Five Things to Know From the Feds' Investigation of the Portland Police

Portland Mercury:

Federal report finds that police over-used Tasers in interactions with people with mental illnessThis morning, the feds released the results of their massive 14-month investigation into the Portland Police's treatment of people with mental illness. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?! Five big takeaways. This is a huge deal, so pay attention: 1. Is there a major problem with the way Portland police deal with people who are mentally ill? YES. We haven't been imagining things. At the request of Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Dan Saltzman, federal Department of Justice investigators looked over every single use of force among the police in the past few years. There was a clear pattern: Officers routinely used excessive force against people with mental illness. This is an institutional problem—while "bad apple" officers contribute to the problems, the report doesn't "point fingers" at specific officers because, as US Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said this morning, "This is about the systematic issues." For example: The police less-lethal-weapons trainers were using the controversial beanbagging of a 12-year-old girl as an good example of use-of-force. The investigation basically sums that up as "FAIL." The report also reveals that cops routinely refer to mentally ill people as "mentals"—including during a roll call presentation attended by investigators. "We recommend that PPB immediately stop using this term," the report helpfully suggests. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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