Report: Police bureau shooting deaths drop in a decade

Chief Sizer says a major effort has been made to cut incidents

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Feb 24, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (4 Reader comments)

Courtesy of PPB

A chart shows the drop in the number of officer-involved shootings during the past 12 years.

Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer credits a “Herculean effort” on the part of the bureau for a dramatic drop in officer-involved shootings during the past 12 years.

According to bureau statistics, the number of shooting incidents has dropped from around nine a year in the late 1990s to just two in each of the past two years.

“This has been a substantial change,” Sizer told reporters Tuesday morning at a press conference with Portland Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman and City Auditor Gary Blackmer.

The press conference was called to discuss the third follow-up report of a 2003 evaluation on officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths by the Police Resource Assessment Center, a non-profit organization that reviews police policies and recommends changes. Blackmer had contracted with the organization in 2002 after five straight years of such shootings and deaths.

In 2003, PARC issued a report with dozens of recommended changes to bureau policies, including how the shootings and deaths are investigated. The follow-up report released Tuesday praised the bureau for adopting the vast majority of them.

It called the bureau “an increasingly excellent police department,” a compliment welcomed by Sizer.

“I am very pleased to see many substantial changes undertaken by the Portland Police Bureau, and especially by line officers, in response to these recommendations,” said Blackmer.

Sizer noted that the PARC recommendation are only part of the bureau changes, however. She said the bureau had also become good at identifying and changing policies before they are identified as problems.

“The bureau has shown that it can make continual program,” said said.

The follow-up report agreed, noting, “The PPB is indeed in a progressive mode, with increased capacity for self-critical identification of issues and formulation of solutions.”

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