This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Media / News / Cops Campbell's Death: Our Fault, Not The Cops' (At Least, In Part)
Posted by Matt Davis on Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 12:12 PM
I had a good time on KBOO this morning with Talk Radio host Lisa Loving—discussing local media and police accountability here in Portland. Why not download the 57 minute show this evening, if you need to cure your insomnia?
- KBOO: THEY'VE GOT A NICE LOGO...AND YOU CAN TALK AT LENGTH WITHOUT INTERRUPTION, OR LISTENERS, PRESUMABLY
In addition to speculating at length about the political motives of new Oregonian publisher N.Christian Anderson III, we discussed the fatal shooting by police of Aaron M.Campbell in Northeast Portland last Friday. Specifically, the news stories describing Campbell's death as "suicide by cop," even though subsequent reporting by Oregonian reporter Maxine Bernstein has shown that witnesses to the incident didn't understand why police shot the man.
I can't commend Bernstein's reporting on this issue highly enough. The fact is, we here at the Mercury didn't have the O's resources or energy, frankly, to dedicate to such in-depth investigation of the incident over the weekend. But if Bernstein hadn't gone at this story like a terrier, then we'd all be simply re-stating the cops' press releases verbatim. And increasingly, it seems that Campbell's death was far from a "suicide by cop."
It's important that we ask tough questions about this specific incident, and that we get them answered. But I did make one point repeatedly on KBOO this morning: That Campbell died at least in part because of inadequate funding for mental health care in the community. And that's our fault, not the cops'.
Campbell died because of the ongoing criminalization of mental illness here in Oregon. If he had gotten adequate medication, counseling, or treatment for his despondent state of mind before he fell into crisis, then there would never have been an opportunity for any cop with an AR-15 rifle to put him in their sights. And that's our fault, not the cops'.
Whatever you may think about the man who pulled the trigger, whatever a grand jury or internal investigation may decide—and frankly I'm not optimistic about either—Campbell died at least in part because we, as a community, don't push our leaders to better fund mental health care in the community, even though it would actually save the state money on emergency room and public safety bills. Because we, as a community, allow our leaders to give funding priority to 12-lane bridges and soccer deals with millionaires, and green energy buildings with grass on the sides while we leave the most glaring funding hole for these poor folks, gaping wide open.
Because we, as a community, don't really care when it comes down to it, I think. And that's our fault, not the cops'.
No matter how much we may gripe about these deaths on KBOO and everywhere else, next time somebody tells me they're appalled about the death of a mentally ill person, or God forbid, that they were "menaced" by some person with mental illness in the street downtown, I'm going to ask them if they've ever called their leaders to ask for better funding for mental health care in the community. And if they say no, then I'm going to urge them to come here and skip to the jump, where you'll find all the numbers and email addresses you may need.
These people do occasionally listen to citizens, when they're not being frantically lobbied by corporate interests.
If you need to find which legislator represents you, use this tool on the state website.
Senator Ginny Burdick
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1718
Email: sen.ginnyburdick@state.or.us
Senator Chip Shields
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1722
District Phone: 503-231-2564
Email: sen.chipshields@state.or.us
Senator Jackie Dingfelder
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1723
Email: sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us
Representative Mitch Greenlick
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1433
District Phone: 503-297-2416
Email: rep.mitchgreenlick@state.or.us
Representative Jules Bailey
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1442
Email: rep.julesbailey@state.or.us
Representative Lew Frederick
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1443
Email: rep.lewfrederick@state.or.us
Representative Tina Kotek
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1444
Email: rep.tinakotek@state.or.us
Representative Michael Dembrow
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1445
Email: rep.michaeldembrow@state.or.us
Representative Ben Cannon
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1446
Email: rep.bencannon@state.or.us
Representative Jefferson Smith
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1447
Email: rep.jeffersonsmith@state.or.us
Representative Nick Kahl
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1449
Email: rep.nickkahl@state.or.us
Mayor Sam Adams
(503) 823-4120
samadams@ci.portland.or.us
Amanda Fritz
(503) 823-3008
Amanda@ci.portland.or.us
Nick Fish
(503) 823-3589
nick@ci.portland.or.us
Dan Saltzman
(503) 823 4151
dan@ci.portland.or.us
Commissioner Randy Leonard
(503) 823-4682
rleonard@ci.portland.or.us
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And no, you cannot assert bad things will stop happening forever when people make government throw more money at programs. How many programs was Chasse involved in? How many government dependents are still committing crimes?
Because there are soccer and bridge deals does not mean there will be mentally ill people or criminals. It's not one or the other.
That this is such a logical fallacy-filled rant of yours its hard to figure out what to point out first. I guess my overarching point is what happens when your government money fails people? (as it has in this case and every other you may cite)
Those cops were in part trained by government mental health care workers. How's that work for you?
Short of FORCING people to medicate, or into custody against their will, people are going to do bad things. Dumb things. Illegal and deadly things. Sad but true.
The difference is in the U.S. we believe in free will and not submission to collectivist authoritarianism.
What positive has collective guilt ever provided history?
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One of many examples, if you don't believe me: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/npo/157…
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(An aside: I feel like you would consider your free will somewhat subverted were the police to accidentally send an AR-15 round your way)
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That's some cold shit, dude. You should think about what it says about you to have an attitude like that.
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Further, no matter how big of a POS this kid may or may not have been is totally irrelevant in light of how he was killed.
Saying that this is somehow our fault is also completely wrong in my opinion too. Yes, the mental health treatment available here is a bad joke, but I had nothing to do with that, nor did anyone that I know. It's a bit too much of a reach for me. A failed MH program doesn't excuse improper police protocol or a bloodthirsty villain masquerading as an officer of the law.
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Now, society is damaged if due process fails - that's totally true. He deserved a trial, and it's great that people are investigating the shooting, and if the cops didn't act properly they should be punished.
I guess I'm just talking about the emotional response. I think Matt Davis hears this story and starts crying because 'a person' is dead. I was just saying I can't understand those feelings, because he sounds like he was a drain on society.
I've been thinking about it a lot - I think you'd be able to see my point if we were talking about dogs. Of course you shouldn't shoot dogs - they're awesome. Except if they are rabid and have a history of attacking people and are currently about to attack someone. Shooting THAT dog is a good thing, right? I expect the example breaks down for you because he's 'a person,' and you therefore think he has some more intrinsic value than a dog. Possibly true, but doesn't that also lay on extra responsibility? He made a choice to be a fuckup - it wasn't the dogs fault at all.
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So you're saying you've never told your elected officials how much you care about mental health care?
Because if you haven't, it IS your fault. That's the precise point I'm making. We're all responsible for stigmatizing these issues.
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@Matt Davis - Way to pick out one poorly-phrased sentence from his great reply, and completely ignore his actual point.
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As for people "making a choice to be a fuckup" are you seriously going to argue that without proper treatment in the first place he might have been a productive member of society? Using your dog example: They make a rabies vaccine, it is required by law in a lot of places. Yes, you are right, if the owner can't be bothered to get the vaccine, get treatment when the dog gets bit, put the dog down [humanly] when it is too late, then yes, the only choice is to shoot it just before it attacks someone. Note all the things that should have happened along the way, but didn't, and not just the instant it got shot. Now full blown rabies is untreatable, the dog has to be put down, but mental illness is very treatable, many people that are minutes away from suicide can calm down and be normal productive members of society in about 3 days with about $20 worth of pills. (There is a reason it is called a 72 hour hold.) Once they are stable they'll probably use $200/year in medication, which is far cheaper than this investigation...
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Many people seem to view mental illness, or mental health problems, as a sign of weakness. Often it is a sign of weakness. But this society tends to judge weakness in the worst ways. Whatever happened to protecting those who couldn't stand up for themselves?
There's also the separate issue of "mad pride," where folks with mental health issues like Will Hall are starting to reclaim the ground. Marjorie Skinner wrote a feature on this last year:
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/ma…
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@ Matt Davis - It's not that I don't see your point about talking to an elected official, it's that I don't agree with you that it is truly an effective way to bring about real change. I sincerely wish this wasn't the case, but I personally don't have the same faith in our system that you seem to have. I am willing to concede that, sure, it's worth a try and wouldn't hurt to do so, but saying that we are all collectively to blame is absolute bullshit in my opinion.
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And if I ever do get stressed out and do something I regret, I'll be the first to say I deserve the consequences. No one else should ever have to suffer because of me.
The Merc even printed a letter from me with the same position, way back in the day. I wonder...does that mean I have seniority over Matt Davis? :)
http://www.portlandmercury.com/columns/let…
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Whoa, that simple, fast and cheap scenario is a tremendously inaccurate understanding of how mental health crisis and stabilization actually works.
Also, there is little effective treatment if one has a personality disorder such as anti-social.
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Mental illness often has a neurological cause that’s only exacerbated by psychological factors. That is, it is primarily a physical ailment—it just happens to be in the brain and not, say, your left knee. If your brother or sister contracts an illness that hits the knee or belly or eyeball, do you hope someone puts them down or do you hope they get treatment?
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And while I disagree with your letter, I'm glad you are consistent about it. A lot of people seem to have the policy that it isn't them getting shot, so it isn't their problem.
*It isn't denied per say, in theory you can get it. It is just very difficult: Missing rent payments level of difficulty in the lower income brackets. And getting a depressed person to seek help is hard even if they have insurance, making it worse doesn't result in higher success rates.
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By the way, instead of a round from an AR-15, why didn't they shoot him with a tranquilizer or some such thing? You can't tell me that we don't have the technology to implement more effective means of non-lethal pacification.
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What else? Glue gun? Microwaves? I don't think we have anything that works, unfortunately.
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"calm down and be normal productive members of society in about 3 days with about $20 worth of pills." does not exist, but that would be really cool.
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But in any case you are wrong. Why don't you test your reading comprehension skills elsewhere? Google 5150 and Clonazepam.
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@Reymont: While I agree with you that if someone is about to hurt someone else and lethal force is the only option then so be it, but in this case, had you done the proper research, you would see that Campbell did NOTHING to insinuate that he was a threat to anyone but himself. He HURT no one, was supposedly armed and even text-messaged his girlfriend, who was with the police that "I have a gun, I'm not playing" again, no threat to ANYONE. As a person who has suffered from mental illness since I was 5 years old, I can say that that sounds to me like the desperation of a man who is merely trying to imply that he is serious about wanting to kill himself, not merely seeking attention, and if he truly wanted to kill himself he was not being thinking rationally and needed help, not a bullet in the back. Also lacking in this discussion is that fact that Officer Frashour, who fired the deadly round, was involved in an incident in 2006 where he tased a man video-taping a police search that Frashour was involved in. The man, Frank Waterhouse sued for $30,000 plus the price of his camera and was awarded $55,000! Should Frashour have EVER been put into the position he was in with Campbell where the decision to fire a lethal shot rested with him after showing that he is incapable of properly using force? You make some decent points, but they don't apply to this situation and you would have known that had you done a bit more thorough research before making such inflammatory statements in regards to the death of human being.
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