Mental Health Association of Portland

Officer Dane Reister

By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian, April 11, 2013

Portland Police Officer Dane Reister should lose his job for suddenly firing a beanbag shotgun that he mistakenly loaded with lethal rounds at a man obviously suffering from a mental illness, a federal lawsuit filed Thursday says.

READ – Complaint – William Kyle Monroe v City of Portland et al (PDF, 573KB)

The attorney for William Kyle Monroe, wounded by Reister on June 30, 2011, accuses the officer, Police Chief Mike Reese and the city of Portland of violating Monroe’s civil rights through false arrest, assault and negligence.

The suit seeks more than $11 million in damages.

Monroe, who was 20 at the time and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, narrowly escaped bleeding to death only because OHSU Hospital was near the shooting scene, but he’s permanently disabled, his lawyer said.

The suit alleges that the police chief could have prevented such a mistake by prohibiting officers from mixing lethal ammunition with less-lethal munitions in their duty bags, as Reister did. Further, the suit contends, the bureau has failed to adequately discipline officers who are “pre-disposed” to using excessive force.

“Defendant Reister’s conduct was so extreme that it goes beyond all possible bounds of decency, and it constituted conduct that a reasonable person would regard as intolerable in a civilized community,” Monroe’s attorney Thane Tienson wrote in the suit.

The suit calls on the court to order the Police Bureau to fire Reister and appoint an independent monitor to enforce the terms of the city’s pending agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on use of force policies, training and oversight. The reforms stem from a federal investigation last year that found Portland police engage in a pattern of excessive force against people with mental illness.

Nearly two years after the shooting, the police chief and city have not disciplined Reister, who remains on paid administrative leave while facing criminal charges, the suit notes. Reister has pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with third- and fourth-degree assault charges. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office added a negligent wounding charge. The indictment marked the first time in the county’s history that a grand jury brought criminal charges against a Portland officer for force used on duty.

“By their inaction, said defendants have condoned, ratified or otherwise turned a blind eye to defendant Reister’s extreme misconduct and demonstrated a deliberate indifference to the plaintiff’s constitutionally protected rights,” Tienson wrote in the suit.

Janet Hoffman, Reister’s attorney, issued a statement after she informed the officer about the suit Thursday. “Officer Reister is thankful that Mr. Monroe survived and is recovering,” she said. “He is looking forward to the facts coming out at trial and fully explaining the situation.”

According to the suit, Monroe, who lives with his father in Hillsboro, had intended to drive to Bremerton, Wash., to visit his mother the day before the shooting, but became disoriented and was suffering from a paranoid mania.

He ended up in Lair Hill Park the next morning, where children from a day camp were playing. Monroe pulled discarded flowers out of a park garbage bin and tossed them near the children. Camp supervisors told Monroe to leave the park. Police received two 9-1-1 calls from camp officials. The camp director said in the second call that Monroe may have a pocket knife up his sleeve.

Reister responded to the call. He spotted Monroe on Southwest Naito Parkway, commanded him to stop and get down on his knees with his hands behind his head. Reister asked Monroe if he had any weapons, and Monroe emptied his pockets, discarding his miniature Swiss army knife, the suit says. Monroe put his hands behind his head, but asked why he should get on his knees. Reister grabbed his beanbag shotgun from his car, and two more officers arrived.

Monroe assured police he hadn’t done anything wrong as he backed away and then began running and yelled for help. Without warning, the suit says, Reister fired five times, emptying his clip. The fifth round jammed because of Reister’s “excessively rapid firing,” the suit says.

The shots fractured Monroe’s pelvis, punctured his bladder, abdomen and colon. The fourth shot, fired from less than 15 feet away, left a “softball-size hole in his left leg,” and severed the sciatic nerve, the suit says.

The next day, then-Mayor Sam Adams and Reese called the shooting a “tragic mistake.” The president of the Portland Police Association said the union would “stand by” Reister through the judicial process.

Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said Thursday night that the bureau can no discuss not pending lawsuit.

Four months after the shooting, Reese issued a new policy, requiring that beanbag ammunition be stored only in a carrier attached to the side or stock of the orange-painted, 12-gauge beanbag shotguns.

Five years earlier, the suit noted, Reister mistakenly fired a loaded riot-suppression launcher during training, injuring an officer posing as a protester with a smoke round.

From the Oregonian, July 3, 2012

A Multnomah County judge ruled Tuesday that prosecutors can admit Officer Dane Reister‘s prior 2006 firearms mistake as evidence in his pending trial stemming from his June 30, 2011 shooting of William Monroe in Southwest Portland.

But Judge Jean Kerr Maurer dismissed a negligent wounding charge that the district attorney’s office had filed against Reister.

Multnomah County Judge Jean Kerr Maurer

Both prosecutors and Reister’s lawyer said they’d appeal parts of the ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals, which could push a trial back for some time.

Maurer found that Oregon’s negligent wounding statute is not geared for police.

“This legislature could not have intended this statute to apply to police officers in the line of duty,” the judge ruled. “It is clear to me it would involve persons who would employ firearms and bows and arrows with negligence in hunting activities.”

Maurer issued her ruling after hearing testimony from both sides offered during two days of hearings in May and July.

Reister, 40, has pleaded not guilty to third-degree assault and fourth-degree assault in the June 30, 2011 shooting. Reister seriously injured William Monroe, then 20, in Southwest Portland when he fired a less-lethal beanbag shotgun that he had mistakenly loaded with lethal rounds at him.

Five years earlier, Reister mistakenly struck a fellow officer posing as a protester with a smoke round fired from a 37mm TL-1 launcher during a crowd-control training drill at Camp Rilea along the Oregon coast.

Reister pulled the trigger of the launcher to simulate a so-called skip round that’s supposed to bounce off the ground, but it was loaded with a projectile that struck Officer Zach Kenney in the leg, causing a minor bruise.

His lawyer, Janet Hoffman, argued in court that the two mistakes aren’t similar, and to allow Reister’s mistake at Camp Rilea to go before a jury in his pending trial would be prejudicial.

She said Reister forgot there was a projectile in his launcher during the 2006 training drill and the mistake partly resulted from inadequate bureau safety protocol for the training scenario. That’s different, she said, from the 2011 incident in which Reister misloaded his beanbag shotgun.

“There is no relevancy between what happened at Camp Rilea to what happened to Monroe,” Hoffman argued.

Prosecutors countered there was a clear connection. Chief deputy district attorney Norm Frink argued that in both instances, Reister didn’t know the status of his weapon and what it was loaded with when he pulled the trigger.

Frink asked Portland police Officer Paul Meyer, the bureau’s lead special weapons instructor who had been called by Reister’s lawyer to testify: “Is it a fundamental principle within the Portland Police Bureau that it’s a personal responsibility for an individual officer to be aware of the status of his weapon’s system at all times?”

“Yes,” Meyer said.

Frink continued, asking Meyer if an officer who had been disciplined for a prior firearms mistake should be on a heightened state of awareness when loading his weapons.

“Personally, I can say that I would,” Meyer said.

The judge agreed with prosecutors.

“The facts of this case and of Camp Rilea are substantially similar,” Maurer said.

Maurer added that the Camp Rilea mistake would not be “inflammatory” evidence, and it’s “probative value” outweighed any possible prejudice.

She ruled that Reister’s mistake in training in 2006 and subsequent letter of reprimand “are relevant to establish his awareness of the risks involved in incorrectly loading weapons.”

From The Oregonian, May 17, 2010

A Portland police sergeant testified Thursday that he saw a similarity between Officer Dane Reister‘s mistaken firing of a lethal round from his beanbag shotgun in 2011 and a firearms mix-up Reister made years earlier during training.

Portland Police Officer Dane Reister talks to his attorney Janet Hoffman, left.

In both cases “a round was fired improperly out of a weapon,” Sgt. Kraig McGlathery said in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Five years before seriously injuring a 20-year-old man in Southwest Portland with his beanbag gun, Reister mistakenly struck a fellow officer posing as a protester with a smoke round fired from a 37 mm TL-1 launcher during a crowd-control training drill.

Reister pulled the trigger of the launcher to simulate a so-called skip round that’s supposed to bounce off the ground, but it was loaded with an 80-yard smoke projectile that struck Officer Zach Kenney in the leg, causing a minor bruise.

Prosecutors Jeff Howes and Norm Frink want to admit Reister’s earlier mistake into evidence in his pending trial on assault and negligent wounding charges that stem from last year’s shooting.

A Multnomah County grand jury indicted Reister on third-degree assault and fourth-degree assault after the June 30 shooting. The indictment marked the first time in the county’s history that a grand jury has brought criminal charges against a Portland officer for use of force in the line of duty. It also comes as the police bureau’s use of force is under federal review.

Reister, 40, a 15-year Police Bureau veteran, has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. He remains on paid administrative leave, pending the trial.

His lawyer, Janet Hoffman, argued that the two mistakes aren’t as similar as prosecutors suggest. While Reister “forgot there was a projectile” in his launcher during his training in 2006, he “misloaded” his beanbag shotgun last summer, she said.

Reister received a letter of reprimand for unsatisfactory performance for the error that occurred during his training as a “grenadier” with the Police Bureau’s Rapid Response Team at Camp Rilea.

A reprimand is “to give guidance to the officers so it would not happen again,” McGlathery testified as a witness for the state.

The 2006 tactical commander also found fault with the lieutenant “who allowed a fired projectile into the training exercise,” according to a police memo entered as evidence.

Reister’s attorney pointed out that the bureau gave Reister no additional training and didn’t change safety protocol for such crowd-control drills after the mistake.

Further, she called as a witness retired Portland officer Stephen Rickeard, who had served as an administrative officer for the Rapid Response Team.

Rickeard said it wasn’t standard practice to allow any rounds loaded into 37 mm launchers during training drills, but he learned later that a captain had authorized live rounds to be used during the Oct. 24, 2006, drill at Reister’s request.

After Reister’s error, Rickeard said, there was no “debrief” of the incident among Rapid Response Team members. “We had no written safety policy for the team,” he testified.

At the hearing, Reister didn’t sit beside his lawyers, but chose instead to sit in the back of the courtroom. Multiple police officers, including Capt. Todd Wyatt, came to support him.

In last year’s shooting, Reister responded to a 9-1-1 call of a man with a pocketknife threatening children at Lair Park. Reister spotted William Kyle Monroe on Southwest Naito Parkway and ordered him to show his hands. When he refused, Reister got his beanbag shotgun from his car. When Monroe ran, Reister chased him and fired four lethal shotgun rounds from the beanbag shotgun. Only when he approached Monroe did Reister realize the man was bleeding and that he had fired lethal rounds.

Monroe suffered two entry wounds to his left thigh; one of the two was a “through and through” shot. Another hit his buttocks, shattering his pelvis and puncturing his bladder, colon and injuring his rectum, his lawyer said.

In court, Reister’s lawyer called OHSU assistant professor of psychiatry Leesa Maron, who said humans’ “visual attention” is faulty. It was a point Hoffman sought to make to show how easily Reister could have mixed up the yellow-painted beanbag shotgun rounds with red-painted lethal rounds when loading his beanbag shotgun inside his patrol car in a dark garage.

“‘Look-but-fail-to-see’ errors happen all the time to people who are diligent, thoughtful and bright who think they’re paying attention,” Maron testified. “In a dimly lit garage, the contrast between a red and yellow shell is markedly diminished.”

Further testimony will be heard in July.

From The Oregonian, December 13, 2011

Portland Officer Dane Reister entered not guilty pleas during his arraignment this morning on third-degree and fourth-degree assault and negligent wounding charges in the June 30 shooting of William Kyle Monroe.

Dane Jacob Reister

A trial date was set for Feb. 1.

The police bureau has removed Reister’s police powers – requiring he turn in any police-issued firearms, his badge, bureau identification and entry key – as he remains on paid leave.

A Multnomah County grand jury indicted Reister on third-degree assault and fourth-degree assault in the shooting of Monroe, now 21, in Southwest Portland. Reister shot Monroe with a beanbag shotgun that he mistakenly loaded with lethal rounds. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office added the negligent wounding.

Reister will remain on paid leave, pending trial.

Reister, 40, a 15-year bureau veteran, fired four lethal shotgun rounds – a fifth ejected – from the beanbag shotgun. Only when he approached Monroe did Reister realize the man was bleeding and that he had fired lethal rounds.

Monroe suffered two entry wounds to his left thigh; one of the two was a “through and through” shot. Another hit his buttocks, shattering his pelvis, and puncturing his bladder, colon and injuring his rectum. Monroe’s lawyer Thane Tienson said Monroe will suffer permanent damage to his sciatic nerve.

Reister’s lawyer, Janet Hoffman, has said she’s confident her client would prevail at trial.

Officer Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, called the indictment of Reister “devastatingly wrong,” in a news release today.

Turner argued that Reister was taking “legitimate police action,” and urged the public to presume Reister innocent until proven otherwise. He said the union offers its support to Reister.

“Police officers do a tough and dangerous job every day and have earned the benefit of doubt with our blood and sacrifice. No one should come to any conclusions before all of the evidence is heard,” Turner wrote. “This indictment was a bad decision that sends a bad message to all police officers.”

From the Oregonian, December 3, 2011

The attorney for William Kyle Monroe, who was shot this summer by a Portland officer who mistakenly loaded his beanbag shotgun with lethal ammunition, intends to sue the city and the officer for gross negligence, assault, false arrest and violation of Monroe’s civil rights.

Monroe will be seeking $533,000 on the state claims, the maximum allowed to be recovered against a local public body under state law, and up to $ 5 million on the federal civil rights claim, according to a tort notice filed Friday.

Monroe was seriously wounded. One of the shots severed the sciatic nerve in his left leg, which will prevent the 21-year-old from “ever running or walking normally again,” attorney Thane Tienson wrote in the notice.

Portland Officer Dane Reister shot Monroe June 30 in Southwest Portland. Last month, a Multnomah County grand jury indicted Reister on third- and fourth-degree assault charges for the shooting. The district attorney’s office added a negligent wounding charge against Reister. Reister, 40, a 15-year bureau veteran, is on paid leave.

The indictment marked the first time in the county’s history of a grand jury bringing criminal charges against a Portland officer for the use of force in the line of duty. It also comes as the Police Bureau’s use of force is under federal review.

City Attorney Linda Meng said Friday she had not seen the claim and could not comment. Tienson said city attorneys have approached him, seeking to settle before a lawsuit is filed.

Reister’s lawyer, Janet Hoffman, has argued in court documents that the Portland Police Bureau’s inadequate policies, practices and training in the handling of less-lethal ammunition and beanbag shotguns contributed to the shooting. Tienson draws on that, arguing that the city failed to adopt a system “sufficient to meet basic safety standards,” the notice says.

Tienson argues that Monroe had not committed a crime when Reister approached him on Southwest Naito Parkway, and should have recognized his client suffered from a mental impairment.

“At the time of this incident. Mr. Monroe’s bipolar condition resulted in his feeling occasional paranoia, which should have been apparent to a properly-trained officer responding to this call,” Tienson wrote.

According to the claim, Reister had been responding to a 9-1-1 call about a person who appeared intoxicated and was acting strangely in Lair Hill Park. The callers told police that the man had left the park. A representative of a children’s program at the park also reported that he saw Monroe “cupping a small pocket knife in his right sleeve,” the claim says.

Reister spotted Monroe, who fit the suspect’s description, on Southwest Naito Parkway. He commanded Monroe to stop and get down. When Monroe failed to comply, Reister retrieved his beanbag shotgun from his car.

Monroe ran from the officer. Monroe’s lawyer alleges that Reister never told Monroe he was under arrest, and without probable cause, demanded Monroe to empty his pockets and get down on the ground. He also questioned why other officers didn’t use their Tasers if Monroe posed an immediate threat.

“Mr. Monroe begged not to be shot, turned, then moved away to avoid being shot, but Officer Reister continued to close his distance rapidly firing four live rounds striking Mr. Monroe’s body,” the claim says. A fifth round ejected. Reister, through his attorney, has said he was unaware he fired lethal rounds until after Monroe was on the ground.

The wounds fractured Monroe’s pelvis, punctured his bladder, abdomen, and colon, and caused injuries to his right and left legs.

“Mr. Monroe very nearly bled to death at the accident scene, lost consciousness and required three transfused units of blood and a unit of platelets,” Tienson wrote. Monroe is unable to flex his left foot and great toe due to nerve injury, and has permanent scars on his buttocks, abdomen and legs.

Monroe’s economic damages to date exceed $100,000, the claim says. But he’ll also be seeking damages for the “severe emotional injury” and “exacerbation of his underlying psychological condition,” for which he’ll continue to require treatment and medication, the notice says.

From The Oregonian, November 19, 2011

A Multnomah County grand jury tonight voted to indict Portland Officer Dane Reister on third-degree assault and fourth-degree assault after he mistakenly loaded a beanbag shotgun with lethal shotgun rounds and seriously wounded a man in Southwest Portland on June 30.

READ – Everything about the shooting of William Monroe
READ – Grand jury indicts officer who accidentally shot man w/live ammo, KATU.com
READ – Officer charged in shotgun shooting, Portland Tribune
READ – Officer indicted in alleged bean bag-bullet mix-up, KPTV.com
READ – Portland officer to face charges for accidentally shooting man with live ammo, KOIN.com
READ – Portland Officer Dane Reister can’t subpoena Mayor Sam Adams, police brass in shotgun shooting, judge rules, The Oregonian, October 25, 2011
READ – Portland police adopt new safeguard for beanbag shotgun ammunition, The Oregonian, October 25, 2011

The indictment marked the first time in the county’s history of a grand jury bringing criminal charges against a Portland officer for the officer’s use of force in the line of duty. It also comes as the police bureau’s use of force is under federal review.

The grand jury heard testimony from 44 witnesses over the past month. To indict the officer, five of the 7-member jury had to agree to file criminal charges.

Jurors found Reister’s mistake constituted third-degree assault, a felony, ruling Reister “recklessly” caused serious physical injury by means of a dangerous weapon or with “extreme indifference” to the value of human life. Fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, required a finding that Reister acted with “gross deviation” from a reasonable person’s standard of care.

The Multnomah County district attorney’s office plans to add a “negligent wounding” charge against Reister. While the grand jury was seated, Presiding Judge Jean Kerr Maurer had ruled that the charge should not be presented to the grand jury, as it was restricted to hunting offenses.

“While we respect the court’s ruling regarding what charges the grand jury could consider, after the grand jury’s decision to indict ….this office will be filing a charge of negligent wounding and moving to consolidate that charge with the grand jury’s indictment,” according to a release from District Attorney Michael Schrunk‘s office tonight.

Attorney Thane Tienson, who represents William Kyle Monroe, the man who was shot by Reister, said he was pleased.

“I’m gratified. I think the facts certainly supported the indictment, I’m pleased there will be criminal prosecution,” Tienson said. “I think it was the right thing to do.”

Monroe, now 21, is recovering. The injury to his sciatic nerve is expected to be permanent, Tienson said. “It looks like he will never be able to walk normally again.”

PPB Officer Dane Reister

But Reister’s lawyer, Janet Hoffman, said she was confident her client would prevail at trial.

“We’re very sorry that the grand jury chose to indict, but we respect its function,” Hoffman said. “We look forward to the opportunity to have a trial where he has the ability to fully present his side of the story and to confront the witnesses and be represented by counsel. We’re confident that what took place was not criminal in nature.”

On June 30, Reister checked out a less-lethal shotgun from Central Precinct’s armory, left the precinct and walked across the street to the parking garage at Southwest Madison and Second Avenue, where some patrol cars and police gear is kept. There, he found his duty bag, walked to his patrol car in the garage, grabbed rounds from a plastic bag and was unaware he loaded the beanbag shotgun with lethal rounds.

He responded to a 9-1-1 call about an armed man threatening children at Lair Hill Park. A second caller said the man left the park, had a pocket knife concealed in his sleeve and was acting in a “peculiar manner.”

According to his lawyer, Reister spotted Monroe at the corner of Southwest Pennoyer Street and Naito Parkway and described him as “highly agitated,” with a knife he was trying to conceal in his hand. Reister told Monroe to show his hands, and Monroe refused, instead yelling at Reister. Reister got out his less-lethal shotgun and called for back-up. Reister, according to his lawyer, was concerned Monroe would attack a man and child standing near the corner.

Yet the man, Wally Jones, told The Oregonian this summer he was with his 1-year-old daughter and started talking to Monroe to be social, and didn’t feel in danger until Reister pulled out his shotgun.

When backup officers arrived, Reister said Monroe started to run, and Reister ran after him. Reister ordered Monroe to stop and get on the ground by the grassy knoll south of Caro Amico Italian Cafe. Reister decided “he needed to stop Monroe to prevent him from getting away and threatening other residents,” his lawyer wrote in court motions.

Reister, 40, a 15-year bureau veteran who in 2006 was a use-of-force instructor, fired four lethal shotgun rounds – a fifth ejected – from the beanbag shotgun. Only when he approached Monroe did Reister realize the man was bleeding and that he had fired lethal rounds.

Monroe suffered two entry wounds to his left thigh; one of the two was a “through and through” shot. Another hit his buttocks, shattering his pelvis, and puncturing his bladder, colon and injuring his rectum, his lawyer said.

PPB Spokesman Robert King with 'less lethal' shotgun

A day after the shooting, Mayor Sam Adams and Police Chief Mike Reese called the shooting a “tragic mistake.”

On Friday night, the Police Bureau issued this statement: “We continue to hope for Mr. Monroe’s full recovery , and we recognize that this incident has been extremely difficult for everyone involved.”

Portland Police Association president Officer Daryl Turner said the union is “obviously disappointed” by the indictment.

“We stand by Officer Reister during this difficult time and through the judicial process,” Turner said.

The bureau last month adopted a new executive order, requiring that beanbag ammunition be stored only in a carrier attached to the side or stock of the orange-painted, 12-gauge shotguns.

The new order came on the eve of a court hearing where Reister’s lawyer planned to argue that the bureau’s “gross negligence” in the handling of beanbag shotguns and ammunition contributed to Reister’s shooting. For example, the bureau has no policy that prohibits officers from mixing lethal and less-lethal ammunition in their duty bags. In the weeks after Reister’s shooting, the bureau faced criticism for not having taken immediate steps to prevent a similar mishap.

Reister had five years earlier mistakenly fired a loaded riot-suppression launcher during training, striking an officer posing as a protestor with a smoke round. Reister was a “grenadier” training as part of the Police Bureau’s Rapid Response Team in October 2006 when he fired a less-lethal TL-1 launcher loaded with a smoke round at an officer posing as a rioter who threw a projectile at Reister’s unit. Reister pulled the trigger of his gun to simulate firing, but his firearm was loaded with a smoke round that struck Officer Zach Kenney in the leg, causing a minor bruise. Reister had forgotten he had loaded a live smoke round in the chamber and admitted he had made a mistake, court papers show. The bureau gave Reister a letter of reprimand for the 2006 error.

While the grand jury was seated, the prosecutor’s office had urged Presiding Judge Jean Kerr Maurer to allow jurors to consider whether Reister’s actions represented “negligent wounding,” an Oregon statute that is not part of the criminal code and would have brought a lower standard of proof than criminal negligence. Reister’s attorney argued that state lawmakers intended the negligent wounding charge for hunters, and not for police officers, and Maurer agreed.

Hoffman said tonight that she was disturbed the district attorney’s office added the negligent wounding charge when the presiding judge ruled it was legally inappropriate.

The district attorney’s office said it could not appeal Maurer’s ruling on the motion.

“Since the court’s ruling prior to the grand jury’s indictment was not appealable by the state, we feel it is necessary to file this charge in order to preserve the state’s ability to have a full hearing with the right to appeal, if necessary,” the district attorney’s office wrote in a statement released tonight.

Future court dates have not been set, and will be discussed with Reister’s attorney.

Reister may have to turn in his police-issued firearm because he faces a felony indictment. He’s been on paid leave since the shooting. The police bureau did not say whether or not Reister will remain on paid leave as he awaits trial. Command staff are expected to meet on the matter on Monday, Sgt. Pete Simpson said.

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From the Oregonian, October 25, 2011

Police Lt. Robert King holds a less-lethal shotgun, showing the side carrier that will be pre-loaded with six beanbag rounds when officers check out less-lethal shotguns from their precinct armory. Officers must load the guns in their cars from this supply only, under a new bureau order.

On the day the police commissioner and chief were subpoenaed to court to address what Officer Dane Reister’s attorney called the bureau’s “gross negligence” in the handling of beanbag shotguns and ammunition, police supervisors alerted officers Tuesday of a new safeguard the bureau adopted.

Effective immediately, officers who are certified to carry the beanbag shotguns must now check out the firearm from their precinct’s armory at the start of their shifts. They must only load the beanbag shotguns with bureau-issued, less-lethal ammunition that will now be stored in a carrier attached to the side or stock of the orange-painted, 12-gauge shotguns.

READ – What happened to William Monroe.

The guns must be loaded in the police vehicle from this supply only. Officers certified to carry the beanbag shotgun are still required to visually and physically inspect each round as they load them, but are now “encouraged to have another bureau member view and confirm this.” Only supervisors will carry loose, replacement beanbag ammunition.

The new executive order comes nearly four months after Reister mistakenly loaded lethal rounds into a beanbag shotgun, and seriously wounded a man in Southwest Portland on June 30. The new directive also was announced as the bureau faced mounting criticism for not having taken immediate steps to prevent a similar mishap.

Acting Police Chief Larry O’Dea, who was also subpoenaed for Tuesday’s hearing, signed the order. It was sent by e-mail to bureau members at 4:14 p.m. on Monday, and announced at roll calls Tuesday morning.

Chief Mike Reese, who last month wrote a guest column in The Oregonian that he didn’t want to rush through any policy changes, is out of town at an International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Chicago.

“It’s important to us to make changes we need to make,” said Lt. Robert King, bureau spokesman. “It’s not tied to any legal process.”

According to O’Dea, a bureau less-lethal committee last week recommended the change, and he signed the executive order Monday. He said the bureau was not ready to give up use of either the less-lethal shotgun or lethal shotgun. “To date, we have not found a system that offers us the reliability, ease of use, and effectiveness that the current system offers,” O’Dea wrote in an e-mail to officers. “The less lethal program has had a 15-year long record of being safe and effective and is an important tool in safely resolving dangerous incidents.”

Reister’s lawyer, Janet Hoffman, who has argued in court motions that the bureau’s “gross negligence” contributed to Reister’s error on June 30, questioned why it took this long for the bureau to make a change.

“It’s appropriate that they’re making these changes, and it’s unfortunate as it pertains to my client’s situation that these minimal standards have taken so long to go in effect,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman had subpoenaed the mayor, the chief, assistant chiefs, Central Precinct’s commander and armory supervisor, the training captain and lead trainer to a court hearing Tuesday morning.

She urged the presiding judge to allow a sitting grand jury to consider whether the bureau’s “failure to put in place adequate safeguards” for its less-lethal ammunition affected Reister’s actions on the day he shot William Kyle Monroe in Southwest Portland June 30.

In particular, she wanted to question bureau supervisors as to why Portland police adopted the same weapon platform, a 12-gauge shotgun, that can carry both lethal and less-lethal rounds, and why no safety provisions were in place to avoid the mistake Reister made.

Presiding Judge Jean Kerr Maurer, though, quashed the subpoenas and prevented Hoffman from presenting any evidence as to whether or not “gross negligence” by the bureau contributed to Reister’s accidental shooting. Maurer said the court has a role to play in interpreting legal questions, “but to expand the court’s role into pre-screening of evidence is, in my view, inappropriate.”

“It’s invading the province of the grand jury,” Maurer ruled.

Maurer left open the possibility that she could further weigh in on any questions about evidence or instructions that the grand jury reviewing Reister’s shooting may have.

Firearms expert Ronald Scott, who spent more than 25 years as a Massachusetts state trooper and ran the agency’s ballistics sections investigating police shootings, called the bureau’s new order a “preemptive strike” as it faced the possibility of a hearing that would have shined light on its lack of safeguards since it adopted a less-lethal beanbag shotgun that utilizes the same 12-gauge shotgun platform that fires lethal rounds.

Scott called the bureau’s new restrictions a first step.

“To cover their backside, they’re saying we’re going to take away from the officer, any choice that he may have,” Scott said. “This is a policy that should have been in place a long time ago.”

Portland police have stressed that Reister’s mistake was the first since the bureau adopted the beanbag shotgun in 1997.

Portland’s new procedure is similar to that of Los Angeles Police, which checks out less-lethal shotguns to officers, with the less-lethal rounds preloaded onto a sleeve of prominently marked green less-lethal shotguns. The Oregonian reported last month that other law enforcement agencies have adopted more stringent policies. Many don’t carry the same weapon for lethal and less-lethal rounds. Others require officers to carry one or the other, not both.