An investigation of our own

James Chasse, Jr. died in police custody more than three years ago. Even given such a lengthy time frame, the internal inquiry over Chasse’s death has lead nowhere and the officers involved are back at work. It’s about time we brought this case out into the open and under public review.

The mentally ill Chasse suffered 16 broken ribs and a punctured lung at the hands of Portland Police Bureau officers during his arrest on Sept. 17, 2006. The official story goes that Officer Christopher Humphreys injured Chasse when he accidentally fell on top of him after chasing him down, though some are skeptical. Chasse’s crime was apparently urinating on a tree in Northwest Portland, though even that account has been debated.

The account given by police has been constantly challenged and proven to be inaccurate. In fact, dozens of eyewitnesses confirmed that Chasse was beaten, punched, kicked and stunned with a Taser by police.

Yet the officers involved walked away from the incident scot-free, and the internal investigation turned up nothing of interest as the case presented to a grand jury led them to find Humphreys and the other officers innocent of any wrongdoing.

However, evidence later arose pointing to some inconsistencies with the official story. This highlights one of the main problems with internal investigations in the first place-the fact that the police are investigating themselves.

These are situations in which a colleague, perhaps even a friend, is suspected of wrongdoing and their fellow officers are put in charge of the investigation to decide whether or not the potentially guilty party will face disciplinary charges. Also consider that crime enforcement is a profession that already shares a rather tenuous relationship with the public, and that evidence of wrongdoing will reflect poorly on the entire department and perhaps even the entire profession.

Does this seem like a fair and unbiased way of doing things that will make sure justice will be served? I, for one, do not think so. The police are usually just out to protect their own.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one who harbors such sentiments. Enough people complained about the Chasse case that an independent citizen review committee was created to evaluate the case. The review committee decided to bring in outside auditors in the interest of an unbiased review.

The Office of Independent Review (OIR), based in Los Angeles, will evaluate the case. This is a good start, but still somewhat problematic. The OIR will not be conducting their own investigation, but rather evaluating the case that was put together during the internal investigation, the very same case that caused the grand jury to acquit the colleagues of those who built said case. New facts have come into play since then and the OIR should conduct an independent investigation.

Even Portland Commissioner Randy Leonard finds the current police oversight system wanting. Leonard has noticed that the city ends up paying big in civil cases involving excessive use of force, yet the officers involved are not disciplined for the offenses. Even in cases where the jury holds against the officers-such as a case Leonard cited from last year against officers who held three African American men at gunpoint in a downtown parking garage-there are no disciplinary actions or oversight.

All of these factors, including outside agencies and the lack of officer discipline even in cases of proven wrongdoing, are indicative of the larger problems with police. We shouldn’t need an out-of-state agency to handle our local police affairs.

The process should be fair, it should be open and it should be conducted by individuals who don’t have as much to lose-like their jobs, friends or reputations-if they find evidence of wrongdoing. Citizens need to have faith in their police force if the police are to do their jobs effectively.
These kinds of cases only serve to push citizens and police forces further apart, so that those who are meant to protect and serve are seen as the enemy. The police can do wrong. What’s important is that we not be afraid to acknowledge this fact and act accordingly when investigating those wrongdoings.
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