This post will collect the initial press clippings from the Portland Police shooting on June 30 & July 1, 2011.

PRESS RELEASE, Portland Police Bureau – Portland Police Investigating Officer-Involved Shooting in SW Portland – June 30, 2011
PRESS RELEASE, Portland Police Bureau – Update on Today’s Officer-Involved Shooting – June 30, 2011
PRESS RELEASE, Portland Police Bureau – Press Conference on Officer-Involved Shooting Today at 12:30 p.m. – July 1, 2011
PRESS RELEASE, Portland Police Bureau – Officer Involved Update (News Release from Today’s News Conference) – July 1, 2011

Man accidentally shot by Portland officer had struggled with mental illness

From The Oregonian, July 1, 2011

Mayor Sam Adams and Police Chief Mike Reese on Friday publicly apologized to a man shot by an officer who mistakenly fired a less-lethal shotgun loaded with live rounds.

The police commissioner and chief both promised the shooting would be aggressively investigated, and the incident would become a teaching moment for officers in training.

“I want to be very clear about this. The loading of lethal rounds in a less-lethal shotgun is a terrible mistake,” Reese said. “We don’t know how it occurred, but we know it should not have happened.”

Police identified the victim as William Kyle Monroe, 20, of Bremerton, Wash. He was hit in the hip with five pellets and was in critical condition at OHSU Hospital Friday, police said.

Washington court records suggest that Monroe had been struggling with mental illness. Monroe was accused of third-degree assault in June 2010 in Snohomish County in connection with an assault on medical staff in a mental health unit of Valley General Hospital in Monroe, Wash. The charge was dismissed when he was civilly committed to Western State Hospital on July 2, 2010.

Central Precinct Officer Dane Reister, a 15-year bureau veteran, was carrying a clearly-marked, less-lethal shotgun, but it was loaded with five live rounds. He fired four rounds, and a fifth ejected, police said. Each of the shotgun rounds contain nine .32-caliber-sized pellets. In total, 36 pellets were fired.

Reister was one of three officers responding to a 9-1-1 call about a man who had been “possibly harassing” children at Lair Hill Park, police said. A second caller said the man had left the park, had a pocket knife concealed in his sleeve and was acting in a “peculiar manner.”

Portland police spotted Monroe at the corner of Southwest Pennoyer Street and Naito Parkway. Witnesses said Monroe ran from the officers. Police would only say that Monroe did not follow police commands, but did not say what those commands were, or what Monroe was doing when he was shot. Monroe was found with a knife, but police did not say if he had threatened anyone.

“At this point we don’t know what occurred specifically there … that’s part of the investigative process. We will be interviewing all the officers and witnesses over the next few days,” Reese said.

Less-lethal weapons are used to subdue someone who is aggressively physically resisting, or is armed, or potentially armed.

Rustin Nesse, who lives directly across the street from where the shooting occurred, said he first heard a man screaming and looked out toward Southwest Naito Parkway. He saw a man dressed in black running south along the parkway, on a path behind the Caro Amico Italian restaurant.

“I heard the guy yelling ‘help me’ and ‘no.’

“He was running up Naito, and I saw a police car drive up,” Nesse said. He said he thought he heard officers yelling ‘freeze’ or ‘hold it!’

“Then, I heard pow, pow, pow, pow.” Neese said he was surprised no detective knocked on his door Thursday. When he went up to an officer Thursday, he said he was told police had talked to enough witnesses.

Reese said as soon as the officers realized Monroe was wounded, they provided medical care and called an ambulance.

Police have been in contact with Monroe’s family. His father lives in Hillsboro. Monroe’s Facebook page says he worked for Michaels store in Tanasbourne since May. It said he graduated from Washington’s Klahowya Secondary School in 2009 and took courses at Portland Community College.

The chief said he spoke to Reister Thursday night, and relayed he felt horrible.

“It was human error that caused this tragedy,” Reese said. “We are human.”

Adams echoed the chief’s remorse. “This was a tragic mistake. We’re very fortunate the individual wasn’t hurt worse.”

The less-lethal shotgun’s stocks and pump grips are conspicuously painted orange, and marked “less lethal” to differentiate them from standard shotguns. The lethal rounds are red and blue; while the less-lethal rounds are yellow and clear.

Officers are instructed to inspect each round when they load the less-lethal weapons at the beginning of their shifts. The weapons are unloaded at the end of the shifts, and returned to their precinct armory.

Reese said the bureau’s policy is very clear. “You cannot carry live rounds on your person when you are carrying the less lethal shotgun.”

Training officers instruct police not to carry live ammunition with the less-lethal ammunition. “They’re to remain separate,” Reese said.

Police say lethal rounds in less than lethal shotgun was “a terrible mistake.” Police say lethal rounds in less than lethal shotgun was “a terrible mistake.” Chief Mike Reese of the Portland Police Bureau said the wounding of William K. Monroe Thursday should not have happened, and the bureau is reviewing the incident and its training practices. Watch video
However, it’s not uncommon for officers to carry a mix of live rounds and bean-bag shotgun rounds in their duty bags kept in the trunk of their patrol cars. There’s no specific directive that prevents that, police said.

Reister was certified to carry the less-lethal shotgun in December 2002, and required to qualify on the firearm three times a year, Training Cmdr. Robert Day said. Police did not say if Reister loaded his own shotgun.

The Portland Police Association called the shooting unfortunate. “We stand in support of Officer (Dane) Reister as he goes through this difficult process in regards to yesterday’s incident. As the PPA, we look forward to a positive resolution to this unfortunate occurrence.”

Two other officers, Stuart Palmiter, a 19-year veteran, and Dean Haley, a 25-year veteran, witnessed the shooting, as well as an 18-year-old who was on a ride-along in Palmiter’s car.

Day said the firing of live rounds from a shotgun causes more significant recoil, compared to less-lethal beanbag rounds. Police would expect that officers can tell the difference, however in a dynamic situation that may be difficult, Day said.

Jack Levin, a criminology professor and co-director of Northeastern University’s Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict, said when police carry live and less-lethal ammunition together, “there’s more potential for trouble,” but said officers are human and make mistakes.

“It’s a mistake that had dire consequences, and the department has to take all precautions.”

Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology and criminal justice professor at the University of South Carolina, said the mistake is avoidable. “I am sure it was ‘human error,’ not intentional –but that is not a justification,” Alpert said. “Safeguards may be in place by policy, but not practice. I would say it is an error of supervision, management and accountability. If officers were trained to anticipate the potential problems and were “checked” or supervised to make sure they did what they were supposed to do – it would reduce the chance of it occurring again.”

Chief: Portland police shooting ammo error ‘a terrible mistake’

From KGW.com, July 1, 2011

Mayor Sam Adams said Friday that the mistaken use of lethal rounds instead of beanbag rounds in a Thursday officer-involved shooting was “a tragic mistake” and he wished a speedy recovery to the man who was shot.

Chief Michael Reese the incident was “a terrible tragedy.” He said he spoke with the officer involved last night “and he certainly feels horrible.” Reese said his thoughts and prayers go out to the man who was shot.

The two spoke at a press conference a day after police responded to a call of a drunk man with a knife harrassing children in a park.

Adams also said the comments Friday were part of a bureau effort he instituted to have more transparency in communicating with citizens. A mistake was made, and that information should be made clear.

Reese identified the man who was shot as William Kyle Monroe, 20, who was listed in critical condition as OHSU. He was hit with five pellets in the hip.

There are nine pellets in each of the lethal rounds, Reese said. It’s unclear if the wounds came from just one, or several of the four rounds fired, he said.

The shooting was in the 3600 block of Southwest Barbur Boulevard. Dispatchers said the first 9-1-1 call came in around 9:55 a.m. about an intoxicated man harassing children at a summer camp in Lair Hill Park.

Other calls said the man had a knife concealed up a sleeve, and that he had left the park.

Officers encountered a man several blocks away at Naito and Curry and one officer fired what was thought to be beanbag rounds.

Lethal rounds are red and blue and less lethal rounds are yellow and clear in color. Officers are required to also do a safety check and load the weapon at the beginning of their shift, according to police spokesman Lt. Robert King.

At the press conference, police displayed to the two shotguns police use. Both are the same make. Both use the same size of shells, whether beanbag or lethal. The bean bag shotgun has a bright orange stock and pump lever. The orange stock has the words ‘Less Lethal’ on it.

The officer who fired the rounds is a 15-year bureau veteran and was placed on paid administrative leave. He was not identified by the bureau.

On Friday, the Portland Police Association union issued a statement that read “We stand in support of Officer (Dane) Reister as he goes through this difficult process in regards to yesterday’s incident. As the PPA, we look forward to a positive resolutioni to this unfortunate occurence.”

Police shoot, wound man in Southwest Portland

From KGW.com, June 30, 2011

Police shot and wounded a man who they believe had been threatening children in a Southwest Portland park Thursday, investigators said.

Detectives are investigating the officer-involved shooting in the 3600 block of Southwest Barbur Boulevard. There was a massive response that included dozens of officers, detectives, lawyers, police union reps, the police chief and even the mayor.

Dispatchers said the first 9-1-1 call came in around 9:55 a.m. about an intoxicated man harassing children at a playground in the area, another caller said he had a knife.

The children were attending a camp event at Lair Hill Park, police said. Officers encountered a man several blocks away at Naito and Curry and fired one shot, police said.

Spokesman Lt. Robert King said one man was struck with a non-life threatening wound. Detectives were interviewing several witnesses at the scene.

“You know, [it sounded like] bam, bam, bam. It didn’t sound like fireworks, thinking back at it,” witness Michael Irvine told KGW.

Mayor Sam Adams and an attorney for the police bureau both showed up to the scene around noon.

Police have confirmed that there was an officer-involved shooting. But they have not yet clarified whether anyone was wounded. Officers said that early reports indicated only one round was fired.

King said Southwest Naito Parkway in the area was blocked in both directions, along with the area around Barbur.

Paramedics said the suspect was bleeding from the leg, from a gunshot wound, and taken to Oregon Health and Science University for treatment. His injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Police have not yet released the suspect’s identity or details on what prompted police to open fire.

The roadway was closed during the investigation, but re-opened before the evening commute.

Suspect shot after reports he was harassing kids

From KATU.com, June 30, 2011

Update: Police said Thursday evening that they had fired at the man five times with what they thought was a less than lethal beanbag gun. But after they took the man into custody, they discovered he had actually been shot with actual shotgun rounds.

A suspect who was reportedly harassing children at a park and then was spotted somewhere else with a knife was shot by police Thursday morning after officers responded to 911 calls.

The incident happened in the 3600 block of Southwest Barbur Boulevard.

According to police, a 911 call came in around 10 a.m. about a man who was at Lair Hill Park acting intoxicated and harassing some children who were there. The man took off and that’s when police got a second call from a nearby area on a report of a man with a knife.

Details about the confrontation between the suspect and police have not been released but police did say they fired one shot, although witnesses reported hearing three or four shots fired. Both Police Chief Michael Reese and Mayor Sam Adams were at the scene early on.

The suspect was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. His identity has not yet been released.

Portland police ammo mix-up under investigation

From KPTV.com, July 1, 2011

Portland police say they accidentally used lethal shotgun shells instead of beanbag rounds when they shot a man five times in southwest Portland yesterday.

Officers were called to Lair Hill Park after getting a report of an intoxicated man who was harassing children. They confronted the man, who decided to run up an embankment toward Barbur Boulevard.

Police gave chase, and because they say the man was not complying with their demands, he was shot in the hip by 5 shotgun pellets.

The officer thought he was firing less-lethal bean bag rounds when he pulled the trigger, but the gun had mistakenly been loaded with real ammunition, police say.

The man was rushed to a hospital to be treated for his injuries. The wounded man, whose name has not been released, is expected to survive the shooting.

Lt. Robert King says the ammo mix-up is under investigation.

“Training protocols require the officers who are certified in this weapon to visually inspect each round,” King said in a police bureau statement. “Lethal rounds are red and blue and less lethal rounds are yellow and clear in color.”

The officer who fired the shots is a 15-year veteran and is on paid administrative leave per Bureau policy.

Earlier, witnesses reported to police that the man may have been armed with a pocketknife, but police have not said whether he was, in fact, armed.

Portland officers started carrying less-lethal bean bag shotguns in the mid 1990s. In a statement, the police bureau said an incident like this has never happened prior to today.

The Portland Police Bureau is already under a federal investigation over their use of force. The Department of Justice is looking into whether the bureau’s practices and policies comply with civil rights laws.

The DOJ investigators are pouring through the case patterns and training programs for Portland officers, paying close attention to situations related to people with mental illnesses. Earlier this month, Mayor Sam Adams and police chief Mike Reese said they requested the investigation.

Police investigate officer-involved shooting in Southwest Portland

From KOIN.com, June 30, 2011

A man was shot by Portland police, who were responding to reports of a knife-wielding subject in Southwest Portland early Thursday morning.

Just before 10 a.m., a person called 9-1-1 to report that a man, who appeared to be intoxicated, was harassing kids and the caller at Lair Hill Park, where a camp was ongoing.

As police responded, another call came in that a man was armed with a knife. Portland officers located the man near SW Naito Parkway and Curry, where at least one shot was fired by police.

Nearby resident Zachary Reite said he saw several officers whiz by.

“I just saw someone point then all the cops hopped the curb and ran right to the restaurant,” he said.

Reite was surprised when he found out the suspect was shot by gunfire. He thought police fired bean bags at the man, who he described as an “older guy.”

Police spokesman Robert King briefed reporters and offered very few details about how the shooting unfolded, but did say the suspect’s wounds appeared to be non-life-threatening.

Both Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Police Chief Mike Reese were on scene.

The area of Naito Parkway near the incident could be closed off until 5 p.m.

Portland officer shoots man in Southwest Portland with live round, not less-lethal beanbag

From The Oregonian, June 30, 2011

A Central Precinct officer mistakenly shot a suspect with a live round instead of a less-lethal beanbag on Thursday morning. The man had reportedly been acting in an intimidating manner at a Southwest Portland park. Callers told police the man appeared intoxicated and armed with a knife.

The officer thought he was firing less-lethal beanbags at the suspect, who was not complying with police commands. In fact, the beanbag shotgun had been loaded with lethal shotgun rounds, Portland police said at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The suspect was hit by five pellets in the hip and was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening wounds, police said.

“We are just at the beginning stages of this investigation,” says Chief Michael Reese. “Our training protocols are designed to prevent this from happening. I have instructed supervisors to immediately remind every less lethal beanbag shotgun operator to visually inspect each round as they are loaded into the weapon and review less lethal beanbag shotgun training protocols.”

The officer who shot the rounds, a 15-year veteran, has been placed on paid administrative leave.

The shooting occurred about seven blocks south of Lair Hill Park, in a grassy area behind Caro Amico Italian Restaurant, where Southwest Naito Parkway meets Barbur Boulevard.

Police earlier said one round was fired, striking the man in the leg. He was taken to OHSU Hospital with non life-threatening injuries, police said.

It was the second officer-involved shooting this year, and comes just weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was beginning a federal inquiry into the bureau’s use of force, particularly against those with mental illness.

There was an immediate and significant response to the scene from law enforcement and City Hall, including Mayor Sam Adams, Multnomah County’s chief deputy district attorney Norm Frink, deputy city attorney Dave Woboril, the police bureau’s Assistant Chief Eric Hendricks, Central Precinct Cmdr. Vince Jarmer and Detective Division Cmdr. Ed Brumfield.

Under a new agreement with the police bureau, Constantin Severe, the deputy director of the Independent Police Review Division, also responded to the scene, accompanied by the police director of services, Mike Kuykendall. Multiple private attorneys also arrived for Portland officers involved.

Police shoot and wound a man after responding to a disturbance call in the Lair Hill Neigborhood of Southwest Portland Police shoot and wound a man after responding to a disturbance call in the Lair Hill Neigborhood of Southwest Portland Central Precinct officers of the Portland Police Bureau responded to a disturbance call at a day camp near Lair Hill Park Thursday. Additional calls said the man was armed with a knife. The suspect was shot once. His condition is unknown, but he is expected to survive

Police said a caller at 9:55 a.m. reported that an intoxicated man was acting in a harassing manner at Lair Hill Park, where children were attending a private day camp led by a teacher from the nearby Cedarwood Waldorf School. A second caller to police reported that the man had a knife, according to Lt. Robert King.

Witnesses said they heard a confrontation behind Caro Amico Restaurant, police yelling commands and multiple shots fired. One man said he thought he saw one of the bureau’s new shoulder-fired Taser shotguns.

Jay Smith was driving north on Southwest Barbur Boulevard shortly before 11 a.m. when he noticed about three officers standing in the lawn behind the restaurant. “They were spread out with their guns out,” Smith said. “I saw a guy had run out from under the overpass, across Naito Parkway over to Caro Amico’s parking area.”

The man, described as in his 20s and wearing black shorts, “was running frantically,” Smith added. Smith said homeless people often sleep under the overpass just east of the Italian restaurant.

Laura Jones, who lives in the basement of a house at the corner of Southwest Pennoyer Street and Naito Parkway, estimated the shooting occurred around 10:40 a.m. Jones said her husband was outside exchanging pleasantries with a stranger when she saw a Portland police officer armed with a rifle approach. Her husband came inside. They heard police yelling commands in a serious tone and then heard at least two shots fired.

Nate Weaver, 25, who was asleep in his Southwest Naito Parkway apartment, was awakened by the shooting, hearing three to four shots. “I just heard some yelling and then heard some pops,” he said.

The Portland officer who fired the shot was not named, but other officers said he was a 15-year bureau veteran. Police also did not say if any less-lethal weapons were fired, or if the man shot was threatening police with the knife.

A parent at Lair Hill Park said later Thursday morning that the strange man had approached an adult in the park, but had not bothered any of the children, who were moved elsewhere.

Police shoot man near Barbur Boulevard

UPDATE • Lethal round apparently accidentally used
From the Portland Tribune, June 30, 2011

Portland police apparently accidentally shot a man with a lethal shotgun round instead of a less-than-lethal beanbag one Thursday morning.

The man, who has not yet been identified, is recovering in an area hospital. Police are investigating how the lethal round was used when police supposedly intended to shoot him with a less-than-lethal one. Police say he was hit with five pellets in the hip area.

Both lethal and less-than-lethal rounds can be shot from the same shotguns. According to a statement issued by the police bureau late Thursday afternoon, officers are suppose to visual inspect each round before they load the. Lethal rounds are yellow and clear in color, while less-than-lethal rounds are red and blue.

Police said the shooting occurred at about 9:55 a.m. after officers from the Central Precinct were called to Lair Hill Park, 3037 S.W. Second Ave., when children in a camp there had been approached by an intoxicated man reportedly armed with a knife.

When officers arrived, the man ran from the area. Neighbors said they saw four or five police officers chasing the man across Barbur Boulevard near the Caro Amico Italian Restaurant on Barbur Boulevard. The officers had their guns drawn during the chase, witnesses said.

One witness said the man was confronted by officers when he ran into a parking area that was blocked by high walls and blackberry bushes. A neighbor heard one gunshot. Others reported two or three shots being fired.

Members of the East County Major Crimes Team are investigating the shooting. Names of the officers involved in the shooting have not been released.

The shooting happened near the tunnel where Naito Parkway turns into Barbur Boulevard. The road was closed in both directions near Pennoyer Street through the afternoon.

Scenes From 2011′s Fourth Police Shooting

From the Portland Mercury, June 30, 2011

So we’re still waiting for a more definitive initial accounting of today’s non-lethal police shooting—the fourth shooting so far this year, and the ninth out of 10 since January 2010 involving someone battling some form of mental illness.

But after talking to neighbors and more witnesses, we do know a bit more than we did earlier this afternoon when I called in our last dispatch to Sarah [perhaps Mirk?]. But first! A recap of the bare bones of that report for anyone who didn’t read that post: Cops were called when a man was reported bothering children attending a day camp at Lair Hill Park in Southwest, with one caller reporting the man had a knife. The man was chased to a grassy spot behind Caro Amico, an Italian restaurant whose front entrance is up on SW Barbur but with parking down the hill on Naito. The man was shot by what cops say, so far, was one round. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Update 5:40 PM: KGW is reporting, according to an interview paramedics, that the man was bleeding from a gunshot wound to his leg and and was taken uphill to Oregon Health and Science University for treatment.

What’s new?

Contrary to what one witness, Jay Smith, suggested, the man does not appear to have climbed from beneath an underpass along Naito east of Caro Amico. A camper down in the underpass—the underbelly of an entrance ramp leading from Barbur to northbound Naito—said no one matching the description of the man who was shot (long hair, black shorts, and a T-shirt) had been crashing there or had even run through there.

The camper said he heard someone scramble down from the road above onto Naito and then run toward Caro Amico.

“There was some yelling and screaming,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “I caught a glimpse of him running by and then all of a sudden blam-blam-blam-blam”—four or five gunshots.

That was nearly the same count offered by a neighbor near SW Gibbs and Naito, who also said she heard four shots not long after seeing a man wearing black shorts running south on SW First toward Caro Amico. First dead-ends into Barbur past the restaurant.

Daniel Serrano, who moved into a home on Naito two years ago, said he also heard four or five gunshots “after some arguing.” Then, “before I knew it, there were a bunch of cops going by.”

Serrano said the man might have been camping not near Barbur and Naito but inside a pedestrian tunnel where Highway 26 crosses under Naito. The tunnel was empty when I checked it out, but had urine puddles, plastic spoons on the floor, and a plastic carton of nonperishable foodstuffs near its western entrance.

Serrano said a man who might have been the guy who was shot, matching the description given by Smith and the other unidentified neighbor—wearing black and with long, messy hair—had recently been appeared in the area and been seen in the tunnel. The tunnel, he says, is a a popular nighttime crash spot in the summer months.

Pat O’Hearn, another neighbor, also said homeless people camp in the neighborhood’s overpasses and tunnels but that there’s hardly any issues.

“It’s pretty mild,” O’Hearn said.

Meanwhile, up at Lair Hill Park, parents and officials at nearby Cedarwood school, having summer classes, were mostly mum about reports that the man who was shot was bothering children. Officials from the Portland parks bureau said the children were participating in a private summer camp put on by one of the school’s teachers.

An administrator who declined to give her name, and who later asked reporters to leave the school building, said the children at the park were ushered into the school building about when police were called.

Also significant: This was the first police shooting since the police bureau agreed to allow the Independent Police Review office to send representatives to shooting scenes, and then to any and all bureau briefings on a shooting. Constantin Severe, assistant director of the IPR office, was on hand and seen with the bureau’s civilian director of services, Mike Kuykendall.

The shooting is also the first since the federal Department of Justice launched its probe into whether the police bureau, through use of force, has routinely violated the civil rights of the mentally ill. That question was on the mind of observers who noted the roll-out of detectives, commanders, and civilian managers and city leaders, although spokesman Lieutenant Robert King said the bureau always brings in “all the resources that are necessary.” In truth, nearly the entire cast of characters out at the scene today, for a non-fatal shooting, were also at the scenes of other recent shootings.

Officer in Shotgun Shooting Was Involved in Previous Videotaped Incident

From Willamette Week, July 1, 2011

The Central Precinct officer cops say mistakenly fired five shotgun rounds instead of beanbags at a man disobeying police orders Thursday was involved in a 2008 incident where a video camera recorded him aggressively rousting suspected drug dealers.

The officer, Dane Reister, also ticketed the cameraman, though the Multnomah County district attorney’s office declined to prosecute him. Reister and another officer had stopped two men next to the Portland Art Museum when Mike Tabor, who considered himself an independent journalist, began filming.

Here’s how a 2008 Oregonian article described the encounter:

The videotaping incident that netted Tabor a ticket unfolded when he spotted officers Dane Reister and Nicholas Ragona stopping two men on March 25 next to the Portland Art Museum.

On the nine-minute video, one of the officers can be heard accusing one man of being a drug dealer and the other a drug buyer.

The officer repeatedly asks one of the men for his ID and to allow himself to be patted down. At one point, the officer—identified by Tabor as Reister—tells the man to back away. And when the man takes a step back, Reister takes two or three steps forward and shoves the man in the chest.

“That bugged me,” said Tabor. “It really looked like intimidation—bully-type stuff.”

After patting the man down, the officers let both men go. Then Reister walks over to Tabor, asks him whether the camera was also recording sound, and when Tabor says yes, tells Tabor to hand over the camera. “I was just totally surprised,” Tabor said.

Tabor began to walk to Central Precinct to file a complaint. The officers pulled up in their patrol car and asked what he was doing and then said they would meet him in the lobby. Tabor claims that after he waited about 20 minutes, the officers returned his camera and handed him a ticket.

After Thursday’s shooting, Reister, a 15-year veteran of the bureau, was placed on leave, which is standard procedure when an officer is involved in a shooting. The suspect, who police say Reister hit with five pellets, was transported to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening wounds.

As of this morning, police said detectives had yet to identify the man but described him in a news release as reportedly intoxicated and armed with a pocketknife.

Mayor Sam Adams, Police Chief Michael Reese and Training Division Commander Robert Day are set to appear at a 12:30 press conference at the Justice Center to address the shooting.

Here’s Tabor’s video:

Many Questions Remain After Press Conference for Police Shotgun Shooting

From the Willamette Week, July 1, 2011

After a Friday afternoon press conference with Mayor Sam Adams and Police Chief Mike Reese, plenty remains unclear about why a Central Precinct officer on Thursday shot a 20-year-old man with a gun that under police rules should never carry lethal ammunition.

Police bureau managers suggested Officer Dane Reister violated several safeguards when he fired four live rounds from a bright-orange shotgun with the words “less lethal” on the side of the gun. At least one round struck William Kyle Monroe, leaving him with five pellet wounds in his hip area and in critical condition at a local hospital.

Cops said they do not believe they have had prior contact with Monroe.

Reese and Adams apologized to Monroe for the shooting. That move represented a significant departure from the previous administration of Chief Rosie Sizer, who was criticized for failing to admit when police were at fault. Reese called the shooting “human error.”

Here are some details that emerged at the 12:30 press conference:

• • Lethal shotgun rounds and beanbag rounds look different. The beanbag rounds are yellow and clear, and the lethal rounds are blue and red. “[Officers] are to look and verify each time the weapon is loaded that they are carrying a yellow beanbag round,” said Training Division Commander Bob Day.
• • Lethal rounds aren’t supposed to come anywhere near the less-lethal guns used to fire beanbags, Day said. Reese said specific officers certified to carry less-lethal guns aren’t allowed to carry live shotgun rounds on them or in their cars if they are carrying the beanbag weapon.
• • The beanbag weapons are stored at a weapon locker at the precinct, Day said. When officers check them out, they are required to visually confirm the guns are empty, then load the guns inside their police car.
• • The less-lethal guns, purchased by the department in 1997, are Remington Model 870 shotguns. Aside from distinct orange markings, that’s the same type as the black shotguns meant for lethal force. But shooting beanbag rounds feels different from shooting live rounds because beanbags cause less recoil, Day said. He added Reister may not have noticed the difference under tense circumstances. Beanbags rounds are sometimes visible after they are fired, but again, Day said Reister may not have noticed.
• • Police said Monroe was carrying a pocketknife but declined to say whether he threatened officers, saying it’s too early in the investigation. Police also said it’s also too early to reveal how many times Monroe was shot. Although he was reportedly struck with five pellets, it remains unclear whether those came from the same round, police said.
• • Initial reports that Monroe was intoxicated may be incorrect. Police do not know if Monroe was intoxicated, said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a spokesman for the department. Police used the phrase “apparently intoxicated” in news release Wednesday, but that phrase was absent from a press release handed out at the conference, replaced with “acting in a peculiar manner.”
• • Cops said the officers contacted Monroe before talking with witnesses at the park because Monroe had already fled.
• • Initial reports that five rounds fired were incorrect, police said. Reister fired four rounds, police said Friday, and a fifth round was ejected as he pumped the shotgun.

• • Reister was trained to use the non-lethal shotgun in 2002, Reese said. The department requires officers to retrain with the weapons three times a year. Because of the incident on Thursday, the department will move up the next round of training, meaning about 220 officers that use the 115 less-lethal shotguns will undergo a 10-hour training course in the next few weeks.

• • Officers are taught to use the beanbag weapons if there is aggressive resistance, of if a suspect is armed or potentially armed. But it’s the “totality” of the circumstances that department will weigh, Day said. Officers are also told to fire beanbags from no more than 60 feet, and Day said it’s too early to say how far Reister was from Monroe when he fired at him.
• • An 18-year-old civilian was riding along with Officer Stuart Palmiter, who along with Officer Dean Halley witnessed the shooting.
• • Reese’s apology: “Using lethal rounds in a less-lethal shotgun was a terrible mistake. We don’t know how it occurred yet.”
• • And Adams: “I’d like to to apologize to the person who was injured by this mistake.”
• • Reese said he spoke to Reister on Thursday night. “He certainly feels horrible about this,” Reese said.

The Independent Police Review Division will likely release more information in the next two weeks, Simpson said.

Police say ammo mix-up, ‘terrible mistake’

From KATU.com, July 1, 2011

Portland police admitted Friday they made a grave mistake when an officer shot a man with live ammunition yesterday instead of the beanbag rounds he meant to fire.

Police Chief Mike Reese apologized during a news conference but said the Bureau is still investigating how the officer loaded the wrong rounds into a gun that is clearly marked “less lethal.”

“Using lethal rounds in a less-lethal shotgun was a terrible mistake,” he said. “We don’t know how it occurred yet. We have an investigation in process that will answer those questions. But we know it should not have happened. … I spoke with the officer involved last night, and he certainly feels horrible about this, our thoughts and prayers are with the injured man and his family.”

Police responded to a 9-1-1 call Thursday morning to the 3600 block of Southwest Barbur Boulevard after reports that a man was harassing children at Lair Hill Park, was acting intoxicated and was armed with a knife. Police said the suspect, 20-year-old William Kyle Monroe, fled from police up an embankment and wouldn’t respond to commands to surrender.

That’s when Officer Dane Reister, a 15-year veteran, fired his less-lethal gun four times that was supposed to be loaded with beanbags. It wasn’t. At least one was a live shotgun round. Monroe was hit by five shotgun pellets in the hip, according to police.

Monroe is at OHSU in critical but stable condition, according to police. He is expected to survive.

“I praise the good work of the Police Bureau, but I also said when I took over as police commissioner we would be more forthright when we make mistakes and this was a tragic mistake,” said Portland Mayor Sam Adams who was also at the news conference. “We are very fortunate that the individual wasn’t hurt worse.”

During the news conference, Portland police showed the media the difference between their shotguns. Reister, who was not at the news conference, was carrying an orange shotgun that says “less-lethal” on it. Those guns are only to be loaded with yellow beanbag rounds.

Reister was also involved in another high-profile case in 2008 involving a video camera. He seized a man’s camera after the man recorded police searching two other men outside the Portland Art Museum.

The city attorney’s office later said it would give officers a refresher course on people’s rights to videotape in public. Now the Police Bureau will be giving its officers more training on handling its beanbag shotguns.

Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, issued a statement Friday afternoon saying, “We stand in support of Officer Reister as he goes through this difficult process. As the PPA, we look forward to a positive resolution to this unfortunate occurrence.”

Police are supposed to load and unload the beanbag rounds at the beginning and end of each shift, and they’re not supposed carry any lethal rounds on their bodies at all when carrying the beanbag gun.

By Amanda Waldroupe of The Lund Report, June 29, 2011

Although both House Bill 3100 and Senate Bill 420 passed the Legislature handily, doubts still remain

Two bills that will reform the Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB) have passed the House and Senate. Expected to soon become law, they represent the most substantive changes to Oregon’s mental health system in many years.

“[Senate Bill 420] is long overdue,” said Sen. Jackie Winters (R-Salem), before the Senate approved the bill by a 20-9 margin.

House Bill 3100 and Senate Bill 420 change the PSRB’s authority in terms of the board’s involvement when a court decides if a criminal is “guilty except for insanity,” and when certain patients are released from the Oregon State Hospital.

Hospital patients who lobbied for the bills, particularly Senate Bill 420, are jubilant.

“We’re proud of our legislators that worked to pass Senate Bill 420,” they wrote in a press statement released Tuesday. “This bill is the beginning of a long overdue modernization of the PSRB and Oregon’s mental health system. This bill will improve our treatment, fight stigma, and help us to live full lives.”

PSRB’s Jurisdiction Will Include Fewer Patients

Senate Bill 420 changes the jurisdictional authority of the five-member PSRB board that decides when a patient found by a court to be “guilty except for insanity,” meaning that the crime would not have occurred if the person wasn’t mentally ill, is ready to be released from the hospital, either to live independently or in a community treatment program.

Originally, the bill would have given jurisdiction of all patients to the health authority. But a compromise was struck to gain the support of the Oregon District Attorney Association, as well as law enforcement officials, who argued that dangerous people would be released from the hospital.

The compromise creates “Tier I” and “Tier II” populations. “Tier I” refers to patients who committed Measure 11 offenses (violent person-on-person crimes such as murder, rape, etc.); Tier II to non-Measure 11 offenses. The PSRB will continue having jurisdiction over the Tier I population, estimated to be approximately 60 percent of the hospital’s patients.

As of May 1, there were 736 individuals under the PSRB’s jurisdiction. Of those, 324 reside in the hospital, and the rest have been “conditionally released” into community treatment settings.

Advocates such as Chris Bouneff, the executive director of Oregon’s chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), strongly lobbied for the bill’s passage, arguing that doctors and clinicians who interact with patients on a daily basis are the best people to determine when someone is ready for release.

“The hospital [would have] some control over who comes in and leaves,” Bouneff said. “Right now, they have no control.”

The biggest hope for the bill is that it will help end what some perceive to be long hospitalizations of patients who no longer need intensive care, treatment and 24-hour supervision.

“In some instances, we’re doing a job of warehousing individuals,” Winters said. “[Senate Bill 420] will help us…use our beds more wisely.”

PSRB is blamed for those long hospitalizations because of its hesitancy to release people they think may commit another crime. Its recidivism rate—the number of people who commit a crime once released—is 2.3 percent, compared to the Department of Corrections rate, which is in the 30th percentile.

In an earlier story by The Lund Report, Bob Joondeph, the executive director of Disability Rights Oregon, said the human toll of keeping people in the hospital is too great not to take action.

“It leads to hopelessness, and a level of despair that those folks are doing everything they’re supposed to do, and it never leads anywhere,” he said.

Lawmakers Question Constitutionality of PSRB Legislation

Questions about the constitutionality of House Bill 3100 were raised for the first time.

Monday, before it passed the House. Even though the bill easily passed with a 45-14 margin, it was the subject of a lengthy floor debate.

Rep. Matt Wand (R-Troutdale) was uncomfortable with the court being required to use, as expert witnesses, psychologists or psychiatrists certified by a state agency.

Currently, the five-member PSRB decides who comes into the state hospital and chooses the evaluator who determines when they can be released. Mental health advocates question the consistency and objectivity of such evaluations, as well as the transparency of the current process.

With the bill’s passage, there should be more consistency about how people are found “guilty except for insanity,” meaning that a person wouldn’t have committed the crime had they not suffered from a mental illness.

If there’s concern that judges aren’t properly evaluating the rules of what defines an expert witness, Wand said, “then we out to write out the rules in the evidence code,” and also write out “what qualifies an expert, then let the judge make those determinations.”

“I believe this bill is unconstitutional,” he said, adding that the bill may result in a “lengthy legal challenge.”

Rep. Phil Barnhart (D-Central Lane and Linn Counties) also objected to that section, saying he worked for 15 years as a forensic examiner where part of his practice included making similar evaluations.

“The rules of evidence are very clear about who [an attorney] can use as an expert witness,” Barnhart said.

House Bill 3100, he said, doesn’t include particular provisions about the credentials a certified psychologist or psychiatrist must have to be an expert witness.

“It becomes a significant problem, I think, in terms of who’d be allowed to be used as an expert witness,” Barnhart said. “It certainly infringes on the prerogative of the court.”

Rep. Brian Clem (D-Salem), one of the bill’s sponsors, disagreed. “It clarifies that the product of a plea agreement needs to be vetted with someone with specific” training in forensic mental illness, Oregon’s mental health system, and the difference between chemical dependency and mental illness.

Rep. Carolyn Tomei (D-Milwaukie), who carried the bill on the House floor, said the Legislature’s legal counsel had said “there was no question brought up about the constitutionality.”

The bill deals with what people colloquially refer to as the “front door,” or admissions procedures, of the state hospital.

Besides requiring that a state-certified psychologist or psychiatrist evaluate someone before they make a “guilty except for insanity” plea, the bill includes a provision that people committing misdemeanor-level crimes and Class C felonies be sent to the hospital only if they need intensive services.

Advocates hope those provisions will decrease the number of people admitted to the hospital.

“There are quite a few people who shouldn’t be there,” said Clem during his floor speech. “They are well now, and it’s time for them to go home.”

He pointed to the PSRB as the reason why some patients aren’t released in a timely fashion. “They’re too afraid that somebody’s going to do something once they get out,” he said.

The Legislative Fiscal Office estimates this bill will save $300,000 over the next two years. It cost approximately $200,000 to keep someone at the state hospital for a year.

Patients Call For Future Reforms

The bills’ reform-minded content is part of a larger confluence of events bringing change to the state hospital’s culture and the way it provides care, including the growing realization that the costs of hospital-level care are unsustainable. Its new superintendent, Greg Roberts, has also been emphasizing patient-centered care.

Hospital patients say more to be done. They asked that the sentences they receive be shorter and more reflective of how long they need to be in the hospital, as well increasing the number of community treatment facilities.

Their third request was the boldest: that the PSRB be completely abolished, arguing that it’s outdated and not aligned with a recovery-centered model of treatment.

“Its days are numbered,” they said.

From the Eugene Register Guard, June 25, 2011

A $5 million allocation from the Legislature is a fraction of the projected cost, but sources say the proposal is just delayed

Legislators are close to unveiling a proposal that would allocate $5 million for infrastructure costs over the next two years for the state psych­iatric hospital proposed for Junction City.

That’s down from the $83 million Gov. John Kitzhaber recommended for the project in his February budget — which would have funded full construction of the hospital — and down also from a later proposal of $33 million in the coming biennium for partial construction.

But the small allocation doesn’t necessarily mean the project is dead.

Multiple sources close to the situation say that the current intention is to carry on with the project, albeit in an altered form, and that the Legislature could come back with more construction funds as soon as the 2012 legislative session, which begins in February.

The $5 million allocation — which will primarily go to infrastructure and planning, not actual buildings — allows the Legislature to keep the project moving in a difficult budgetary time, proponents argue.

It also allows the state to defer the completion of a hospital that won’t be needed until early 2015, when two of Oregon’s smaller psychiatric hospitals, OSH Portland and Blue Mountain in Pendleton, are scheduled to close.

“We’re moving forward in a prudent way,” said Dr. Bruce Goldberg, the director of the Oregon Department of Human Services and who has been involved in the negotiations. “Why pay interest on construction bonds when we won’t need those hospital beds immediately?”

Now, legislative leaders envisage a facility in Junction City that would start out as a secure psychiatric hospital but would transition over time, as the need for secure hospital beds decreases, into a Department of Corrections facility, specializing in handling prisoners with mental health and addiction issues.

For Lane County’s economy, any new state facility at the Junction City site would be a boon, bringing hundreds of well-paying jobs. Local lawmakers are pushing for the project, but have met plenty of resistance, both on financial and mental health treatment grounds.

Hospital-based vs. community-based care

Part of the debate about the Junction City psychiatric facility has long centered on the question of the actual need in Oregon for hospital-setting secure psychiatric beds.

Those beds involve around-the-clock treatment and supervision, and they cost the state more than $200,000 a year per patient. By the end of 2011, the state’s largest psychiatric hospital, the new OSH Salem, is expected to have 620 operational beds, and the proposed Junction City facility is scheduled for 174 beds when completed.

Although the most recent forecast by the Department of Human Services concluded there was still a need for both facilities, mental health advocates argue that many individuals with mental illness would be better served and have a better quality of life in less restrictive community settings.

“That (DHS) forecast is based on our current patterns of locking down mentally ill people,” said Chris Bouneff, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Oregon.

“There is this supposition that there is a large group of people that can’t ever be let out, under any circumstances, and that’s not accurate. We need to develop a clear picture of who’s in (OSH Salem) and whether they could be better treated elsewhere.”

The move away from “big-box” psychiatric facilities to community-based mental health care is also one that the federal government is pushing for, particularly during the Obama administration.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how Oregon treats individuals with mental illness. Records provided to The Register-Guard’s public records requests show that federal justice officials in April requested extensive state data relating to that type of treatment.

Federal Justice representatives met with Kitzhaber earlier this month, Christine Miles, a spokeswoman for the governor, confirmed Friday. The content of those discussions is a “private matter,” she said.

The federal Department of Justice does not comment on ongoing investigations.

The Legislature’s response

Two bills moving forward in the Legislature would attempt to tackle the problem of how to better utilize the beds in secure psychiatric facilities and potentially pave the way forward to smaller community-based facilities.

Both bills make changes to the authority of the Psychiatric Security Review Board, which has jurisdiction over individuals who plead “guilty except for insanity” to crimes and enter mental health treatment facilities.

House Bill 3100 would require a state-certified psychologist or psychiatrist to evaluate individuals before they can enter a guilty plea except for insanity.

Senate Bill 420 would place individuals in secure psychiatric hospitals under the jurisdiction of the Oregon Health Authority, which actually runs the state hospital.

Mental health advocates argue that that arrangement makes more sense and will allow people who have committed nonviolent crimes and who don’t need hospital-level care to move to community-based care more quickly. Critics worry that it could pose a public safety risk by letting unstable individuals back out into society.

Rep. Tina Kotek, a Portland Democrat who has worked on both bills, said she believes the proposals will allow psychiatric hospitals to be used more efficiently.

“It’s all about managing hospital populations better, and putting the right people in the right settings,” she said.

Though both bills — particularly SB 420 — are expected to be hotly debated once they hit the House and Senate floors, they passed out of the Legislature’s chief budget-crafting committee Friday, usually a sign that legislative leaders are supportive.

What effect the two bills could have on the need for the hospital beds at a possible Junction City facility remains to be seen.

While NAMI’s Bouneff and other advocacy groups say the bills could lead to a mental illness treatment system in Oregon that relies on only one secure hospital in OSH Salem, legislators are more cautious.

Rep. Val Hoyle, a Eugene Democrat, said that the state will still need a secure psychiatric facility in Junction City over the next few years as it starts to focus on expanding community-based care.

“If we do approve the two PSRB-related bills, it won’t be a case of us snapping our fingers and instantly changing the population with mental illness,” she said. “It will take time.”

Others agree.

“The effects (of the possible PSRB changes) are not going to be dramatic, but they will lower our bed need a bit,” Oregon DHS director Goldberg said. “It will take us a decade to significantly reduce our population to a point where we wouldn’t need a second hospital in Junction City.”

Lawmakers also will need to find money to build more community-based facilities, Goldberg said, as well find suitable sites for such facilities, often a challenge due to stigmas surrounding mental illness.

Both of those will take time, Goldberg said.

However, unlike earlier this session, proponents of the hospital now do see a point where a Junction City psychiatric hospital might not be needed in the long run.

When that occurs, legislators could transform the facility into a specialized prison that would handle criminals with mental illnesses but who haven’t pled guilty except for insanity, a growing population in the state’s prisons, experts say.

“It would be a correctional institution that could provide a higher level of care for individuals who don’t fit in with the general population,” Hoyle said.

“I think the (Junction City facility) will get built,” said Sen. Alan Bates, a Medford Democrat. “What it looks like in the future, however, is still up in the air.”

Bates said lawmakers don’t yet know if their plan for a slower transition to community-based mental health care, which involves moving forward with a Junction City facility, will be acceptable to federal Justice officials and prompt the federal government to end its investigation.

“It’s really a hard question to get at,” he said. “We don’t know. It’s all happening behind closed doors, and we’ve had no indication one way or another. We just know they want more community-based mental health care facilities.”

From The Columbian, June 25, 2011

The woman critically injured Friday after being shot by a SWAT officer was identified Saturday as Mary Lee Andison.

Andison, 60, reportedly told officers she wanted them to shoot her and advanced on them with a handgun.

Clark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Schanaker said Andison remains in critical condition. She has been transferred from Southwest Washington Medical Center to Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies declined to give the woman’s name Friday night, saying they first needed to make sure family members had been properly notified.

A Life Flight helicopter flew the woman to Southwest Washington Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition, Schanaker said in a bulletin Friday night.

Schanaker again on Saturday declined to reveal the name of the SWAT officer who shot the woman, as is customary policy immediately after such stressful incidents.

“You’re trying to keep yourself and others safe from a threat,” Schanaker said. “There’s stress involved with all police work.”

Schanaker said the office’s Major Crimes Unit will investigate the incident and forward reports to the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors can determine if any charges will be filed.

Then the sheriff’s office will do an internal affairs review to make sure officers followed protocol.

The situation surfaced when sheriff’s deputies were told that an armed woman had barricaded herself in an attic above a garage and was despondent and suicidal.

The 911 call at 12:57 p.m. reported a disturbance at 20404 N.W. 61st Ave.

At about 1:15 p.m., a deputy at the scene radioed that a woman at the home was armed with a handgun, which triggered the additional response.

Many officers were called to the scene, along with paramedics. A negotiator tried to make contact with the woman.

The attention was focused on a bonus room above the home’s 1,400-square-foot, three-bay garage, which is in a separate wing of the home. The woman was reported to be there.

Here is Schanaker’s account of what happened:

“Clark County Sheriff’s deputies responded to 20404 N.W. 61st Ave., in rural Clark County, to a request from family members for a welfare check of a despondent/suicidal female.

“Deputies arrived and encountered a 60-year-old female sitting on the floor holding a revolver handgun. Deputies ordered the female to drop the revolver, however, the female disregarded the instruction, stating the revolver was a ‘starter pistol’ and that she wanted the deputies to shoot her.

“The deputies safely withdrew to a position of cover as the female continually demanded the deputies to shoot her. The female then stood, holding the revolver in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, and walked into a nearby room. Several minutes later deputies heard the sound of a single gunshot from inside the room.

“Due to the presence of the revolver and confirmation of numerous other weapons inside the residence, the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT team was activated. After approximately three and a half hours of phone contact and attempted negotiations with the female, SWAT operators inserted a camera through a second story window in attempt to have a visual of the female.

“The female immediately responded to this by exiting the room and advanced directly at SWAT operators as she pointed the revolver at them. A single SWAT operator fired on the female stopping the threat. No officers or deputies were injured.”

Emergency scanners monitored at The Columbian before the shooting indicated that SWAT officers were trying to avoid that outcome.

Their goal, an officer radioed, was “we can get aid to her without exposing ourselves too much.”

Schanaker said Friday night that the type of gun the woman had, including whether it was a harmless starter pistol, wouldn’t be released immediately.

Radio traffic during the intense standoff showed that officers took the threats involving the gun seriously.

A quick review of websites that sell starter pistols, including amazon.com, shows that they are made to look like real bullet-shooting handguns. Starter pistols are made as highly detailed full-size replicas of many actual guns, ranging from Old West six-shooters and derringers to old and modern revolvers and semi-automatic pistols.

Some starter pistols on sale have orange plugs that are visible from the front. But, in many cases, when seen from the side, it isn’t clear from the sales photos that it’s a starter pistol.

After the shooting, detectives with the sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit were called to begin a detailed investigation and remained on scene for hours.

According to county property records, the home at that address is owned by Dr. Bruce and Mary Lee Andison. Bruce Andison is a local gynecologist.

From the Daily Astorian, June 3, 2011

Doctor Poses ‘An Immediate Danger to the Public and to His Patients’

The Oregon Medical Board has issued an emergency suspension for the doctor working at Astoria’s new medical marijuana resource center.

Dr. Gregory Rodriguez Gomez‘ license to practice medicine in Oregon — already on a 10-year probation — was put on hold indefinitely Thursday afternoon.

An Oregon Medical Board investigation revealed that Gomez had not notified the board of his practice locations and didn’t follow through on education commitments outlined as part of his September 2010 probation.

Gomez has shown repeated disregard for the terms of the probation, which were designed to protect the public, the medical board found.

“(Gomez’) continued practice of medicine would pose an immediate danger to the public and to his patients,” reads the order issued Thursday.

Gomez was not available for comment as The Daily Astorian went to press [June 3, 2011].

The board did not know about Gomez’ work in Astoria until a May 25 story in The Daily Astorian included details of his practice here.

Gomez started visiting Nature’s Choice Alternative Medicine every two weeks to assess patients who wanted cards for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. He is the co-owner of The Help Clinic in Corvallis, providing help for patients seeking alternatives to traditional pain management, he said in the May story. At the time, Gomez provided similar services at several satellite locations throughout the state.

The suspension will show up on a national database, and would limit his ability to practice in other states, said Kathleen Haley, the executive director of the Oregon Medical Board.

Gomez can choose to contest the suspension, Haley said. In the meantime, the board will gather more information and move toward final discipline, which could include further restrictions on his license, a full revocation, a reprimand or a fine.

“It’s unfortunate,” Haley said. “We try to rehabilitate physicians if at all possible.”

Gomez’ license was put on probation after Gomez had sexual relationships with a patient and a medical assistant while working at Sherwood Providence Medical Clinic in 2007, according to the settlement agreement with the medical board. Also involved in the order were several later cases when Gomez’ treatment of male patients for erectile dysfunction with testosterone injections was questioned.

Nick Clark, the owner of Nature’s Choice, hadn’t heard about the suspension from Gomez when contacted this morning by The Daily Astorian. Clark said he would talk with Gomez soon to find out what is going on, but added that he’d make alternate arrangements if Gomez was no longer available.

“If it’s not resolved, then someone else can come in,” Clark said.

As of today, about 130 members have joined Clark’s club, with three to five new memberships coming in every day, he reported.

READ – Gregory Gomez, Oregon Medical Board June 2 2011

Police shoot man with knife in Dundee

From KATU.com, June 24, 2011

One man has been shot and injured after police in Dundee shot the suspect who they say came at them with a knife and refused to drop his weapon.

The Newberg-Dundee Police Department has not released many details about the shooting except to say the man who was shot is in the hospital and undergoing surgery. His condition has not been released.

Police say the incident began just after 1 a.m. Friday when they responded to a disturbance call at 126 Alder Street in Dundee, which is a small community located in the foothills area southwest of Portland.

Police said they confronted a man with a knife who refused their commands to put down his weapon and came at them “aggressively.” Police did not say why the man was armed or if anyone else was involved.

Officers were seen bagging evidence inside a house and searching around a residence at the location of the shooting.

Police have not said which officers were involved or how many shots were fired. The condition of the man who was shot has not been released.

Neighbors said they heard the disturbance and then a gunshot after police arrived on the scene. Dundee sits at the heart of Oregon’s vineyard region.

One neighbor told KATU News the area is usually quiet and that several police officers live in the neighborhood.

A woman who lives next door to the home where the shooting took place said she often heard yelling and arguing at the home and said the man who was shot may have mental health issues.

Man shot by Newberg-Dundee police expected to survive

From The Oregonian, June 24, 2011

Early this morning, a Newberg-Dundee police officer shot a 58-year-old man armed with a knife after being called to a home in Dundee in a domestic disturbance.

The incident took place right before 1 a.m. in the 100 block of Northwest Alder Street in an upper middle class neighborhood with vistas of Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson. Two officers were called to the scene on a report of a domestic disturbance in the home of John Oscar Branch, according to Brad Berry, Yamhill County district attorney.

Branch “charged at them aggressively” with the knife, prompting one officer to fire a single shot, police said.

“As a result of the immediate threat presented by the man and his refusal to obey commands to stop advancing and to drop the knife, the suspect was shot,” police said in a statement.

Branch was taken by Life Flight helicopter to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where he underwent surgery. He is not in intensive care and is expected to survive, Berry said. The hospital would not release any information about Branch’s condition.

No one else was hurt.

Branch is married and has grown children. It’s not clear what sparked the disturbance.

The police sirens woke several neighbors, who were stunned to look out of their two and three story homes in the middle of the night in a leafy neighborhood and see a cluster of police cars gathered on the street.

“It’s a lovely neighborhood,” said Roberta Simonsen, who has lived on the street since 1970. “We had absolutely no idea what was happening. We were hoping it wasn’t a tragedy.”

Berry said that in the past 15 years since he’s been district attorney there have been few police shootings. The last one, he said, was nearly two years ago. In August 2009, Yamhill Police Officer Travis Van Cleave fired four shots while trying to arrest a 24-year-old man, Randy James Restorff, who rammed his police car in a drunken driving stop. Restorff fled in his vehicle but was later arrested and treated — not for a gunshot wound but for a bite from a police canine.

Then in October 2005, a Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office deputy, Richard Geist, and Oregon State Police Trooper Randy Ogle killed a 36-year-old felon on the run, Martin Anthony George, who grew up in Keiser but lived in Grande Ronde.

Police shoot man in Yamhill County

From KGW.com, June 24, 2011

A man was shot by a Newberg-Dundee police officer early Friday morning after he reportedly charged at two officers with a knife.

Police identified the man as John Oscar Branch, 58, of Dundee.

Police were dispatched to the 100 block of Alder Street in Dundee shortly before 1 a.m. on a report of a disturbance and a man with a knife, according to Capt. Chris Bolek.

The officers saw the man outside the home with a knife, said Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry. “They gave him commands. He charged at them,” Berry said.

The man was taken by Lifeflight to Legacy Emanuel where he underwent surgery, Bolek said. A condition report was not available.

Neither officer was injured, Bolek said.

Neighbors told KGW that a couple at the home had argued before.

Man wielding a knife shot by Newberg-Dundee police

From KOIN.com, June 24, 2011

A man advancing on officers with a knife was shot by Newberg-Dundee police early Friday morning in the small community of Dundee.

Police responded to a domestic dispute just before 1 a.m., and when officers arrived in the 100 block of Alder Street a man was wielding a knife and advancing on them, according to the Yamhill County District Attorney’s Office.

Officers told the suspect to drop the knife multiple times before firing a shot at him. The man was taken by Life Flight to Legacy Emanuel where he underwent surgery.

The Yamhill County Major Crimes Response Team is investigating the incident.

Man in hospital after police shooting in Dundee

From KPTV.com, June 24, 2011

The Yamhill County District Attorney said a man armed with a knife lunged at two Newberg-Dundee police officers is in the hospital.

Investigators said one of the officers shot the man in the street around 1 a.m. Friday along Southwest Alder Street near 1st Street in Dundee.

Yamhill County D-A Brad Berry said the officers were called to the scene to check out a report of a domestic disturbance.

Berry said when officers arrived they were confronted by a middle-aged man armed with a knife.

Investigators said the man refused to listen to the officers demands to drop the knife as he kept approaching them.

One of the officers then fired a single shot that hit the man, Berry said.

A Life Flight helicopter then rushed the man to Emanuel Hospital in North Portland where he went through surgery and is now in the intensive care unit, Berry said.

Investigators said the woman involved in the domestic disturbance was not hurt and neither were the two officers.

The Yamhill County Major Crime Response Team is now investigating the shooting.

Berry said investigators are interviewing both officers away from the scene to get more details.

The officers will be put on paid administrative leave as standard procedure following a police shooting, Berry said.

The two officers were not injured in the shooting, but were placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Newberg-Dundee offficers involved in shooting identified

From The Oregonian, Saturday, June 25, 2011

The Newberg-Dundee Police Department has released the names of two officers involved in Friday morning’s shooting of a knife-wielding man.

Officer Chris Rasmussen, a 6 1/2-year veteran, shot John Oscar Branch, a 58-year-old Vietnam veteran, after he charged toward police responding to a domestic abuse call with a long knife.

The other officer involved, Joseph Eubanks, has been a police officer for 6 months. He didn’t fire any shots.

Branch was taken by Life Flight to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland where he was operated on for a gunshot wound. He is expected to recover.

From The Oregonian, June 15, 2011

Nearly three-quarters of men arrested in Portland last year tested positive for at least one illegal drug, according to new national research.

A study being released today by the Office of National Drug Control Policy shows 22 percent of Portland’s male arrestees tested positive for opiates in 2010, nearly double the 2007 figure.

READ – ADAM II 2009 Annual Report

The percentage testing positive for methamphetamine also rose sharply since 2007, hitting 20 percent, but the percentage using cocaine dropped significantly.

The study found that nearly half of arrested men tested positive for marijuana, making it the most commonly found drug. And 32 percent tested positive for more than one drug.

The research, looking into links between drug use and crime, sampled men arrested for all types of offenses. It did not test for alcohol.

The Internet and lax prescription writing have expanded access to opiates, said Viccie Boeckel, owner and program director at Ram Clinic in Portland, an addiction center. Young people in particular are increasingly using mixes of prescription drugs such as methadone and oxycodone, she said.

Portland police have observed the opiate trend, too.

“There has been an increase in the availability and therefore the use,” said Lt. Robert King, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman. “Very often the addiction will drive property crime and sometimes violent crime.”

King added that drug-addled suspects are less predictable and cooperative. “When the impulsiveness goes up and judgment is impaired, we have to use higher force,” he said.

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the drug control policy office, said in a news release: “These findings illustrate why we must approach our nation’s drug problem as a public health and safety problem.”

From the Oregonian, June 21, 2011

Homelessness in Multnomah County jumped about 8 percent between 2009 and 2011, according to a new report that looked at how many people were living on the streets, at emergency shelters or in motels with vouchers earlier this year.

READ – ‘The Portland Housing Bureau, Multnomah County and their partners worked together to produce the “2011 Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness,” a comprehensive report examining a point-in-time snapshot of homelessness in our community.’

Precisely how much worse the picture has gotten amid the recession depends on how one defines homeless.

The report, compiled by the city of Portland and Multnomah County, studied four types of homelessness: people who sleep outside, in short-term shelters, transitional apartments or on the couches of friends and relatives. In those categories, homelessness increased between 7 and 9 percent between 2009 and 2011.

Generally speaking, the number of homeless Multnomah County residents grew from 2,542 to 2,727 in the two-year period. Using the broadest definition of the term, which includes all four categories, the increase went from an estimated 14,451 to 15,563.

“Even one person on the street is too many,” said Portland Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau.

Other statistics from the survey, released Tuesday but conducted in January, reveal additional trends. For example, 12 percent of the homeless population identified themselves as military veterans this year, although only 9 percent of Multnomah County’s overall population falls into that category. In 2011, 35 percent of homeless women said they had experienced domestic violence.

African-Americans comprised 18 percent of the county’s homeless population, but only 7 percent of the general population. Native Americans saw a similar over-representation. They accounted for 9 percent of the homeless population compared with 2 percent of the overall population.

The down economy explains most of the uptick, city and county officials said. But better, more exhaustive methods for counting the homeless also contributed to the increase, which they characterized as relatively slight given the historic proportions of the recession.

“The fact that there is anybody who is homeless in our community is something to be concerned about,” said Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury.

The count took place on Jan. 26, because federal rules say the survey must occur when the number of people in emergency shelters is typically highest. If local governments want federal grants to address homelessness, they must provide updated figures for homelessness every two years. The state of Oregon also requires an annual tally of shelter occupants for budgetary reasons.

Doreen Binder, executive director of the Portland nonprofit Transition Projects, said Tuesday the latest snapshot of the county’s homeless population doesn’t account fully for the impact of the recession on low-income residents.

Her agency gives people free laundry detergent, toiletries and food so they can save their money for rent. “Just because they’re not living on the street, doesn’t mean their needs haven’t increased,” Binder said.