If there are two things to know about dealing with law enforcement, one is to never talk to cops. The other is to never, ever, under any circumstances, resist arrest. If you violate that second rule, the consequences are on your head.
The quickest way to find yourself in a jail cell is to throw a punch at a uniformed police officer.
On Nov. 14, a young woman boarding a TriMet MAX train decided to test this hypothesis. The Portland Police Bureau’s press release regarding the issue states that officers Aaron Dauchy and Christopher Humphreys responded to a call to break up a house party on the date in question. They saw a number of people from the party boarding a MAX train nearby.
Officer Dauchy recognized a young woman whom he suspected had been previously banned from riding the MAX. He called out to her to get off the train. When he tried to talk to her and take her into custody, she started swinging.
Officer Humphreys was carrying a beanbag gun, in case he had needed it at the house party call. Officer Dauchy took the girl to the ground and she continued to strike him in the face repeatedly. Officer Humphreys issued a verbal warning that he would shoot if she didn’t stop. She didn’t, so he shot her in the thigh with a beanbag at close range. They eventually subdued her and she was taken to juvenile detention.
This account seems to be a relatively routine interaction with violent suspects. However, a few variables have given this incident a bit of infamy here in Portland. The girl was only 12 years old, the entire incident was caught on camera at the MAX stop and, perhaps most importantly, Officer Humphreys was involved with an incident during 2006 in which James Chasse lost his life in police custody under questionable circumstances.
Each incident is different and requires different measures of force. These measures are outlined fairly specifically in the Portland Police Bureau’s Manual of Policy and Procedure. In short, the section on the use of force states that an officer may use force when “reasonably necessary to perform their duties and resolve confrontations effectively and safely” after considering all options. It states that the beanbag gun should be used at a minimum distance of 10 feet when aiming at the torso or head, but does not mention limbs specifically.
So did Officer Humphreys display an abuse of force? According to the letter of the law, no. Other avenues were explored, verbal warnings were given, no rules were violated. He resolved the situation, a situation in which his partner was being physically assaulted, safely and with no risk of serious injury.
What should he have done instead? Continued to ask the young woman to stop resisting while she attempted to injure his partner? Smacked her in the head with his baton? Many of those speaking out against Officer Humphreys’ conduct have proposed no solution of their own.
Now I know some of you are saying, “But she was only 12 years old! Couldn’t they have subdued her without the gun?” First and foremost, the 5-foot-7-inch woman weighs 150 pounds, meaning she is plenty capable of throwing a damaging punch. I don’t care if you are 12 or 22, throwing a punch at an officer is going to get you in trouble and the consequences are yours to bear.
Perhaps the young woman could have been subdued without the beanbag gun, but that device is a tool designed for the exact purpose for which it was used—to subdue violent suspects in a nonlethal manner. So are batons and fists. Had she been punched or hit with a baton, the public outrage would have been as bad or worse.
The police do abuse their power sometimes—I’m not denying that. Documented cases of police abusing suspects can be found throughout the ages. But this case is not one of those. Officer Humphreys acted in his legal capacity to prevent physical harm to another officer and subdue a violent suspect. End of story. People are looking for abuse where none exists because of the officer’s past. That’s not justice, that’s revenge.
Police should be held accountable for the actions they take while wearing the uniform—their job is to maintain order within the bounds of the law. We should not engage in blindly accepting everything the police do, but neither should we engage in blindly condemning any use of force by an officer.