"Terribly Wrong": Police Union Boss Posts Explosive Takedown of Frashour Firing

Portland Mercury:

Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner has never made it much of a secret that he loathes the city's decision to fire Ron Frashour, the cop who fatally shot Aaron Campbell in the back back in January 2010. But today, in a lengthy post to the Rap Sheet, the PPA's online newsletter, Turner let loose in a way he never has before. He writes at length about what he sees as a political witchhunt gone "terribly wrong" and aims withering vitriol at Chief Mike Reese's command staff—particularly Lieutenant Robert King, the Reese ally (and, incidentally, former PPA president) whose training review of the Campbell shooting served as the basis for Frashour's dismissal. And he closes by asking for an independent review of the bureau's training division and senior command staff. It's devastating stuff that's sure to roil the police bureau, and it comes with the city and the PPA still fighting over whether to reinstate Frashour. How could it be that the Bureau fired Officer Frashour for violating his training, and yet every one of his trainers and every officer and sergeant on the scene who witnessed the incident would testify that Officer Frashour’s conduct complied with his training? How could it be that the termination decision makes so many obvious factual mistakes? How could it be that members of the command staff would make fundamental errors concerning the layout of the crime scene, the location of officers on the scene, and Portland Police Bureau policies and training.... There is no underestimating the role of Lt. Robert King in producing the Bureau’s disastrously bad disciplinary decision. Lt. King wrote the entire portion of the Training Division review dealing with Officer Frashour’s conduct when using deadly force, and made the conclusion that Officer Frashour violated his training. Lt. King’s conclusions were solely and repeatedly relied on by [former North Precinct] Commander [Jim] Ferraris, the Use of Force Review Board, and by Chief Reese. However, when Lt. King was finally held to account for his work and assertions in Officer Frashour’s arbitration hearing, when he was finally forced to answer questions about what he had done, he gave testimony that was not only riddled with inconsistencies, factual mistakes, and contradictory explanations but he also made revelations that were shocking. I've left a message for King, and I'll update if I hear back, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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