Wednesday, a crisis team police officer, teamed with a Cascadia worker, had devoted much of his shift to learning as much as he could about Griffin’s temperament and history. He concocted a plan, with the help of Griffin’s girlfriend and apartment manager, to lure Griffin out of his apartment and into the the hands of undercover officers who would have placed him in a civil commitment hold and into the VA system for treatment.
That didn’t work. Griffin was reportedly too suspicious—a case of not being wrong that someone was out to get him. Later he waved the gun, and then it was a crime that officials said they could no longer ignore.
Tactical officers from Washington County—Portland’s tactical team was out of town for its annual one-week training retreat, officials say—even adopted restraint as their mantra during the standoff. Instead of announcing themselves to Griffin immediately, and risking violence, officers cleared out the surrounding apartments and cordoned off nearby streets without Griffin realizing.
“From what we know, it was exactly as it should be,” says Jason Renaud of the Mental Health Association of Portland, long an advocate for improving how cops interact with the mentally ill. “We want them to come in with a plan, talk to family, talk to clinicians, talk to a landlord. This is a person whose thinking may be very impaired. They may appear malevolent, but they they may actually just be in crisis.”
But police officials also recognized that of the hundreds of calls they receive each day involving someone who is mentally ill or in crisis, they rarely have the luxury of investing the kind of time and energy the spent on Griffin’s case. Griffin also wasn’t as manic as some who wind up in confrontations with police. He was actually sleeping when negotiators rang him up to coax him outside.
And as Renaud notes, plans can go out the window when someone in a standoff continues to act erratically.
“The gun comes out again and points out the window,” he says, “and all this negotiation comes out of the away, and they go back to being cops.
THAT GUY LOOKS LIKE THE INBRED COUSIN OF BOB DYLAN.
Break the wrist, walk away
Im sure the reaction to the polices’ “restraint” Would have been rather different if this fellow would have openned fire on the woman from his window after two prior confrontations with police. Not to mention it would be an open and shut civil case from anyone who would have been harmed. It’s turned out fine this time, but eventually, the worst is going to happen.
Sooo, ARMED, threatening, crazed white man pointing guns at people leaves apt. and is arrested with NO harm and without further incident.
UNarmed, grief-stricken, totally NON-threatening black man leaves apt., TRIES to surrender, is instantly shot with beanbag rounds, shot in back with military assault rifle, Ki9 sicced on, left to bleed to death on lot for over 30 minutes, dead body handcuffed, not removed until autopsy two days later.
huh…
@DAMOSA: U JELLY BRO?
I usually don’t respond to ALL CAPS, but i have to ask – what do you mean by “jelly”? Is that some sort of new racist code?
OMFGOD!!! That is my mother’s ex-boyfriend! We always knew he was slightly daft, but this…Just holy shit!
They are starting to understand about how their excessive force and dramatic response has yielded undesirable results from mentally disabled people who respond very negatively to those types of behaviors. There is something wrong with the amount of guns available to unstable people, though. Even if they have no plans on using them, pointing a gun and threatening to shoot it will make anyone nervous. Then again, police taking away innocent citizens’ firearms also makes me nervous.
@DAMOSA: BECUZ UR 2 LAZY TO DO ANY WORK URSELF: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=u+jelly+bro
WE GOT WHITE PRIVELEGE AND TREATED WITH KID GLOVES AND YOU GET TAKEN TO JAIL FOR PUNCHING A WINDOW ON BELMONT.
@Graham – He also threw a trashcan. And yelled at a lot of people.
Wow, the total RACISM here. Not to mention brazin LIYING. It’s like i’m on OregonLive. White previlage must be such a gosh darn darling thing!
@ Damosa ~ Actually, if you read the full story you might understand that the reason that things played out the way they did was because the police didn’t show up due to him threatening to kill people. They were there because he had been reported for erratic behavior 2x previously in the week. When they checked him out, they discovered that he is a combat vet with ptsd & other ental health issues. They contacted mental health workers, the VA & his family & got a court order to basically have him put into a mental health facility against his wishes. They were at his building, trying to get him to come out when all of this happened. THAT is why all of the support people were there. His delusion was that he was “under siege”, & it became a self-fullfilling prophecy. i’ve known this guy for 12 yrs. & he is a GOOD man. Mentally unstable, but good hearted. Hopefully, this will set a precedent, though for future interactions with the mentally ill. This, of course, in no way invalidates the very obvious racial bias that you refer to. But, i don’t think that anyone disputes that. i think that it also went down the way that it did because the team that would usually respond to an armed crisis situation, like this one, & the team that would, regardless of race, shoot first & ask questions later when dealing with an armed, mentally ill person, was out of town for training. So, alot of factors played into this being resolved the way that it did. And i would love to see those factors incorporated into future scenarios. He needs help, yes, but he’s not a bad person. i still think you’re a piece of baby/woman-hating dung, though.
@ unregistered comment,
I didn’t bother reading this long-winded diatribe of yours. What is your POINT sir or maddam?
@damosa ~ you made the claim that this peaceful resolution was indicative of racism. i tried to paint the whole picture for you. Not to discount racism in police actions, but to show that this was an anomoly. For all those who encounter the police. This is about mentally ill people & how the police need to deal with them. And the wonder of how this was handled can be extended to how the cops deal with all persons; whether Native American and whittling w/ a 3 in. blade, or African American & pulled over for a traffic stop. i think we both agree that the police have become our enemies, rather than our protectors. This was an instance where they acted like the good guys. And i still don’t like you.
Now hold on there. I never said that THIS particular incident was “indicative” of racism. I was making a direct comparison b/t this incident, and that involving Aaron Campbell. Noting the stark differencing in reaction by the cops, i was strongly implying racism on the part of the PPG.
And i don’t care that you, a faceless, nameless person, does not “like” me. So far as i’m concerned, YOU’RE part of the problem anyways. Defending these pigs.
NOT defending the cops! In my earlier post, i broke the whole story down for you, not just what is reported here, so that you could see why it happened this way. There was a completely different outcome several months ago when they dealt with a suicidal vet. As i said, this is an anomaly, but a good one.
And you most certainly were implying racism. Your first post is all about pointing out how this Jewish man was not killed, but a black man, in another situation was. So, in my first, long winded post, i explained why it played out the way it did. It wasn’t about race, it was about many factors that you obviously don’t know about. i tried to inform you, & you didn’t want to bother. But don’t expect to be given alot of respect if you cry racism in total ignorance. A balance of information, perspective, opinion & passion is always good. And i say i don’t like you because i am the same one who has been trolling you. Read my original post, or an actual article, & then try saying something on racism. People might listen if you were actually informed.
Damosa got his ass kicked by 2 frat bros after starting a fight with them, then got his ass kicked by the cops that responded to the ass-whipping. Oh yeah, jelly is short for jealous. Dipshit.
The fact that making such a clear and obvious observastion as to how Portland cops treat DANGEROUS white suspects and HARMLESS black citizens would even be met with this amount of racism and bigotry is very indicative of the typical white hipster mindset here.
Not surprised, not even mad. Everyone knows that Portland use to be a “sunset” town and the fact that most of the black people here are stratigically shoe-horned into one area is certainly NO accident!
” the fact that most of the black people here are stratigically shoe-horned into one area is certainly NO accident!” That is a solid fact. i don’t think that you’ll find anyone on here who will debate it.
But your inconsistencies belie your prejudice, in this situation. People are dangerous. All humans across the world. You, who supports sterilization for all women, should recognize this. So, what are you arguing against? Black, mixed, Native, ingrate or immigrant? Who should be aborted? Who is dangerous?
Yes, cops fuck people up. In my experience, i have seen them destroy lives, not save them. Only once, when i was a very young girl, did they intervene. It was to hunt down & terrorize a confused & sick vet who had raped me. He was homeless. He thought that he was back in Vietnam. Both when he raped me & when the cop’s hunted him down like an animal. Unlike John, they did not bother to look at his history. Who he was & what he had been through.
There are issues here. WE all know that. And we are all angry. Really fucking angry. Why is it a bad thing to you, Damosa, to see something good? A hope for change?
And no black human is innocent of the human condition any more than any other race. Yes, cops are racists, rapists, no-better-than-the-rest-of-us, pigs. What? i guess we should all abort ourselves? Or, how about try to change the world that is around you. Try speaking to your coworker with compassion & empathy. Next time i see you at a party, try a smile. Try being nice. Simple things, man. They do spread.
“Unfortunately, that message might be lost amid news coverage that has—so far—seemed to focus intensely on the huge cache of weapons turned up in Griffin’s apartment: body armor, 12 rifles, handguns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, etc.”
Imo (or whatever you’re calling yourself today), why don’t you stop cowering behind your “unregistered comments” and BE HONEST? Why must you continue to stick up for scumbags like this? This white guy was another walking bloodbath waiting to happen! Yet, the cops threat him almost as if he were one of their own! Fucked up thing is, in many ways he WAS!
YOU can call me what ever you want and try and change the subject. But i can see right through your coded double-speak! Why don’t you go fetch your white hood and bed sheets – you must keep ’em in the closet somewhere! Fucking pig!
I like rappers with an uplifting message, like Positive K and Fresh Prince!
DON’T TRY AND CHANGE THE SUBJECT, YOU RACIST PIG!
What? You dont like Positive K? “I Gotta Man” was one of the great hip-hop singles of 1991! Call me all the names you want, just dont call me late for dinner.
Typical “deflecting” response from your typical Portland hipster racist coward. Don’t have the balls to face the TRUTH, huh!
Im actually more preppy than hipster. Get it right or pay the price, butthole
I think you’re more KKK than anything, really.
The klan wont take me, im half jew
Ohhh, part Israeli. That explains ALOT!
I was born right here in the states. I am 100% North American, just like you. And I LOVE BACON!
So maybe you’re not an Israeli, per`say. But you’re a ZIONIST, no?
I grew up non-secular. We did Christmas and hid eggs on easter. Never celebrated the high holidays or had a bar mitzvah. I’m not sure that the Klan would be willing to make a distinction. My mothers family were Russian Jews but I was raised by my father.
“My mothers family were Russian Jews…”
AHHA! So you’re HALF JEW! I KNEW it!!!
Shalom
You win, dude.
Or should i say, jude.