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So why was the study conducted at a county level instead of at the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level that market researchers and the US Census Bureau uses for the same kind of analysis?

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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PortlandJesse: Thank you for taking the time to articulate your experience.  I'm a middle-aged, educated, liberal, caucasian woman and your experience demonstrates precisely what I feel is wrong with the PPB, and with American policing in general.

I've had a generally favorable opinion of Chief Sizer but I was pretty disappointed in the overall tone of her responses.  Yes, the fact that the use of lethal force has decreased is indeed a good thing.  But one key factor that distinguishes a successful customer service organization from all the others is the recognition that a mistreated customer isn't, and shouldn't be, concerned about how well every other customer is treated.  And in the case of Aaron Campbell, I'm sure his family and friends place absolutely no value on the number of people who were involved in police encounters that didn't result the use of deadly force.

I was particularly offended by Chief Sizer's comments regarding her need to delay her evaluation of the circumstances surrounding Aaron Campbell's death until the internal investigation has been completed.  I have no idea whether grand jury testimony in deadly force cases is normally released to the chief or not.  But in this case, the testimony has been made public.  And because it has been I can tell you that after reading most of it (I have a few more pages left to go), there are more than enough details available for her to make an informed evaluation of what could and should have been done differently.

I'm heartened by the fact that the grand jury in the Aaron Campbell case had the nerve and the foresight to make their criticisms known.  I hope that their efforts result in some important policy and procedural changes.  But until there is a shift in the core attitudes that exist within the PPB, I think we're going to find ourselves having this same discussion over and over again.  

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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