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Rapping Back #44:
Portland Copwatch member Dan Handelman analyses the Police "Union" newsletter, the "Rap Sheet," for the People's Police Report

Slams on Citizens Subvert Sense of Support for Compassion

Cops Say Community Policing Defined by Officer Killed in Accident

Setting aside the usual sarcastic tone of this column, I want to acknowledge the Bureau's loss of Officer Mark Zylawy, who was killed in a traffic accident in late January.

This is not the space or time to debate issues on which we disagreed with "Z-Man," but I interacted with him at least twice and felt saddened at his death, as I would with anyone, but more having actually met them.

The Portland Police Association, which regularly mocks and ridicules both criminal suspects and the general population, embraced more community policing ideals after Zylawy's death. Some are admirable and worth repeating here. The Albina Ministerial Alliance, a group which has demonstrated against several police shootings of unarmed civilians, organized a march in "Z-Man"'s memory at which members of the African American community, including many who were busted by Zylawy, came out to honor him. These quotes all come from the March Rap Sheet, which was mostly devoted to Zylawy's memory.

* Sgt. Chris Uehara: Zylawy was well respected by suspects because he was "always willing to give them a chance so long as they were willing to meet him halfway. Mark's kindness wasn't a reflection or sign of weakness, but rather a testament to how you could be tough but fair while doing your job... Mark knew that all citizens have the same human needs for respect, compassion and dignity and he gave them that... citizens he was helping were not bad people but good people who were making bad choices."

* Det. Peter Simpson: Believes the City should invest in patrol officers like Zylawy. He always knew where to find people. "Mark never talked about 'community policing,' he just did it."

* Sgt. John Anderson: "He was the 'poster boy' of community policing, not because he had an agenda or wanted anything, it's just who he was." On the march: "I have never seen, let alone participated in, such an event--it was a truly amazing experience."

Anderson spoke to Zylawy's brother, an officer with the highway patrol in Montana, asking about his small-town contact with many of the people he arrests: "Don't you run into problems off- duty?" "As long as I treat them fairly there's no problems," said the brother; they'd even back him up, "but you can't do that in the big city, can you?" Anderson concludes "It's not only important, but a matter of survival to meet the people you work for and treat them fairly because one day you may need to count on them to save your life."

Using Less Force "Not Acceptable" to Police

Unfortunately, in a questionable reference to Zylawy, PPA President Robert King decided to take a swipe at the new proposed Use of Force Policy (see article in this issue) that requires officers to use the least amount of force reasonably necessary. King claims that it was one of the concerns Zylawy had expressed before his death. Specifically, King asserts that Zylawy was worried about part of the directive that restricted "precipitation" because "getting out of your car could be viewed as 'precipitating' use of force" (March Rap Sheet).

Rap Sheet editor Peter Simpson, in his December column, called the policy "not acceptable to PPA members" but acknowledged the Chief has the final say and they might just agree to disagree. In January's issue, PPA Vice President Daryl Turner wondered who was pushing for the change in policy--the Mayor (a former Police Chief), Council, "community leaders or... those organizations that believe that Portland Police Officers are a bunch of knuckle- dragging, red meat eating thugs."

Turner says the first draft was a "disaster" and the revised one hasn't "passed the smell test of the Executive Board... Who is going to determine the 'least' amount of force needed to control a situation?" People think the police are "resistant to change because we don't like it," but one of the biggest offenses is when the officers have no input. "Many members believe this entire policy change may just be a farce used to discipline officers to appease a small segment of the community (this includes the Mayor) that believe police officers use too much force in dealing with criminals and those who pose potential risks to the community... Sometimes change is not good and serves no purpose."

While not every guest author in the Rap Sheet gets a picture, editor Peter Simpson probably made sure to include this picture (see pdf, p.12 of this issue for picture) of Thomas Sowell in the December issue to deflect criticism that Sowell's article "debunking" racial profiling has its basis in racial prejudice. A person's race does not eliminate their ability to be biased.

To Disprove Racial Profiling, You Must Do Better Than This

In addition to the "expert" study the PPA commissioned to "prove" racial profiling does not exist in Portland (see article in this issue), the Rap Sheet recently featured two articles on the issue from right-wing think tanks.

The first, by Thomas Sowell, an African American columnist for the conservative Hoover Institution, ran in the December issue. Sowell says he's been pulled over twice for not having his headlights on (due to technical issues with his car). He thanked the officer each time for saving his life, and received no ticket or warning. He talks about another driver who screamed at the cops, "You only pulled me over because I'm black," even though a black journalist was with the officer (like that makes a difference). That driver got a ticket.

The cops say African American suspects use the defense "you pulled me over because of my skin color" 80% of the time with white cops, and 30% of the time with black cops. We wonder, couldn't that also indicate that black officers are pulling over African American motorists more often for legitimate reasons?

In the March Rap Sheet, an article by the Force Science Research Center (FSRC) reports on a study about police use of deadly force. They talk about how it is a "staple of TV news" when an officer shoots an unarmed "minority subject... protests explode, and the familiar litany is again asserted: racial bias by the cops."

The study, by FSRC's advisory board member Tom Aveni of the Police Policy Studies Council (www.theppsc.org), claims that "When you confront an officer in what appears to be a felonious context, it is the way you act that will get you shot--not your race." Aveni reports that body language, clothing and age affected them more than race. "The implication has been that the police are racist and that negative stereotyping causes them to overreact in circumstances where, in fact, no lethal threat exists." Of course, the fact that this study was partly funded by insurance companies for law enforcement had nothing to do with the outcome.

The study was based on an analysis of 307 cops in simulated confrontations, using 6 agencies in Michigan. Actors performed 80 scenarios on video, which were then plugged into an interactive system. They gave the officers no information on the suspect or whether there was a weapon. There were people of various races and genders involved in three simulated "crimes": Robbery-in- progress, burglar alarm, mugging. Each one had three possible outcomes--surrender empty-handed, surrender holding an item that was not a weapon, and shooting at the officer with a weapon (with a paintball gun hitting the officers to simulate realism). The subjects stood with their backs to the cops, hands at waist level, then looked over their shoulder as a "target glance," turned to the left suddenly, and raised their hands slightly.

28% of the time, officers shot unarmed suspects; some shot more than one. Aveni says there is "No correlation between actions and race," or the officers' gender/race/experience. Though not statistically significant, he says the 9 black cops (of 307 total--how scientific is that?) shot more unarmed suspects.

The officers were more likely to shoot in the robbery, then the mugging, then the burglary scenario. Also, "more chose to shoot when the subject was young and wearing scruffy 'punk' clothing rather than 'business' attire." Although Aveni noted that the levels of energy and conviction of actors varied--turning faster, crouching, arms staying low, clenching hands--he makes it clear that those were not an intentional part of the study. He said that as they turned, it appeared as a blur, so you could not recognize a gun in their hands until it was too late. Therefore, it seems all the suspects allegedly behaved in exactly the same way, so how can the study claim that the behavior triggered the gunfire? In fact, officers sometimes shot the suspects before they started to turn around. 92% of the unarmed suspects were shot when their hands were up in the "surrender" position. Dr. Bill Lewinski, typical to the police apologist "Superman theory" that people can turn around faster than a speeding bullet (PPR #15), said that by the time the bullet strikes, the person is in a different position than when the officer made the decision to shoot.

Half of one agency's members shot at unarmed people in the videos, another had only 24%. Both were from urban agencies; the difference was in training.

Contempt, Name-Calling, Conservative Thinking

Despite how this column started, it would be remiss of us to leave you with the impression that the Rap Sheet's right-wing slant has somehow turned itself around to be more open to the views and concerns of the public at large, as we've already shown the concerns of people of color are not a top priority.

Again, not all these articles are written by Portland Police, but by choosing to print these articles from among all these out there, Det. Simpson is sending a message to the rank-and-file, and to the public.

Here's a sampling of name-calling and conservative views:

John Wills, former Chicago officer and FBI agent, explaining why he thinks shootings of officers by citizens are on the rise for the first time in 15 years (front page, February Rap Sheet):

* "There are and will always be cretins among us that want what we have but are not willing to acquire those things in a lawful manner. These knuckle draggers feel no remorse for their crimes; they have no conscience. These types need to be permanently removed from society."

* On rules forcing officers to ask permission to use Tasers: "Why are we adopting policies that cause our first responders to hold back, rather than go in and take care of business?"

* About police management: "Instead of backing a cop for subduing or shooting a thug, they abdicate their responsibility to fellow cops, and try to assuage the phoney and trumped up outrage that some innocuous, self-proclaimed community spokesman spouts."

* Criminal suspects are "coddled" by the courts and social services, who give "imbecilic" reasons to do so. "The community has handcuffed the police rather than the bad guys." Society treats crime victims badly "while ensuring that the criminal... has enough to eat, is warm, and has a proper defense."

* Police should "speak up about the ridiculous PC classes that we are forced to attend on how to talk to certain segments of society and not hurt their feelings."

* "We have to create and spread the mindset that our street cops are modern day warriors.... they have to be allowed to err on the side of a little too much force."

Doug Giles, a conservative talk show host, in his article "God and Glocks: Why Churches Shouldn't Be Gun Free Zones," which reads like satire but appears to be serious (January Rap Sheet):

* "Seems like the whiny babies among us have decided to lethally arm themselves and take out their post-pubescent 'nobody likes me' rage on innocent people in schools, shopping malls and now...churches."

* On the incident at the New Life Church in Colorado, Giles refers to the "pathetic toad" who shot at worshippers until he was shot by a security guard. "Thank god the media isn't giving this turd too much attention." It should be a wake up call to "kum-ba-ya pastors...who haven't woken up to the violent reality of the 21st century. Ministers had better morph PDQ from Mr. Rogers to mimicking Clint Eastwood."

* "I think if Jesus were placed in a similar situation, he would whip out his Glock and double tap the center mass of any wannabe killer."

Sgt. Richard Valdemar, retired from the LA Sheriff's Dept, weighed in against gun laws in the February Rap Sheet:

* "Politicians who would take guns from law-abiding citizens [are giving] gangs an undue advantage." They also "want to give felons the right to vote, support the illegal aliens and the terrorists in their claim for U.S. consitutional 'rights.'"

---Online Bonus material on Name-Calling-----

President King reprinted a letter from Oregon's "Crime Victims United," a get-tough-on-crime group led by Steve Doell, in the January Rap Sheet, asking for the "union" to support his cause:

--The letter asserts that the Multnomah County Dept of Community Justice-Juvenile Services thinks detention is a "seldom-necessary evil," citing their table of what crimes will trigger incarceration as "Unambiguously irresponsible." Doell complains that pending charges and warrants won't count toward a person's incarceration.

And finally, famous author and ex-cop Joseph Wambaugh is presented in an interview in the January Rap Sheet saying,

--"As you know, in real life we've got lawyers up the ass. They're like Starbucks cups; they're littering the environment; they're everywhere."

New Reason to Worry: Cops With Sleep Abnormalities

In January's Rap Sheet, the Force Science Research Center weighed in on officer sleep deprivation. They say nearly 40% of officers have sleep abnormalities, including apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and narcolepsy. This leads to an increased risk of "accidents, injury and poor judgment calls." FBI Special Agent Dennis Lindsey says being awake for 20 hours is the same as having a 0.10 alcohol level; which can impair safe driving. After 24 hours, brain functioning is down 65%, and the body goes to sleep for short periods of time. Lindsey claims fatigue is four times more likely to cause impairment in officers than alcohol or drugs. He recommends policy review, training, work/rest rules (8 hours off for every 16 hours on), and officer compliance. Lindsey calls it "totally reprehensible" to allow cops to have "the worst fatigue and sleep conditions of any profession in our society" --without offering any proof that this statement is true.

Meanwhile, the PPA has been raising this issue themselves in the Rap Sheet, including Daryl Turner's December column. He complains that mandatory overtime leads to sleep deprivation for Portland's cops. Going to court, being on SERT teams, responding to emergency events, and being involved in investigations, can make for long days. "Members of the PPA have been beaten up by the media, the Mayor's office and City Council while the management of the PPB [has] taken for granted the people who do the daily dirty work... How would the public feel if they knew cops who are involved in shootings, high speed pursuits, homicide investigations...have no sleep deprivations policy... for rest, nutrition and preparation?" Speaking for myself, I'd say I'm very frightened if in addition to not drug testing officers in deadly force situations, the Bureau also doesn't find out whether they had enough sleep!

The Portland Police Association does not set policy. However, some PPA leadership and officers express negative attitudes toward citizens and civilian oversight in their newspaper. We worry these ideas may spread throughout Portland's ranks.

May, 2008
Also in PPR #44

Portland Copwatch
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065/ Incident Report Line (503) 321-5120
e-mail: copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org

Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.

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