Exclusion Zones: Policing public space—with deadly results—in Portland, Ore.

[marmar]

from In These Times:



Exclusion Zones
Policing public space—with deadly results—in Portland, Ore.

By Kristian Williams


On June 8, the Justice Department announced a civil rights investigation to see if police officers in Portland, Ore., were engaged in a “pattern or practice” of using excessive force against the mentally ill. The investigation comes after several incidents in which police shot people in psychological crisis.

The problems with the mental health system are real enough, but this focus may obscure other dynamics propelling police violence—specifically, those relating to race and class.

Two high-profile cases in Portland help illustrate the point.

James Chasse was a well-known figure in downtown Portland, a writer and musician with a history of mental illness and occasional homelessness. In September 2006, the police spotted Chasse loitering in the recently redeveloped Pearl District. As one officer put it, he was “doing something suspicious or acting just, um, odd.” ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/11790/exclusion_zones

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I have lost clients to police shootings since 1975.

I have watched 6 foot plus grown men, police officers, stand well behind my 5 foot frame as I approached a mentally ill person that the police had called on ME to "evaluate" for them.

Local police shot and killed a nude client who was standing in the middle of the road by his house.
The guy was off his meds, had no weapons, was simply yelling and walking in big circles.
If I had been called, I could have talked him in for evaluation and he would have taken his meds, he knew me.( for some reason, some people get naked when they go off meds long enough..strange).

I have been called to a jail to "evaluate" a drifter who had obviously been beaten savagely by police, then they tried to cover it up by saying he had "banged his head" on the bars. The evidence did not support that claim but I did get them finally to call an ambulance for hospital care, had to mention "liability" and "lawsuit" loudly before they would do it.

I have been called by police who had a guy high on PCP, he had torn apart the back of the patrol car and 8 cops were urging ME to "calm him down". Gotta give them credit for not shooting him, I guess.
fortunately, this was in Fla. where we had on call psychiatrists who would come out and give anti-psychotic injections when needed, tho it did take all 8 guys to hold this client down for the shot, finally.
I have had "good old boy" deputies who were adamant they would not transport a depressed, almost catatonic suicidal man to the evaluation center unless I rode with them, "just in case he tries anything".

Dunno why the police in the 4 states I worked were so terrified of the mentally ill, but there was a definite pattern that I saw for decades.