This Week in the Mercury
Friday, October 3, 2008
News Mayor Orders $200k Settlement In Kaer Shooting Case
Posted by Matt Davis on Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 3:01 PM
Mayor Tom Potter has recommended the city settle for $200,000 with the estate of Dennis Young, the man shot by Lieutenant Jeffrey Kaer in January 2006.
Potter says "I have worked with Chief Sizer and the Bureau to examine every action involving deadly force to ensure that we are accountable for our actions and can maintain the community's trust," in a statment released this afternoon. City council will vote on the settlement next week.
Potter had fired Kaer in August 2007, following the shooting, inciting union opposition, but an arbitrator overturned the decision in July this year, ordering Potter to pay Kaer his lost wages and pension.
"Sadly, this is another blow to Portland taxpayers due to police misconduct, that's not attached to any promise to change," says Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch. "We keep getting these settlements and they don't go to court, where the court could, for example, order the city to make a truly independent oversight system that could look at shootings and deaths in custody."
"We still have concerns about the officer himself being let off the hook for all the things that we felt he did wrong," continues Handelman. "Including taking off without telling people where he was going, using his uniform in a personal dispute, and shooting and killing a human being."
Potter, meanwhile, says he hopes the settlement will provide "closure" for Young's family.
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