News East Precinct police officers were told today at roll call that Christopher Humphreys, one of the cops involved in the death of James Chasse (photo above), was involved in a use-of-force incident recently in East Portland. Reports are not entirely complete, but apparently there was a struggle between an officer and a teen-ager and Humphreys fired a beanbag round at the teen-ager from a distance ...   More

News Portland Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman has directed that Police Officer Christopher Humphreys be placed on administrative leave while investigators look into Humphreys firing a beanbag round at the thigh of a 12-year-old girl at close range. In this release (PDF), police say Humphreys —who also was involved in the death of James Chasse— and Officer Aaron Dauchy responded to a ...   More

News You've probably heard by now that Portland Police Officer Christopher Humphreys — the cop who took James Chasse Jr. to the ground the day Chasse died in police custody in 2006 — has been placed on administrative leave. Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman made the decision Thursday to take Humphreys off duty pending an Internal Affairs investigation of an incident last Saturday night, ...   More

News The Portland Police Association today announced plans to hold a no-confidence vote next week on Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Chief Rosie Sizer after the two leaders yesterday disciplined Officer Chris Humphreys. The union board representing rank-and-file officers today unanimously agreed to put the no-confidence vote to its 900 members, according to a news release (PDF). "Leadership ...   More

News Hundreds of Portland cops and their supporters rallied downtown this morning to back Officer Christopher Humphreys, who was put on administrative leave last week pending an investigation into why he bean-bagged a 12-year-old girl. The police union says there were about 650 people there. The Police Bureau does not provide official crowd estimates "because people always get mad at us," says spokeswoman ...   More

News After an officer involved in a controversial beanbag shooting filed a stress claim with the city, a prominent mental health advocate says he'll ask the the city auditor to investigate disability claims by cops under discipline. Jason Renaud, a volunteer with the Mental Health Association of Portland and a high-profile critic of police action in the death of James Chasse Jr., tells WW he'll meet ...   More

News The Portland police union has declined to release the results of last week's no-confidence vote on Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Chief Rosie Sizer today as planned. In a news release (PDF), the Portland Police Association says the decision came after Saltzman and Sizer agreed today to give back Officer Chris Humphreys' badge. "The (union's) rally on November 24 was designed to focus ...   More

News In his second straight day in the news, prominent mental-health advocate Jason Renaud announced today he'll run against City Commissioner Dan Saltzman next year. Renaud, a volunteer for the Mental Health Association of Portland, is a prominent critic of the police role in the in-custody death three years ago of James Chasse Jr. Renaud (pictured above) also weighed in on Saltzman's decision ...   More

News The Portland police union's push for better PR continues this month with a poll on public perception. Sgt. Scott Westerman (see photo), head of the Portland Police Association, says the union paid for a poll of hundreds of Portland residents this month to learn their opinion on public safety. "The PPA has hired a company to do polling of City of Portland residents to better communicate with ...   More

News This week we reported that Portland Police internal-affairs detectives have yet to interview Officer Christopher Humphreys about shooting a 12-year-old girl with a beanbag gun two months ago. The bureau is investigating Humphreys for possible violations of policy from the Nov. 12 beanbag shooting — a probe that brought hundreds of cops downtown to rally against Police Commissioner Dan ...   More