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The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office referred a criminal investigation of Portland Police Bureau Detective Erik Kammerer to the Oregon Department of Justice nearly a year ago.
A DA’s office spokesman confirmed the referral to WW in June, saying that District Attorney Mike Schmidt asked the DOJ on Nov. 7 to investigate the case due to a “potential conflict of interest.” Otherwise, both agencies have remained tight-lipped about the nature of the investigation and when it’s expected to conclude. (Disclosure: Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is married to the co-owner of WW’s parent company.)
That said, it is likely the DOJ is investigating allegations that Kammerer, also known as “Officer 67″ for his helmet number, used excessive force against protesters. For much of the 2020 protests, Kammerer—who works as a Portland Police Bureau homicide detective for his day job—served as a leader of the Delta Squad for the bureau’s now-dissolved mass demonstration unit called the Rapid Response Team. Kammerer has continued to investigate homicides during the criminal inquiry.
“A year feels like a long time for an investigation,” says state Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Clackamas), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and the House Subcommittee on Equitable Policing. “We should have some answers by now. Regardless of the outcome, I think that the [Police] Bureau should have learned that accountability serves the best interest of the public and the department as a whole. If nothing happens to officers who commit egregious acts, the bureau and the city are sending the wrong message.”
Some of those allegations have been made in civil complaints against Kammerer. And the state’s criminal investigation has paused at least one civil action against the 27-year PPB veteran.
In May, a Portland father named Elijah Warren filed a civil complaint against Kammerer in Multnomah County Circuit Court. The $400,000 lawsuit accuses the city and Kammerer of negligence and battery. It alleges that, during a September 2020 protest, Kammerer struck Warren in the back of the head with his baton as Warren—who was not a part of the protest—spoke to officers outside his home because tear gas had seeped inside, where his son and son’s friend were “screaming and trying to wash out their eyes in the sink.”
But Warren’s legal team has not been allowed to depose Kammerer under oath. They must wait for the conclusion of the DOJ’s criminal investigation, according to Warren’s attorney Jason Kafoury.
“We’re all on hold,” Kafoury says. “It’s kind of like the Jo Ann Hardesty leak case: Time goes on and no answers ever come out.”
And in an unusual move, the city has hired outside legal counsel to defend Kammerer against Warren’s lawsuit: Court records show Kammerer is represented by Karen O’Kasey and Carey Caldwell, both attorneys with Hart Wagner LLP. Reached by phone Monday, Caldwell declined to comment on the case.
Typically, the City Attorney’s Office defends Police Bureau officers in civil matters. City Attorney Robert Taylor tells WW the city has retained the outside law firm to defend Kammerer in three pending cases related to use of force.
“Under the Oregon Tort Claims Act, the city is required in most instances to defend and indemnify city employees in tort cases arising out of their work for the city,” Taylor says. “The City Attorney’s Office determined that outside counsel was appropriate in these cases.”
He declined further comment on the pending litigation.
“As usual, the city of Portland—no matter how much outrage there is for one of its officer’s conduct—has no power to remove bad officers from the force,” Kafoury says. “I hope the citizen[-led] independent review board will be empowered to do that in the coming years.”
