Lets see the actual decision so we can read the facts

Sarah: Who sets the department's policy regarding use of force? If ruling after ruling after ruling says Frashour was within regulations, shouldn't it be asked who is in charge of setting those regulations? It's way easier for the Adams to make an example out of one officer rather than actually addressing the problem, a problem which he has done nothing to fix. Adams is covering his own ass here, and you guys seem perfectly happy to help him out rather than asking why he hasnt attempted to bring use of force standards in line with what a reasonable person would consider sensible.

@Chuck - I don't think the mayor has the ability to set DPSST use of force training. In addition, the basis for deadly force is arguing that the *officer feared for his life* - That’s never going to change, and is entirely legitimate reason to kill someone.

But in this situation it was complicated by the absurdity of what qualifies for “fearing”. The reasoning behind this argument of Frashour fearing for his life was offered up during the grand jury, and it's a fairly common narrative called the "Action-Reaction Principal", which has been debunked by Myth Busters of all people. The idea is somewhat strange, but does play out in some incidents: even if you have your weapon aimed at the target/suspect, the suspect can pull a weapon and shoot you before you have an opportunity to "react" to their "action." The concept is that the quickest to "act" always has the advantage. In court, this boiled down to arguing that Campbell could lower his hands, reach for his belt, pull a gun, turn around, aim it at the officers, and fire at the police before the half-dozen cops could fire.

The reality is that we have a self-described paramilitary police force, trained in paramilitary tactics, and that's not a direction that this city has allowed, but a direction that the entire civil police force of the United States has drifted into due to the war on drugs. These mother fuckers own tanks and armored cars, the Portland Police have an Air Force - do you think the mayor authorized that, or do you think that was a grant offered via the Department of Defense? Calculate how a self-described, self-perceived paramilitary organization would use force.

If the Mercury wants to take a shot at the “Action Reaction Principal”, I’d be interested in demoing it and showing how absurd it is. I’ve been meaning to for some time, but haven’t invested the money. We could use nerf guns.

@rich - there was a lot of confusion* and lack of communication about if Campbell was surrendering or not. There was also confusion* about if Campbell was reaching for his waistband or not. There was confusion* about the situation in general.

*by confusion, I mean contradicting accounts by police, and contradicting statements by impartial witnesses. This is not unusual, it's a regular Rashōmon.

The Mercury has pretty good reporting on this issue, if you dig around a bit.