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One of the only times my coach appeared happy with my performance was when I tased a guy one night that my coach and my seargent were about to shoot because he was involved in a domestice violence incident and wouldn't show us his hands.  My coach later told me he was about 1 second away from shooting the guy when I tased him instead.  I suspect he was just relieved becuase it would have looked bad- the suspect turned out to be unarmed.

  My point is, the police bureau keeps saying "diversity diversity diversity" as a recruiting goal.  But when people are hired who don't actually fit the mold, they are shown the door real quick.  I am 5'2" and a woman, so it was safer and wiser for me to try to verbally control people over physically.  But that wasn't appreciated, or respected in the bureau.  There are some sayings in police culture: "kick ass and take names" and "cuff 'm and stuff 'm".  These are the sayings behind closed doors, while the top-level brass like Chief Sizer are naively trying to promote "community policing".  Diversity needs to be more than skin color.  Hiring more black people, Hispanics, and women won't help the culture of the police bureau change to reflect our community if none of them think like this community.  What the police bureau needs to do is change the way the training division functions.  I believe I was let go not because I lacked any diligence, but because I think in a different way than most new hires.  Getting into fights, making lots of arrests, and getting to use all the tools on my "bat belt" was not as rewarding for me as taking the time to write a really detailed report for a rape victim or talking a suspect into cooperating rather than forcing them.  It's easy when you're in uniform to feel entitled to the power you're given.  I caught myself feeling that way a few times.  But I kept my ego in check, and because of that I stood out, and was shown the door while I was still on probation and lacked the union protection that officers gain when they get off probation.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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  I am a former PPB officer.  I was fired while still in my probationary period, about to go "phase 5" (where new officers are alone in their own car for the first time).  At the hearing that is held by the training division when a young officer like myself is in the process of being fired, I was told by the Leutenant that I "lacked the due dilligance necessary to do the job well".  What that really meant was that I was not aggressive enough for a couple of my coaches.  I am a "typical" Portlander- young, educated, liberal.  No one I knew was able to understand why I wanted to become a cop, but I felt like we're all really good at complaining about how cops do their jobs, but none of us are willing to step up and try and do it better.  I was told throughout the hiring and training process by my background investigator and numerous academy teachers that policing is great because you can really do the job however you want.  That you have an incredible amount of "discretion".  I was naive in believing this, because when I got out on the street I found quickly that my coaches expected aggression and valued "going hands on" (meaning using physical force to control) over verbal communication. 

  On a suicidal call where a woman had slit her writs, my coach became visibly irritated with me for "taking too long" with her.  I was trying to convince her to go with the EMT's to the hospital without being forced to go in restraints.  I tried to reason with her for about 20 minutes before we were forced to go hands on and carry her out screaming and strapped to a board.  My coach gave me a bad review for the day, "unacceptable" is the word used, because I'd spent too much time with her.  He'd wanted me to go hands on as soon as we saw her so we could hand her over to the EMT's right away and be done with the call. 

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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