It turns out that Police Chief Rosie Sizer testified against Officer Ronald Frashour, the officer who shot Aaron Campbell, in a separate "trigger-happy" lawsuit last year.

Update, 7:11pm This story was referenced in Oregonian reporting later today.

Original post:

Frashour was one of the officers who Tasered Keith Waterhouse—who was video-taping police on the property of some friends. Waterhouse won a $55,000 settlement against the cops last year. You can read more about the case in this Mercury story from October 2009, cited by activist group Portland Copwatch in a letter to the District Attorney yesterday. Here's the relevant clip from that story:

In other words, it would seem the only way to fairly punish Portland's cops for excessive force is to take them to court.

Just ask Frank Waterhouse—the cops' internal review recommended no discipline for the officers who Tasered and shot him with less-lethal ammunition without warning in October 2006. Waterhouse had been filming the officers as they searched for a jaywalker at a Northeast Portland garage where he was working as an apprentice.

Waterhouse, who was cleared of all charges relating to the incident, wasn't satisfied with the Use of Force Review Board's findings, and took the officers to court. Two weeks ago he won a settlement of $55,000 after a jury agreed that the officers' use of force was indeed excessive. Waterhouse had only sought $30,000 in the suit, but the jury awarded him almost twice as much.

Perhaps most surprising of all in the case was the identity of Waterhouse's star witness: Chief Sizer.

Sizer testified for Waterhouse, against her own Use of Force Review Board's findings, and against the city, arguing that the officers had ample time to coordinate their efforts so Waterhouse wasn't hit with two weapons at once, and that they had plenty of time to give warning. Sizer also told the jury Waterhouse was not actively resisting, a requirement for the use of a beanbag round, which is fired from a 12-guage shotgun.

"It blew my mind, really," Waterhouse says. "I couldn't believe that somebody from their side actually looked at my case and determined that they went overboard."

Sizer declined comment on her decision to testify against the internal review board's findings by press time, but it certainly sets an uncomfortable precedent for police officers working the street.

"These officers felt blindsided by the chief in court," says Portland Police Association boss Scott Westerman, who adds that mitigating circumstances for the force used on Waterhouse were excluded from the court testimony—they thought Waterhouse was the jaywalker they were looking for, he says.

"The circumstances to which these officers were responding were minimized by the attorney," he adds.

Waterhouse's attorney, Benjamin Haile, says Westerman's remarks are "insulting" to juries because they assume that the public can't understand the work that police do.

"In my experience, people on juries are very willing to give police officers the benefit of the doubt, very willing to assume they're doing the best they can," Haile says. "A trial is a time to get the entire truth out in the open. The officers are not going to be held responsible for their actions unless all of those people agree that what they did was wrong."

Jumping...

Waterhouse's attorney, Benjamin Haile, plans to issue a press release in association with the National Lawyers' Guild today, highlighting similarities between the cases. In the meantime Haile has this to say:

"Officer Frashour’s shooting of Mr. Campbell is remarkably similar to his tasing of Mr. Waterhouse. In both cases, Officer Frashour did not properly coordinate his actions with the other police officers present. In both cases, other officers were taking actions to incapacitate the victim at the same time that Officer Frashour pulled the trigger. Like the grand jury, I am primarily concerned about the City of Portland’s failure to properly train and lead its officers. Both incidents could have been avoided."

"I’m glad that Frashour did not have a rifle when he attacked Mr. Waterhouse," Haile continues. "Otherwise, I fear that Mr. Waterhouse would have been killed. Portland police training policies and use of force policies need to be seriously overhauled."

Here's the video of the Waterhouse incident:

We've got requests for comment in to the chief and police commissioner.