Comments

1
Do I have to be the first to call BS? Or just 'who cares that the cops tased a violent drunk who attacked cops?'
2
Hey D, FUCK YOU!
3
Matt, why doesn't that headline reflect the contents of the post? It seems a bit, well, sensational. No?
4
That's a rational debate Dan.
But tell me why a drunk chick trying to punch cops is news?
Because frivolous law suits like hers clog up the court dockets?
5
Most violent people are not skilled at being violent. And if you have restraint training, plus people to back you up, you should be able to restrain a flailing, high heel-wearing drunk. Why aren't the cops better at avoiding attacks and restraining people, and why do they instead just taser the heck out of everyone? Violent drunk or not, and details missing, it clearly seems like the force used here was excessive.
6
Sounds to me like a new female officer versus an angry, violent drunk who admits that she does not remember much of the conflict, but still considered it excessive force. A one-on-one fight between an officer and any suspect is going to be violent. Sounds like when Burton got there, he just helped hold her down. Matt, I want to love you, but you so badly want to create something, you turn out seeming not very credible.
7
Where's that police report?
8
Yes ROM. The mythos floating around City Hall is because Rosie Sizer is has squishy person-to-person skills, she's nice, she's personable, she seems to hire good people, she's done local service work, therefore the Portland Police Bureau is well-managed and it's officers are both well-trained and well-supervised (meaning they follow their training). Those conclusions aren't supported by the mythos or the continuing concerns we read about in the papers. And it's not just the Mercury.

Right. Police should be trained and able to constrain, arrest and transport young women, regardless of sobriety or dress, with ease. Punching and Tasering is now the territory of the civil courts, where, D, your point is true - attorneys are getting busy on our buck. They are alert and sense they can win.

The question of frivolity is hard to measure tho D. Have you ever been punched in the head by a cop?

The question for the new police commissioner, if that's what Dan Saltzman is, is what is the cost of civil settlements, legal fees, fines and penalties stemming from police encounters?

Some analysis would be useful here. I'd like to see a few years of data, with highlights delineated by name of the suit, and some comparative data from other similar police bureaus. And a list of the civil attorneys bringing plaintiff suits.
9
It sounds like Tequila was involved.
10
Jesus, can you people not see how fucked up this situation is? Can you not see the myriad ways this could have been resolved differently had the cops not been so hot to trot? Is it illegal to be drunk on the doorstep of your own home? Ask yourself how this situation would have played out if it happened to you, white people. Do you think you would have been grabbed from behind and tased?
11
Once AGAIN Matt you are on the WRONG side of an issue and you spout off without knowing the full truth! This "lady" fought the police and was looking for a fight, and she was drunk. Should the cops just let her beat on them? NO!

Time for you to be fired Matt! You are just writing opinion pieces again!
12
'could have been resolved differently had the cops not been so hot to trot'
Were you there?
Do you actually believe that police want to engage in these kind of encounters?
13
If you watch COPS often, you'll know that officers can take down some pretty resistive, physically combatant suspects without resorting to black eyes and split lips. And those scuffles are usually over possession or felony warrants, not merely inebriated persons trying to get into their own dwellings.

From what it sounds like, she really had no reason to fight-- it was a simple misunderstanding with her neighbors that turned sour. Either the defendant or the cops handled things the wrong way, and the only reasonable explanation for her to attack an officer is if she was totally blacked out and acting irrational. Far more likely is that the officer didn't believe the woman lived in NW and tried to arrest her for being argumentative-- imply whatever level of racism you see fit.

I don't know if this altercation happened in the Pearl district, but I imagine quite a few of those frumpy condo-dwellers dial 9-1- every time a minority walks past their lobby.
14
My dad is retired after 20 years as a cop, never carried a taser, and was able to use his voice, body language and (if required) his judo-based training to take down a larger opponent and restrain them.

Part of academy training is TAKING DOWN LARGE UNRULY opponents.

Side question: If this was called in as attempted burglary why wasn't backup present at the start?

Matt's reporting will always be slanted against the cops but we need a few of him out there along with the legion of reporters who assume a police report is God's own truth in order to strike a balance. I do wish he would report a few more facts instead of the breathless excitement of the situation. That seems to be his specialty.

Bottom line: PPD has problems. Ignoring them isn't going to help them improve. Tasers are not "come-along" devices, they should be used when an officer feels his safety is threatened.
15
No, I don't think the cops actually want to engage in these types of encounters. But I do think they would not treat a white person the same way. Would they grab a white person from behind without making verbal contact first? I also doubt the neighbor would have called the police because of a drunk white girl fumbling for her keys. So that just sucks all around.
16
Yeah. Sorry. I've known enough cops to know that they train for this kind of thing. They don't need to beat the shit out of someone and tazer them. (3 times!? Are you fucking kidding me!?)

Looks like we need some of that humiliating public oversight. Hope the poor cops aren't too embarrassed.

17
Who's the attorney bringing this suit? Would that be the same attorney for James Chasse's family perhaps? You seem chummy with Mr. Steenson, to say the least.

Either way, basing a news story on allegations in a suit (and sensationalizing the shit out of them) is yet another case of terribly weak journalism on your part. At least post the police report.
18
Commenting on some of the naysayers here; impunity has a consequence, which is the lack of trust and credibility.

In 25 years no Portland police officer has faced trial because of use of force. Not one.

I typically like cops. The ones I have worked with have been fine, capable people. I've never been jailed, never been arrested, never been detained, never been questioned.

But I don't believe in perfection. It simply defies the odds.

And those who trumpet all is well lack the political insight to understand their noise undermines their argument.

It's trust and credibility - not training or special cars or uniforms or databases or guns or laws or unions which keep cops safe. It's immediate trust and undivided credibility.

Chasse and similar recent cases boiled away all that trust and credibility. So for the duration, until the bad apples get out of the barrel, cops and their administrators are going to have to answer all the questions every time this happens.
19
It seems like even if a 120 lb drunk woman was trying to take a punch at you, that all you'd need to do was step back, and everything would be fine. If the cops don't know that, maybe we need to be giving them the sobriety checks instead.

That said, even when I'm drunk, I still manage to get inside my front door in less time than it would take a neighbor to call the police, and for them to show up, (assuming my neighbors would do that in the first place.)
20
'It seems like even if a 120 lb drunk woman was trying to take a punch at you, that all you'd need to do was step back, and everything would be fine.'
Wrong.
Your posts second half is the answer to your first. Obviously more was happening than her opening the door and walking in.
21
racist, paranoid neighbors and poorly trained, hot headed police. sounds like portland alright.

maybe matt is not exactly rooting for the fuzz in his writing, but if you think this is justified, yr a racist, bigot fool.
portland needs to wake up to the fact that this city is not as progressive as we think it is.
22
D, sorry but you sound like a frightened little sheep. Perhaps thousands more cops would be able to protect you from the heathen hordes, you know, the little unarmed drunk women. Good luck out there, I mean it!
23
D, unless there are some bruises on the cops that prove otherwise, I'm expecting that either I'm correct that they stepped back, or they just took it, because 120 lb drunk women don't throw very good punches, or that she didn't throw the punch at all. I'm not debating that this is complicated, but by just saying "Wrong." and not explaining yourself, it looks like you are more the type that likes to shout down your opponents than actually discuss things with them, which is pretty much the story of how this incident started. Which leads to an interesting question, since your personality seems to exactly match the police officers involved: Doesn't police department policy prohibit you from talking to the press while there is a lawsuit going on?
24
You fucktards really haven't been keeping up with the new who's who of trolls since the latest samgate influx, have you?
25
'unless there are some bruises on the cops that prove otherwise, I'm expecting that either I'm correct that they stepped back, or they just took it'

OK first point - you do not know if the cops have bruises or not, so expect away, it makes you still wrong by unavailability of facts.
Secondly - you're right, I need to explain. A heavily intoxicated person lunging at police has so many ways it can go wrong there are too many to list - I don't know. I wasn't there.
The fact remains every move by officers is on record, and any judge or jury in the world is going to take their word over an admittedly heavily intoxicated person that's swinging at police.
C) No one has commented on the report in an official capacity. The arrestee will also soon lawyer up and stop talking due to pending possible litigation.



26
A cat: Thank you, I'd forgotten.

D: I agree with Dan.

FIRE MATT DAVIS: This is exactly the sort of story that Matt is great at covering, and it needs to be covered. How the police treat people that curl up into the fetal position the moment they show up isn't very interesting, how the police treat drunk people who haven't updated their "papers" is...
27
before Marlyn Rivas can sue the city she is going to have to defend herself from the charges against her.

"How many cops does it take to beat up a drunk lady in a party dress?" is the beginning to the saddest joke of the week.

If cops keep using tazers to deal with non-lethal situations than pretty soon everyone will be shitting their pants.
28
Revphil - Cops will stop using tasers when the good people of this community are no longer held hostage by the few who have no care for the laws this community has put in place. I thank the police every day for keeping me safe. Do you?
29
I certainly don't feel held hostage by drunk women trying to get into their apartments nor do I feel that the PPB are my personal bodyguards here to keep me safe.

The police are primarily here to enforce the will of the state, not to protect us. Ask the nine people who were attacked Downtown recently if the police investigation has unshot any of them.

Beating the everlovin' shit out of a small, unarmed woman in a dress sounds like an irrational act of fear to me no matter what sort of sophistry one chooses to employ.
30
On one hand, its absurd to think that cops would have to beat up and taser a drunk 120 woman. On the other, she may be lucky that it was the cops who found her and not somebody else. Let the courts sort it out. That's why we have them.
31
The Oregonian has the story today.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.s…
32
I disagree. I've seen a lot of Matt's similar stories and I don't think he's great at covering them. He has potential, but he falls short because, I think, instead of doing a truly insightful and comprehensive job, he instead matches the content to the sensational headlines. For any thoughtful reader, there are more questions than answers. Basically, we've just gotten one person's story, making it a poor excuse for hard news, and not much effort to wade through and analyze the facts, making it weak investigative journalism. Instead, it's just your typical tabloid piece.
33
milfalicious - you would if it was your neighbor banging on the door to get in at 3 am and you had to be at work in the morning. I've never seen someone beaten by the cops who weren't acting on the fringe in one way or another.
34
So, where are the police reports Matt? I heard they include a LOT more than you included here. I also heard that you got a copy of them before you posted this. Why hide them?
35
> I've never seen someone beaten by the cops who
> weren't acting on the fringe in one way or another.

Good point! At the very least they had dark skin or wore weird clothes, or maybe acted faggy.

I wish you were a little less concerned and a little more inside.

Is there a reason this story is hard to find on the website unless you have it bookmarked?
36
WE DON'T KNOW JACK SHIT.

This article is so biased that nobody should be making any comments. Stop assuming. Matt Davis, you need to get a degree and learn to write before posting anything else.

Please wait...

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