Mayor supports officer’s suspension for shooting girl with beanbag

UPDATE • Police union sends ballots for no-confidence vote on Saltzman decision

The Portland Tribune, Nov 19, 2009, Updated Nov 20, 2009 (46 Reader comments)

Portland Mayor Sam Adams is supporting Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman’s decision to suspend police officer Christopher Humphreys pending an investigation into the close-range beanbag shooting of a 12-year-old girl Saturday night near a Gresham TriMet MAX station.

Humphreys already faces discipline for his role in the September 2006 death of James Chasse Jr.

Adams’ Communications Director Roy Kaufman said Friday morning that the mayor stood behind Saltzman's decision. He also praised Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer's quick call for an investigation into the incident.

Kaufman said Adams would not comment on details of the suspension or the investigation.

Commissioner Randy Leonard also strongly defended Saltzman's decision, saying it is never justifiable to use a firearm, even a non-lethal one, against a child.

Leonard said he would aggressively defend Saltzman and Sizer if they are subject to a no-confidence vote by the police union because of the incident.

"No one will defend them stronger than me if that's the case," Leonard said Friday morning.

Union unhappy with decision

Saltzman and Sizer both said they were “troubled” by what they saw in a TriMet security video of the incident.

“Officer Humphreys has been placed on administrative leave and I have directed the Internal Affairs Division to conduct an immediate and full investigation into whether the use of force was justified under the totality of circumstances and whether the application of the beanbag at close range was consistent with the Bureau’s training,” Sizer said Thursday afternoon.

“The actions I witnessed on the video are not consistent with my expectations and what I believe are the community’s expectations for a Portland Police Officer,” Saltzman said.

Sgt. Scott Westerman, head of the Portland Police Association union representing Portland officers, blasted the suspension Thursday afternoon, calling it part of a pattern of bias against Humphreys and said it was spurred by “office politics.”

Ballots for a vote of a no-confidence on Saltzman and Sizer will be mailed to all 922 members of the Portland Police Association on Saturday. Results will be released on Nov. 30 and association President Sgt. Scott Westerman predicts they will show the vast majority on the union members have lost confidence in Saltzman and Sizer.

Westerman talked with reporters at the association’s headquarters after the union’s executive committee unanimously voted to authorize the election Friday morning. Westerman insisted that Humphreys was following bureau procedures when he fired a less-than-lethal beanbag round at the leg of a 12-year-old girl who was fighting with another officer during an arrest Nov. 14 on a Gresham MAX station platform. Westerman says the 1.4 ounce beanbag rounds can be used in any situation when a ballistic baton cannot be used to make a resisting suspect comply with orders.

Westerman would not say whether he expects Mayor Sam Adams to transfer the bureau from Saltzman or replace Sizer if the no-confidence vote goes against them.

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