Who’s the Boss?

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) is releasing a children’s book titled A Kid’s Guide to What We Do. Officer Dave Thoman and his daughter, a schoolteacher, created the book to foster understanding about the PPB and encourage positive experiences with police officers.

I hope they’re going to make one for adults, because City Hall and the PPB are baffling the public. No one is willing to take responsibility for the PR nightmare that is the Portland Police Bureau.

I guess it began last November. Officer Christopher Humphreys shot a 12-year-old brat with a beanbag gun and the ensuing trial cut the last remaining ties between City Hall and the PPB.

The Portland Police Association, the police union, staged a massive rally in support of Humphreys after Commissioner Dan Saltzman announced that Humphreys should be on administrative leave while being investigated. After the rally, Saltzman agreed to put Humphreys on desk duty, which was what Chief Rosie Sizer wanted in the first place. The union then held a no-confidence vote in both Saltzman and Sizer. All of the light being shed on the inner workings of the police and City Hall leave the public with one question: Who’s in charge?

We’ll start from the top. It should be the mayor. But Mayor Adams shirked that duty right away and passed it off to Commissioner Dan Saltzman. Now another commissioner, Randy Leonard, has campaigned to revamp the Independent Police Review Division in an effort to increase citizen oversight of police shootings. The decision hasn’t done much to make citizens safer from police, but it has added to the feeling of distrust in the community.

Another problem is, it wasn’t supposed to be Leonard’s call. As the loudest member of the City Council, Leonard seems to have his fingers in everyone’s business. Saltzman should have been the one to lead the charge on police overhaul. But he’s not the alpha dog, Leonard is. And Leonard has made it obvious that he wants Chief Sizer out. He believes she is part of a culture that descends from chief to chief that makes it okay for officers to be cowboys in the field because their superiors will protect them.

Leonard is citing the recent off-duty road rage incidents that ended with the resignation of union president, Sgt. Scott Westerman. Just a few months ago, Westerman was the darling of the police department. As union head, he led the march on City Hall during the Humphreys case and began the no-confidence vote in Saltzman and Sizer. For once, the public had a face to put to the PPB.

Then Westerman decided to harass a woman driving a Smart car twice in two days, crippling the public’s trust. When details emerged, the thin-blue-line culture of the bureau was made clear. For example, the victim got Westerman’s license plate and reported it to police during her 9-1-1 call, but police were unable to identify the president of their union’s tags.

For what it’s worth, Sizer is one of the best chiefs the city has ever had. She implemented new practices that scrutinize each officer under her command that uses force. She has improved training, evaluated officers that resort to force in lieu of other less-violent options and actually lowered police shootings.

She also prefers to handle problems internally and under her own watchful eye. And therein lies the problem. If Sizer would open up to the public more, we wouldn’t have to interpret her actions through opponents like Randy Leonard. By keeping quiet and staying out of the public eye, Sizer is proving Leonard’s accusations of police cover-ups true. I’m glad Sizer is taking steps to make Portland safer, but Portland has no idea and is plagued with an ever-increasing feeling of unease about our officers.

The PPB is an agent of the public. We grant them the power to protect us. It should never be a question of who’s in charge, because the answer should immediately be the people of Portland. Our representatives are shrinking from their duties and passing blame to other public officials. The result is a complete lack of confidence in our leadership and a dangerous public image the police and City Hall will have to work hard to change.

A children’s book is a step in the right direction. Every character in this fairy tale is guilty, and each needs to step up and assume responsibility for their actions. What kind of message are we sending to our kids?