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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Cops Police Review Board: No Discipline in Death of Keaton Otis

Posted by Denis C. Theriault on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 9:28 AM

It's tucked all the way at the end of the latest (and still unceremoniously quiet) release of Police Review Board reports: After a meeting last fall, the discipline panel—which reviews cases and advises Chief Mike Reese on punishment—overwhelmingly found every aspect of the May 2010 police shooting of Keaton Otis "within policy."

Otis' death, you'll remember, was steeped in controversy. Otis, a young African-American suffering from mental illness, was stopped by gang enforcement officers who thought he looked suspicious because he was slouching in his car. Otis was Tasered and shot dead, amid an eruption of gunfire that left an officer injured (with the Skanner wondering, at one point, whether that injury was from friendly fire). Then, in an awful turn, Otis' body, lying on the road, was hit three times with a bean bag shotgun.

The shooting came the very first day Reese took over as chief, and it will be Reese who will ultimately decide if any discipline may yet be meted out, despite the review board's nearly unanimous recommendation against it. Only one member raised any formal blemish, questioning whether shooting Otis' body with a bean bag gun was excessive. General questions also were raised about documentation of witness interviews.

The board did, however, recommend that the bureau use the case as a training exercise.

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Otis' case wasn't the only prominent one contained in the reports.

The latest packet, the second ever, also includes scathing review board filings recommending discipline for Sergeant Kyle Nice, sued over a 2010 pistol-waving road-rage incident; Officer Scott Westerman, the former union president fired last summer after he was accused of lying to investigators probing a pair of road-rage incidents involving the same woman; two off-duty officers who enjoyed free "private dances" at a strip club they usually patrol on-duty; officers involved in DUIIs; and officers who crashed their service cars.

 

Comments (11) RSS

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1
Tell me if I'm remembering this one wrong, but it seems like you're deliberately obfuscating"Otis pulled a gun out of his glove box and shot at officers" with a general "eruption of gunfire."

Posted by Commenty Colin on January 10, 2012 at 9:39 AM · Report
2
You forgot to mention Keaton Otis had an unregistered gun in the car, which was fired, presumably by Otis. That's more germane to the story than his mental health.
Posted by Chuck Garabedian on January 10, 2012 at 9:40 AM · Report
3
YEAH, WHAT THOSE GUYS SAID ABOUT OTIS AND GUNFIRE, ETC. I'M GOING TO ASSUME THAT SINCE NO ONE HAS ACTUALLY DECLARED THAT THERE WAS FRIENDLY FIRE, THAT KEATON OTIS DID IN FACT FIRE ON THE POLICE.

MAYBE THE CONTEXT OF THE ORIGINAL POLICE STOP IS A BIT LACKLUSTER, BUT THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP IS NOT TO SHOOT AT THE POLICE.
Posted by Graham on January 10, 2012 at 9:52 AM · Report
4
I'm just asking, but how do we know the unregistered gun wasn't planted there by officer Foote to cover a colossal fuckup that could otherwise have ruined their careers, lives, etc. A fuckup that started with Foote pulling Otis over, saying he "kind of looks like he could be a gangster." The kind of fuckup that there's an extremely widespread pattern of in this city... And it's not totally unheard of for cops to plant a junk gun to cover unlawful use of deadly force.
Posted by geyser on January 10, 2012 at 10:15 AM · Report
5
I want to say that geyser is still a nut, but I also can't argue with that suspicion.
Posted by hoser on January 10, 2012 at 10:35 AM · Report
6
@GEYSER: YOU'RE ASKING THE POLICE TO PROVE A NEGATIVE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfair_burden). A BETTER QUESTION WOULD BE IF THERE WAS ANY EVIDENTIARY PROOF THAT OTIS POSSESSED THE GUN BEFORE THE INCIDENT.
Posted by Graham on January 10, 2012 at 10:36 AM · Report
7
lex parsimoniae, geyser.

If this were a one-on-one standoff, I wouldnt write off a planted gun, but this was a standoff with numerous officers in broad day light in a well populated and travelled area. Cover ups tend to get more difficult as the numbers increase. Besides, cops in this town don't get punished for shooting the unarmed anyway. Why bother with a cover up?
Posted by Chuck Garabedian on January 10, 2012 at 10:38 AM · Report
8
@#7....pretty much. Simply because the Police in this city have a regrettable track record (not the only city to have these issues incidentally) is not a reason to adopt a mentality that "the Man is out to get us". Are you trying to tell me there are NOT people who own unregistered firearms who have shot at Police officers in Portland?
Posted by The Showstopper on January 10, 2012 at 10:48 AM · Report
9
@7: Why bother with a cover up? One could just as easily ask why they would bother blaming the mental health system and "the community" for failing Otis just to cover up pulling over someone for Driving While Black and ending up punching him in the face and letting the violence escalate. The cops get off lightly, but they still try to cover some of their misdeeds.
But yeah, it probably was NOT a planted gun... this time. If it had been, officer Burley would likely not have gotten shot in the groin. The whole thing still stinks pretty bad, though, so it's worth at least raising some questions.

@8: No, of course I'm not trying to tell you that.
Posted by geyser on January 10, 2012 at 11:29 AM · Report
10
I don't know. As far as cop shootings in Portland go, this is about the most legitimate, if you can say such a thing.
Posted by Chuck Garabedian on January 10, 2012 at 11:51 AM · Report
11
Denis, why isn't Otis carrying a gun and shooting at cops mentioned in your story?
Why do I have to learn about this aspect from the bloggers here?
Are they correct then?
Do you have an axe to grind against cops in general?
Posted by frankieb on January 10, 2012 at 12:36 PM · Report

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