from The Oregonian
SEPTEMBER
Washington County sheriff's deputies respond to a call for help in unincorporated Washington County, north of Tigard, after reports that a drunken teen armed with a pocket knife is breaking windows and threatening himself and others. Within about four minutes of the deputies' arrival, a Tigard police officer fires nonlethal beanbag rounds at 18-year-old Lukus Glenn. Then two sheriff's deputies shoot him to death. In October, the county district attorney's office upholds the officers' actions, declining to send the case to a grand jury.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
2006: Highlights, lowlights and other Dubious Distinctions
from The Oregonian
Sweet, sad, big, small, infinite, fleeting. News in Washington County covered all the adjectives in 2006.
The year was as sweet as the 12-year-old Murrayhill ballplayers who ventured across the country and came oh-so-close to winning a world championship. And it was as sad as sheriff's deputies killing Lukus Glenn, an out-of-control teenager, outside his Tigard-area home.
A fatal plane crash jeopardized the future of the Hillsboro air show. Then last week, show organizers snagged the U.S. Navy Blue Angels for 2007.
In Beaverton, the conjunction of two small animals --a cat and an iguana --caused an apartment fire.
Some sagas seemed never ending: Nike versus Beaverton, county Fair Board versus fair boosters. Other stories were fleeting: A Hillsboro teenager got in trouble for pulling his socks up high.
And some stories are becoming all too familiar. Three of the county's young men died in military service in Iraq.
Here's our recap of the moments that made us smile, cringe or cry over the past year --with hopes that we'll see more of the first in 2007.
Boys of summer: Murrayhill Little League took fans on a wild ride when the 12- and 13-year-olds became the first Oregon team in 48 years to earn a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. The team ended up in third place.
Top cops: The Beaverton Police Department was one of three winners worldwide of the Webber Seavey Award, recognized for its identity theft and fraud prevention program. The department shared the honor, sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Motorola, with the District Police in Nalgonda, India, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Win some: Wal-Mart won approval from the Cornelius City Council to build a supercenter on North Adair Street.
Lose some: After a monthslong battle, Wal-Mart's plans to put a store in the Cedar Mill area ultimately were rejected by the Beaverton City Council.
Putting the "wall" in Wal-Mart: A Forest Grove official offended neighbors in Cornelius when he suggested building a 600-foot wall next to a proposed Wal-Mart to keep shoplifters and thieves out of his community. "The implication is people from Cornelius are going to be stealing things and running into Forest Grove," Cornelius planner Catherine Sidman huffed.
Good intentions, bad timeliness: New city manager David Waffle praised the Cornelius City Council in January for posting its newsletter on the Web in both English and Spanish. He noted, however, that the newsletter currently posted was a year old.
Best sense of humor: Waffle started a weekly online briefing he called "Hot Off the Griddle."
Oh, that trip to Hawaii: Sen. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, and Sen. Bruce Starr and Rep. Derrick Kitts, both R-Hillsboro, were among legislators who got in hot water when it was revealed they violated state law by not reporting trips to Hawaii paid for by beer and wine distributors in 2002 and 2004.
It's not the Big Island, but . . . Rep. Mark Hass, D-Raleigh Hills, acknowledged that he failed to report a 2003 trip to Idaho paid for by Idaho Power Co.
Best proof history repeats itself: Al Young lost his May primary bid for Metro councilor after it came out that he owed the county nearly $13,000 in back taxes. Young, a former state representative from Hillsboro, got in trouble in 1989 for owing $25,000 in back taxes on some of the same property.
Dogs gone: Organizers of a dog show expected to draw 2,000 dogs and twice that many people pulled out of the Washington County Fair Complex after they found out the Oregon International Airshow was scheduled for the same July weekend at neighboring Hillsboro Airport.
A fair to forget: Opus Northwest dropped out of a deal to redevelop the county fairgrounds. Company officials said two years of community bickering about what should happen with the property made their job impossible.
Sir Lancelot to the rescue? A Renaissance festival company proposed a 20-year lease to put on a medieval fair, including jesters and jousters, at the fairgrounds. The deal could be worth $500,000 annually to the county.
Most animated undertaking: Nike founder Phil Knight announced plans to build a 30-acre campus in Tualatin to house his animation studio, Laika Entertainment.
In other film news: DVD rental company Netflix Inc. announced it would move its customer service operation from the Bay Area to Tanasbourne.
Best hero, confectionery division: Jake Stubbs, a Glencoe High senior, used the Heimlich maneuver to save a classmate choking on a Jolly Rancher lollipop.
Best heroes, fire division: Kevin O'Keeffe and Peter Bradshaw of Aloha were honored for saving a neighbor's life in an early morning fire. The men pounded on the front door and rescued the wheelchair-dependent resident, who was in bed, before firefighters arrived.
Best hero, primatologist division: Jane Goodall, the celebrity primate expert, named Washo Shadowhawk, a Beaverton teen, as one of her heroes for his volunteer work with Roots & Shoots and the Oregon Zoo.
The Crips, the Bloods and the Socks: Hillsboro school officials sent sophomore Luis Vargas home in October for pulling his socks to the knees, a look they say is sported by local gang members. "I don't dress like this all the time," Vargas said. "I wear nice shirts and pants. But when I wear shorts, I pull up my socks. That's just an outfit I have."
Who knew world records were like potato chips? Hillsboro set a new Guinness World Record in August for the most people wearing balloon hats at one location: 1,874. The milestone stirred hopes of fresh conquests. "We want to have more records in Guinness than any other city," said Mayor Tom Hughes, mentioning clown noses as one possibility.
High price of government screw-ups, Part I: The federal government agreed to pay Brandon Mayfield and his family $2 million for the emotional toll they suffered after the Aloha lawyer was wrongly jailed in connection with the deadly Madrid, Spain, train bombings of 2004.
High price of government screw-ups, Part II: Beaverton's legal bills approached $500,000 in its fight with Nike over public records related to annexation. The tab could grow considerably in January, depending how much of Nike's legal bills a Washington County judge orders the city to pay. The same judge ruled that city officials were in contempt of court for withholding records.
Tired of being like Mike: Allen Heckard, 51, of Northeast Portland filed suit in Washington County seeking more than $800 million from Michael Jordan and Nike founder Phil Knight. Heckard claimed his resemblance to the NBA star had denied him "the right to live a normal life." A few weeks later, Heckard dropped the suit.
The show must go on: A vintage British jet fighter crashed seconds after taking off from the Oregon International Airshow in July. The crash killed the pilot, destroyed one house and damaged three others near Hillsboro Airport. After months of debate, air show organizers vowed the show would return next summer and announced in December that the U.S. Navy Blue Angels would be the headliners.
Best real-life Mr. Chips: Intel donated nearly $207,000 to Washington County public schools to match volunteer hours its employees contributed. The company also donated 200 Gateway laptops valued at $350,000 to a pilot technology program at four schools, including Tom McCall Upper Elementary School in Forest Grove.
No velvet Elvis: Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette earned $165,002 when it auctioned a donated painting from its Hillsboro store. What was thought to be cheap yard-sale art turned out to be painted by Frank Weston Benson, a French-trained American impressionist.
Most valedictorians: Westview High School named every senior who earned a 4.0 grade-point average a valedictorian: 75 students shared the honor.
Most new combinations: Tigard High School had to change 2,000 locker combinations after a 17-year-old student hacked into the school's computer system and posted locker combinations online, along with teachers' home addresses, phone numbers and e-mail passwords.
Easing the road to college: In February, the Beaverton School District became the first in Oregon to pay for all its high-schoolers to take ACT exams, which most colleges and universities accept for admission. Nearly 9,000 students took the tests.
Easing the road to, um, Wilsonville: Construction started in October on a 14.7-mile commuter rail line between Beaverton and Wilsonville.
Most generous: Voters in the November election agreed to open their wallets, passing bond measures in the Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts, as well as county levies to pay for public safety and libraries.
Worst news for homeowners: Residents of three Cedar Hills manufactured home parks, totaling 218 spaces, joined mobile home owners throughout the county in finding out they would lose their spaces in the next year. Development pressure makes the land more valuable for other uses, but it's often impossible to find new sites for older homes.
Little people, big audience: TLC, The Learning Channel, made stars of Helvetia residents Matt and Amy Roloff and their four children in a cable reality show called "Little People, Big World." By the end of the year, more than 1.6 million viewers were tuning in to watch the adventures of the family that includes three members who have dwarfism.
Little people, big accident: A pumpkin-chunkin' event turned dangerous for the Roloffs when a trebuchet, a catapultlike machine used to launch pumpkins, injured their 9-year-old son and the man who helped build the device.
Worst dating strategy: An Aloha woman was sentenced to probation and community service after she called 9-1-1, wanting the name of the deputy who had knocked on her door after neighbors complained her music was too loud. The 45-year-old woman told the emergency dispatcher the deputy was "the cutest cop I've seen in God knows how long." The deputy returned and arrested her for improper use of the 9-1-1 emergency system.
Worst spurned lover: Albertson's managers asked a customer to quit coming to the Peterkort store after his attentions and love letters made a clerk uncomfortable. The thwarted Romeo responded by slashing tires on 56 cars in the parking lot.
Sweet, sad, big, small, infinite, fleeting. News in Washington County covered all the adjectives in 2006.
The year was as sweet as the 12-year-old Murrayhill ballplayers who ventured across the country and came oh-so-close to winning a world championship. And it was as sad as sheriff's deputies killing Lukus Glenn, an out-of-control teenager, outside his Tigard-area home.
A fatal plane crash jeopardized the future of the Hillsboro air show. Then last week, show organizers snagged the U.S. Navy Blue Angels for 2007.
In Beaverton, the conjunction of two small animals --a cat and an iguana --caused an apartment fire.
Some sagas seemed never ending: Nike versus Beaverton, county Fair Board versus fair boosters. Other stories were fleeting: A Hillsboro teenager got in trouble for pulling his socks up high.
And some stories are becoming all too familiar. Three of the county's young men died in military service in Iraq.
Here's our recap of the moments that made us smile, cringe or cry over the past year --with hopes that we'll see more of the first in 2007.
Boys of summer: Murrayhill Little League took fans on a wild ride when the 12- and 13-year-olds became the first Oregon team in 48 years to earn a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. The team ended up in third place.
Top cops: The Beaverton Police Department was one of three winners worldwide of the Webber Seavey Award, recognized for its identity theft and fraud prevention program. The department shared the honor, sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Motorola, with the District Police in Nalgonda, India, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Win some: Wal-Mart won approval from the Cornelius City Council to build a supercenter on North Adair Street.
Lose some: After a monthslong battle, Wal-Mart's plans to put a store in the Cedar Mill area ultimately were rejected by the Beaverton City Council.
Putting the "wall" in Wal-Mart: A Forest Grove official offended neighbors in Cornelius when he suggested building a 600-foot wall next to a proposed Wal-Mart to keep shoplifters and thieves out of his community. "The implication is people from Cornelius are going to be stealing things and running into Forest Grove," Cornelius planner Catherine Sidman huffed.
Good intentions, bad timeliness: New city manager David Waffle praised the Cornelius City Council in January for posting its newsletter on the Web in both English and Spanish. He noted, however, that the newsletter currently posted was a year old.
Best sense of humor: Waffle started a weekly online briefing he called "Hot Off the Griddle."
Oh, that trip to Hawaii: Sen. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, and Sen. Bruce Starr and Rep. Derrick Kitts, both R-Hillsboro, were among legislators who got in hot water when it was revealed they violated state law by not reporting trips to Hawaii paid for by beer and wine distributors in 2002 and 2004.
It's not the Big Island, but . . . Rep. Mark Hass, D-Raleigh Hills, acknowledged that he failed to report a 2003 trip to Idaho paid for by Idaho Power Co.
Best proof history repeats itself: Al Young lost his May primary bid for Metro councilor after it came out that he owed the county nearly $13,000 in back taxes. Young, a former state representative from Hillsboro, got in trouble in 1989 for owing $25,000 in back taxes on some of the same property.
Dogs gone: Organizers of a dog show expected to draw 2,000 dogs and twice that many people pulled out of the Washington County Fair Complex after they found out the Oregon International Airshow was scheduled for the same July weekend at neighboring Hillsboro Airport.
A fair to forget: Opus Northwest dropped out of a deal to redevelop the county fairgrounds. Company officials said two years of community bickering about what should happen with the property made their job impossible.
Sir Lancelot to the rescue? A Renaissance festival company proposed a 20-year lease to put on a medieval fair, including jesters and jousters, at the fairgrounds. The deal could be worth $500,000 annually to the county.
Most animated undertaking: Nike founder Phil Knight announced plans to build a 30-acre campus in Tualatin to house his animation studio, Laika Entertainment.
In other film news: DVD rental company Netflix Inc. announced it would move its customer service operation from the Bay Area to Tanasbourne.
Best hero, confectionery division: Jake Stubbs, a Glencoe High senior, used the Heimlich maneuver to save a classmate choking on a Jolly Rancher lollipop.
Best heroes, fire division: Kevin O'Keeffe and Peter Bradshaw of Aloha were honored for saving a neighbor's life in an early morning fire. The men pounded on the front door and rescued the wheelchair-dependent resident, who was in bed, before firefighters arrived.
Best hero, primatologist division: Jane Goodall, the celebrity primate expert, named Washo Shadowhawk, a Beaverton teen, as one of her heroes for his volunteer work with Roots & Shoots and the Oregon Zoo.
The Crips, the Bloods and the Socks: Hillsboro school officials sent sophomore Luis Vargas home in October for pulling his socks to the knees, a look they say is sported by local gang members. "I don't dress like this all the time," Vargas said. "I wear nice shirts and pants. But when I wear shorts, I pull up my socks. That's just an outfit I have."
Who knew world records were like potato chips? Hillsboro set a new Guinness World Record in August for the most people wearing balloon hats at one location: 1,874. The milestone stirred hopes of fresh conquests. "We want to have more records in Guinness than any other city," said Mayor Tom Hughes, mentioning clown noses as one possibility.
High price of government screw-ups, Part I: The federal government agreed to pay Brandon Mayfield and his family $2 million for the emotional toll they suffered after the Aloha lawyer was wrongly jailed in connection with the deadly Madrid, Spain, train bombings of 2004.
High price of government screw-ups, Part II: Beaverton's legal bills approached $500,000 in its fight with Nike over public records related to annexation. The tab could grow considerably in January, depending how much of Nike's legal bills a Washington County judge orders the city to pay. The same judge ruled that city officials were in contempt of court for withholding records.
Tired of being like Mike: Allen Heckard, 51, of Northeast Portland filed suit in Washington County seeking more than $800 million from Michael Jordan and Nike founder Phil Knight. Heckard claimed his resemblance to the NBA star had denied him "the right to live a normal life." A few weeks later, Heckard dropped the suit.
The show must go on: A vintage British jet fighter crashed seconds after taking off from the Oregon International Airshow in July. The crash killed the pilot, destroyed one house and damaged three others near Hillsboro Airport. After months of debate, air show organizers vowed the show would return next summer and announced in December that the U.S. Navy Blue Angels would be the headliners.
Best real-life Mr. Chips: Intel donated nearly $207,000 to Washington County public schools to match volunteer hours its employees contributed. The company also donated 200 Gateway laptops valued at $350,000 to a pilot technology program at four schools, including Tom McCall Upper Elementary School in Forest Grove.
No velvet Elvis: Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette earned $165,002 when it auctioned a donated painting from its Hillsboro store. What was thought to be cheap yard-sale art turned out to be painted by Frank Weston Benson, a French-trained American impressionist.
Most valedictorians: Westview High School named every senior who earned a 4.0 grade-point average a valedictorian: 75 students shared the honor.
Most new combinations: Tigard High School had to change 2,000 locker combinations after a 17-year-old student hacked into the school's computer system and posted locker combinations online, along with teachers' home addresses, phone numbers and e-mail passwords.
Easing the road to college: In February, the Beaverton School District became the first in Oregon to pay for all its high-schoolers to take ACT exams, which most colleges and universities accept for admission. Nearly 9,000 students took the tests.
Easing the road to, um, Wilsonville: Construction started in October on a 14.7-mile commuter rail line between Beaverton and Wilsonville.
Most generous: Voters in the November election agreed to open their wallets, passing bond measures in the Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts, as well as county levies to pay for public safety and libraries.
Worst news for homeowners: Residents of three Cedar Hills manufactured home parks, totaling 218 spaces, joined mobile home owners throughout the county in finding out they would lose their spaces in the next year. Development pressure makes the land more valuable for other uses, but it's often impossible to find new sites for older homes.
Little people, big audience: TLC, The Learning Channel, made stars of Helvetia residents Matt and Amy Roloff and their four children in a cable reality show called "Little People, Big World." By the end of the year, more than 1.6 million viewers were tuning in to watch the adventures of the family that includes three members who have dwarfism.
Little people, big accident: A pumpkin-chunkin' event turned dangerous for the Roloffs when a trebuchet, a catapultlike machine used to launch pumpkins, injured their 9-year-old son and the man who helped build the device.
Worst dating strategy: An Aloha woman was sentenced to probation and community service after she called 9-1-1, wanting the name of the deputy who had knocked on her door after neighbors complained her music was too loud. The 45-year-old woman told the emergency dispatcher the deputy was "the cutest cop I've seen in God knows how long." The deputy returned and arrested her for improper use of the 9-1-1 emergency system.
Worst spurned lover: Albertson's managers asked a customer to quit coming to the Peterkort store after his attentions and love letters made a clerk uncomfortable. The thwarted Romeo responded by slashing tires on 56 cars in the parking lot.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Hearing petition surprises Tigard officials
from The Oregonian, by Kate Taylor
SUMMARY: Lukus Glenn Supporters of the teen who was shot by officers seek a public hearing
Tigard City officials on Wednesday are baffled by a 1,060-signature petition calling for a public hearing on the police-shooting death of Lukus Glenn. The officials received the petition at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
An estimated 50 family members, friends and classmates of the 18-year-old former Tigard High School football star packed the council meeting. During public commentary, they expressed their concern over police actions in the Sept. 16 death.
"We are appalled by the response of police during this particular situation," read one of the petitions, signed by nine students of Wilson High School. "We feel that other actions could have been taken which could have prevented this wrongful death. This needless loss of life should not be tolerated or overlooked."
Washington County sheriff's deputies responded to the Glenn home in unincorporated Washington County north of Tigard after reports that the drunken teen armed with a pocket knife was breaking windows and threatening himself and others. Within about four minutes, a Tigard police officer fired non-lethal beanbag rounds at Glenn and two sheriff's deputies shot him to death.
On Wednesday, Mayor Craig Dirksen said councilors had not talked about the petition but he doesn't believe it's the city's place to take a stand.
"I guess I'm glad that the people felt free to come and talk to us, that they would consider it an avenue," Dirksen said. "I don't know that it resulted in any satisfaction on their part."
Dirksen said that the shooting happened outside city limits and that Tigard police were not the primary agency involved.
Members of Lukus Glenn's family could not be reached Wednesday for comment. But Larry Peterson, a Lake Oswego attorney representing the family, remained critical of Tigard, saying that the officials could help see that justice is done.
"The response (at Tuesday's meeting) was 'Yeah, we'll look at it again.' It was real namby-pamby," Peterson said. The city is shirking responsibility, he said, because a Tigard police officer was involved in the shooting, the city funds and oversees its police and because the city is charged with answering questions asked by its citizens.
In October, the district attorney's office upheld the officers' actions and declined to send the case to a grand jury. The Glenn family asked Tigard and the Washington County Board of Commissioners to hold a public inquest into the shooting, but the county commissioners refused.
Thursday, November 2, 2006
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - 11/2/2006
Who furnished the alcohol?
Everyone is saddened for all involved in the tragic loss of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn. I try not to pass judgment on anyone involved because I wasn't there.
However, the piece by the Glenns' attorney, Lawrence K. Peterson ("The public deserves more than silence," Oct. 31), bashing Washington County for its silence and not "focusing on the larger picture" was the last straw for me.
Glenn's drunken state was the major contributing factor in his death, and no less so than if he had died wrapping his car around a utility pole. His blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for an adult, which he was not. There is no legal limit for a teenager.
If the Glenns and their attorney truly want to focus on the "larger picture," then they ought to be demanding to know who furnished the alcohol Lukus drank. The event that unfolded in the Glenns' front yard was the tragic consequence of someone else's illegal and irresponsible actions.
MARY BETH BUFFUM
Northwest Portland
Everyone is saddened for all involved in the tragic loss of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn. I try not to pass judgment on anyone involved because I wasn't there.
However, the piece by the Glenns' attorney, Lawrence K. Peterson ("The public deserves more than silence," Oct. 31), bashing Washington County for its silence and not "focusing on the larger picture" was the last straw for me.
Glenn's drunken state was the major contributing factor in his death, and no less so than if he had died wrapping his car around a utility pole. His blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for an adult, which he was not. There is no legal limit for a teenager.
If the Glenns and their attorney truly want to focus on the "larger picture," then they ought to be demanding to know who furnished the alcohol Lukus drank. The event that unfolded in the Glenns' front yard was the tragic consequence of someone else's illegal and irresponsible actions.
MARY BETH BUFFUM
Northwest Portland
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
IN MY OPINION - THE DEATH OF LUKUS GLENN - The public deserves more than silence
Special to The Oregonian, Lawrence K. Peterson
I represent the family of Lukus Glenn, the 18-year-old who was shot and killed last month by Washington County sheriff's deputies shortly after his mother called 9-1-1 for help in dealing with her drunk, distressed son.
Because of numerous public misrepresentations by Washington County officials, Lukus' parents, Hope and Brad Glenn, have sought to have a further conversation within the community about their son's death, a conversation between the public and law enforcement to help all of us understand the role of emergency services. Why? Because in Hope's words, "They didn't have to shoot him; we just asked for help."
Local citizens invest millions of dollars annually in law enforcement and 9-1-1 services. Local government is responsible to see that the money is well spent and that police power is not abused. City halls and county boards certainly should have a voice after such incidents and should provide a forum through which the public, the families of those affected and law enforcement can be heard.
But some in law enforcement don't see it that way. Former Portland police officer C.W. Jensen argued in a letter to the editor in The Oregonian that the lay public doesn't understand such incidents because they are not experts and have never faced violent confrontations. In an article in the October "Rap Sheet" from the Portland Police Association, retired Capt. James Harvey rails against "armchair quarterbacks" and mockingly suggests that people should call columnist Steve Duin or The Oregonian's offices "to deal with the violence," as if this bit of curious wit ends the discussion. In the same edition, PPA president and police officer Robert King rebukes any request for a public inquest as "outdated, unnecessary and destructive" because of the "community's failure to understand us."
The last time I checked, Steve Duin and The Oregonian are in business to report and comment on news and events, while law enforcement officials have sworn to protect and to serve. It is simply arrogant to state that those people you are sworn to protect and serve --and who are taxed for your paycheck --should not have the right to voice their concerns.
In the Glenn case, the family looked forward to a grand jury hearing. None was convened. They were told to wait for the official reports. They did. What they found was that the officers had inaccurately described the facts regarding Lukus' death --specifically that there was a long gap between when beanbag rounds were fired and when the lethal rounds were fired. The Washington County district attorney accepted the officers' version of the events, even though an audio recording of that night clearly contradicts that version, showing that there was no gap between the beanbag rounds and the lethal fire.
Despite pointing out the plain inaccuracy of the DA's report, the family's questions have been met with deafening silence from public officials.
It doesn't require a history of experience with violent confrontation to listen to a tape recording --or from that to question the actions of law enforcement. Asking legitimate questions is the public's right, and it is the government's obligation to answer.
Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer got a lot of it right in her opinion piece last week ("A time to focus on the broader issues," Oct. 25). This is the time to "focus on the larger picture" in review of emergency services. It is not the time to fall behind the closed ranks of the "thin blue line" and hope the questions go away.
An open, transparent review of the facts surrounding Lukus Glenn's death is a constructive step in the process of administering emergency services and restoring the public's confidence in the 9-1-1 system. It's not the first time that a family of a troubled, drunken teen has called for help. And it won't be the last.
Lawrence K. Peterson is an attorney representing the Glenn family.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Deputy kills man who grabs for rifle
from The Oregonian, by Lisa Grace Lednicer
SUMMARY: Tualatin Officers say an apartment intruder fights, then breaks away despite Taser use and beanbag rounds
TUALATIN --A Washington County sheriff's deputy shot and killed an intruder early Sunday morning after Taser shocks and beanbag rounds failed to subdue him, and the man tried to reach for the officer's weapon, police said.
Deputies were still trying to identify the man Sunday afternoon, said Sgt. David Thompson, spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
The incident began shortly before midnight when the man broke into a woman's apartment, Thompson said.
The fatal shooting was the second involving Washington County deputies in recent weeks, following the Sept. 16 shooting of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn outside his parents' Metzger home.
Thompson gave the following account of Sunday's incident at the Woodridge apartment complex:
Just before 11:50 p.m. Saturday, a 29-year-old woman awoke on the couch of her ground-floor apartment in the 11900 block of Southwest Tualatin Road and found a man touching her. She ordered him to leave.
When the man refused, the woman grabbed her cell phone and ran into her 8-year-old daughter's bedroom at the back of the apartment. She leaned against the door to keep it shut, but the man overpowered her, followed her into the room and began attacking her. Nevertheless, the woman was able to call 9-1-1, Thompson said. She sustained minor injuries, and her daughter was not hurt.
A Tualatin police officer responded to the call, fought with the man --who had taken a kitchen knife from the apartment --and fired a Taser gun to shock him, to no effect, Thompson said. Next, a Sherwood police officer arrived and ordered the man to the ground. When he refused to obey, the officer fired beanbag rounds at the man, which didn't slow him.
As the fight spilled out of the apartment, the man ran across Southwest Tualatin Road onto a grassy knoll. When a Washington County sheriff's deputy arrived, the man ran toward him. The deputy ordered him to stop, but he didn't, so the deputy fired a Taser gun.
Undeterred, the man opened the driver's side door and tried to grab an MP-5 rifle mounted between the front seats, Thompson said. The deputy shot the intruder several times, and the man slumped against the side of the car, then reached inside again. The deputy shot him, and the man collapsed outside the car and died, Thompson said.
Thompson declined to release the names of the woman and the three officers. The officers are on paid administrative leave while officials investigate the incident.
It was not known how the man entered the woman's apartment. The woman told police she did not know him.
The apartment complex is on a stretch of Southwest Tualatin Road lined with office parks and young trees. The complex has a pool and playground, and residents said violent events such as Sunday morning's are atypical.
"Every once in a while you get a police car, but nothing major like this," said Claudia Thomas, a retired bookkeeper who lives at the complex. "It's usually pretty quiet."
SUMMARY: Tualatin Officers say an apartment intruder fights, then breaks away despite Taser use and beanbag rounds
TUALATIN --A Washington County sheriff's deputy shot and killed an intruder early Sunday morning after Taser shocks and beanbag rounds failed to subdue him, and the man tried to reach for the officer's weapon, police said.
Deputies were still trying to identify the man Sunday afternoon, said Sgt. David Thompson, spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
The incident began shortly before midnight when the man broke into a woman's apartment, Thompson said.
The fatal shooting was the second involving Washington County deputies in recent weeks, following the Sept. 16 shooting of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn outside his parents' Metzger home.
Thompson gave the following account of Sunday's incident at the Woodridge apartment complex:
Just before 11:50 p.m. Saturday, a 29-year-old woman awoke on the couch of her ground-floor apartment in the 11900 block of Southwest Tualatin Road and found a man touching her. She ordered him to leave.
When the man refused, the woman grabbed her cell phone and ran into her 8-year-old daughter's bedroom at the back of the apartment. She leaned against the door to keep it shut, but the man overpowered her, followed her into the room and began attacking her. Nevertheless, the woman was able to call 9-1-1, Thompson said. She sustained minor injuries, and her daughter was not hurt.
A Tualatin police officer responded to the call, fought with the man --who had taken a kitchen knife from the apartment --and fired a Taser gun to shock him, to no effect, Thompson said. Next, a Sherwood police officer arrived and ordered the man to the ground. When he refused to obey, the officer fired beanbag rounds at the man, which didn't slow him.
As the fight spilled out of the apartment, the man ran across Southwest Tualatin Road onto a grassy knoll. When a Washington County sheriff's deputy arrived, the man ran toward him. The deputy ordered him to stop, but he didn't, so the deputy fired a Taser gun.
Undeterred, the man opened the driver's side door and tried to grab an MP-5 rifle mounted between the front seats, Thompson said. The deputy shot the intruder several times, and the man slumped against the side of the car, then reached inside again. The deputy shot him, and the man collapsed outside the car and died, Thompson said.
Thompson declined to release the names of the woman and the three officers. The officers are on paid administrative leave while officials investigate the incident.
It was not known how the man entered the woman's apartment. The woman told police she did not know him.
The apartment complex is on a stretch of Southwest Tualatin Road lined with office parks and young trees. The complex has a pool and playground, and residents said violent events such as Sunday morning's are atypical.
"Every once in a while you get a police car, but nothing major like this," said Claudia Thomas, a retired bookkeeper who lives at the complex. "It's usually pretty quiet."
Friday, October 20, 2006
Parents' lawyer challenges DA's view
from The Oregonian, by Kate Taylor
SUMMARY: Glenn death The attorney says deputies were too quick to fire at the Tigard-area youth
LAKE OSWEGO -- An attorney for the parents of a Tigard-area youth shot dead last month by Washington County sheriff's deputies said on Thursday the district attorney's review of the shooting was flawed.
In particular, Lake Oswego attorney Larry Peterson said deputies were too quick to fire at Lukus Glenn, 18, who had just been shot with beanbag rounds. He also said that Glenn was not running away, but instead reeling from the impact of the beanbag rounds when the deputies fired.
Police on Sept. 16 shot Glenn after his mother called 9-1-1, saying he was drunk, out of control and threatening the family. Deputies Mikhail Gerba and Tim Mateski and Tigard police officer Andrew Pastore confronted Glenn outside the home, and when he refused to drop a pocket knife, the officer shot him with bean bags and then the two deputies opened fire as Glenn moved toward the house.
Hope Glenn on Thursday blinked back tears as Peterson played the 9-1-1 tape of her son's shooting to a roomful of reporters in the attorney's office.
Holding up his fingers as the sound of beanbag rounds and then live rounds filled the room, Peterson told reporters to note that there was no gap between the beanbag shots and the bullets fired by the two sheriff's deputies.
"Where is the time gap?" Peterson asked. "Where is the time gap? There is no time gap. Citizens of Washington County should be able to rely on their 9-1-1 system and the law enforcement community."
In post-shooting interviews, Peterson said, police gave conflicting accounts of how much time elapsed. Peterson emphasized Gerba's version that Lukus Glenn exchanged words with his father, grandmother and police between the beanbag rounds and before the shots were fired. Peterson compared that with Pastore's comments that three to five seconds passed after he shot beanbag volleys and the deputies finished firing their guns.
Peterson also said he believed that --counter to what police have said in interviews --Glenn never ran toward his house, but was propelled by bean bags.
Sitting with her husband, Brad Glenn, Hope Glenn continued to press for a public inquest for the sake of the lessons the case holds.
"I don't think it should happen to anybody else," she said. "It didn't have to happen that way."
The shooting has raised questions in the community about police use of deadly force.
"We are training officers to be very active in the use of firearms as a first resort and certainly not as a last resort," Peterson said. "There are alternatives, and they should be reviewed and pursued."
Last week, Deputy District Attorney Rob Bletko decided not to send the case to a grand jury because, he said, he didn't find criminal misconduct in police actions.
Thursday, Peterson said Bletko's analysis was based on a flawed investigation.
But on Thursday, Bletko said a different timeline of shots fired would not have altered his decision.
"If (Peterson) thinks the shots are closer together than the tape clearly indicates . . . that doesn't affect my decision," Bletko said. "It happened quickly. It doesn't take long to turn and move in a particular direction. But that doesn't change my decision."
At the news conference, Peterson --who wrote a letter to the Washington County Board of Commissioners and the city of Tigard Oct. 5 requesting a public inquest --criticized officials of those agencies for their silence.
"The legal counsel is reviewing the situation . . ., said Washington County Chairman Tom Brian. "The board is in limbo waiting and really can't comment further."
Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen said Thursday afternoon that he had received Peterson's letter, but that he and members of the City Council didn't feel it was appropriate to respond.
"I guess I don't feel it's our place to do that. It really involves the Washington County Sheriff's Department and they need to be the ones to respond," Dirksen said. "If a decision was made to do an inquest, though, we would, of course, cooperate."
SUMMARY: Glenn death The attorney says deputies were too quick to fire at the Tigard-area youth
LAKE OSWEGO -- An attorney for the parents of a Tigard-area youth shot dead last month by Washington County sheriff's deputies said on Thursday the district attorney's review of the shooting was flawed.
In particular, Lake Oswego attorney Larry Peterson said deputies were too quick to fire at Lukus Glenn, 18, who had just been shot with beanbag rounds. He also said that Glenn was not running away, but instead reeling from the impact of the beanbag rounds when the deputies fired.
Police on Sept. 16 shot Glenn after his mother called 9-1-1, saying he was drunk, out of control and threatening the family. Deputies Mikhail Gerba and Tim Mateski and Tigard police officer Andrew Pastore confronted Glenn outside the home, and when he refused to drop a pocket knife, the officer shot him with bean bags and then the two deputies opened fire as Glenn moved toward the house.
Hope Glenn on Thursday blinked back tears as Peterson played the 9-1-1 tape of her son's shooting to a roomful of reporters in the attorney's office.
Holding up his fingers as the sound of beanbag rounds and then live rounds filled the room, Peterson told reporters to note that there was no gap between the beanbag shots and the bullets fired by the two sheriff's deputies.
"Where is the time gap?" Peterson asked. "Where is the time gap? There is no time gap. Citizens of Washington County should be able to rely on their 9-1-1 system and the law enforcement community."
In post-shooting interviews, Peterson said, police gave conflicting accounts of how much time elapsed. Peterson emphasized Gerba's version that Lukus Glenn exchanged words with his father, grandmother and police between the beanbag rounds and before the shots were fired. Peterson compared that with Pastore's comments that three to five seconds passed after he shot beanbag volleys and the deputies finished firing their guns.
Peterson also said he believed that --counter to what police have said in interviews --Glenn never ran toward his house, but was propelled by bean bags.
Sitting with her husband, Brad Glenn, Hope Glenn continued to press for a public inquest for the sake of the lessons the case holds.
"I don't think it should happen to anybody else," she said. "It didn't have to happen that way."
The shooting has raised questions in the community about police use of deadly force.
"We are training officers to be very active in the use of firearms as a first resort and certainly not as a last resort," Peterson said. "There are alternatives, and they should be reviewed and pursued."
Last week, Deputy District Attorney Rob Bletko decided not to send the case to a grand jury because, he said, he didn't find criminal misconduct in police actions.
Thursday, Peterson said Bletko's analysis was based on a flawed investigation.
But on Thursday, Bletko said a different timeline of shots fired would not have altered his decision.
"If (Peterson) thinks the shots are closer together than the tape clearly indicates . . . that doesn't affect my decision," Bletko said. "It happened quickly. It doesn't take long to turn and move in a particular direction. But that doesn't change my decision."
At the news conference, Peterson --who wrote a letter to the Washington County Board of Commissioners and the city of Tigard Oct. 5 requesting a public inquest --criticized officials of those agencies for their silence.
"The legal counsel is reviewing the situation . . ., said Washington County Chairman Tom Brian. "The board is in limbo waiting and really can't comment further."
Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen said Thursday afternoon that he had received Peterson's letter, but that he and members of the City Council didn't feel it was appropriate to respond.
"I guess I don't feel it's our place to do that. It really involves the Washington County Sheriff's Department and they need to be the ones to respond," Dirksen said. "If a decision was made to do an inquest, though, we would, of course, cooperate."
Saturday, October 14, 2006
EDITORIAL: Teen's death demands public illumination
from The Oregonian
Last month, The Oregonian's Dana Tims reported that the fatal police shooting of a Tigard-area teenager had unfolded in accordance with standard operating procedure ("Experts say shooting death of teen went 'by the book,' " Sept. 20). Understandably, a collective shudder rippled through the region. It was as if people muttered in unison: Well, if that's so, then it's time to throw away the book.
Of course, that's an over-reaction. Of course, hindsight is 20-20. And of course, law enforcement officers have to make split-second decisions to protect themselves and other people from harm.
On Sept. 16, when officers arrived at the home of Lukus Glenn, they'd been advised that the distraught 18-year-old had made some threats against his family. At least one officer feared Glenn might rush inside and take a hostage.
Few of us would question what happened next if Glenn had been armed with a gun. If he'd refused to put that weapon down, you could understand why officers felt they had to shoot him. His death would be a sad, but straightforward, example of "suicide by cop."
But the former high school football and soccer star was armed with a pocketknife. Surely, there was a better way to approach Glenn that night. Surely, there was a better way --or at least a way --for the three officers at the scene to resolve the situation without gunfire.
This week, the Washington County district attorney's office ruled that the shooting death was legally justifiable. There is no need, the DA's office concluded, even for a grand jury to review the evidence. This ruling does not begin to put questions about Glenn's death to rest. If anything, the ruling confirms the inadequacy of the legal apparatus invoked after a police-involved death. That apparatus is set up to ask and answer a narrow question: Did the officers involved commit a crime?
Almost always, the answer is no. True, the Washington County Sheriff's Office has embarked on an administrative review of what happened, which could be very valuable. But like a ruling from a district attorney's office, no internal review can substitute for a public and independent airing of the facts.
What law enforcement colleagues decide about each other's actions is inherently suspect. It's too easy for them to sympathize with each other, defend and justify whatever happened. Only a public inquest can assure the public that the most painful questions about a death haven't been sidestepped.
What the public wants to know is: How could this death have been avoided? What could, and should, the law enforcement officers involved have done differently? If Glenn's death went by the book, then the book jeopardizes public safety.
We may not be able to throw it out, but we certainly need to change it.
Last month, The Oregonian's Dana Tims reported that the fatal police shooting of a Tigard-area teenager had unfolded in accordance with standard operating procedure ("Experts say shooting death of teen went 'by the book,' " Sept. 20). Understandably, a collective shudder rippled through the region. It was as if people muttered in unison: Well, if that's so, then it's time to throw away the book.
Of course, that's an over-reaction. Of course, hindsight is 20-20. And of course, law enforcement officers have to make split-second decisions to protect themselves and other people from harm.
On Sept. 16, when officers arrived at the home of Lukus Glenn, they'd been advised that the distraught 18-year-old had made some threats against his family. At least one officer feared Glenn might rush inside and take a hostage.
Few of us would question what happened next if Glenn had been armed with a gun. If he'd refused to put that weapon down, you could understand why officers felt they had to shoot him. His death would be a sad, but straightforward, example of "suicide by cop."
But the former high school football and soccer star was armed with a pocketknife. Surely, there was a better way to approach Glenn that night. Surely, there was a better way --or at least a way --for the three officers at the scene to resolve the situation without gunfire.
This week, the Washington County district attorney's office ruled that the shooting death was legally justifiable. There is no need, the DA's office concluded, even for a grand jury to review the evidence. This ruling does not begin to put questions about Glenn's death to rest. If anything, the ruling confirms the inadequacy of the legal apparatus invoked after a police-involved death. That apparatus is set up to ask and answer a narrow question: Did the officers involved commit a crime?
Almost always, the answer is no. True, the Washington County Sheriff's Office has embarked on an administrative review of what happened, which could be very valuable. But like a ruling from a district attorney's office, no internal review can substitute for a public and independent airing of the facts.
What law enforcement colleagues decide about each other's actions is inherently suspect. It's too easy for them to sympathize with each other, defend and justify whatever happened. Only a public inquest can assure the public that the most painful questions about a death haven't been sidestepped.
What the public wants to know is: How could this death have been avoided? What could, and should, the law enforcement officers involved have done differently? If Glenn's death went by the book, then the book jeopardizes public safety.
We may not be able to throw it out, but we certainly need to change it.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Police shooting 'legally justified'
The Oregonian, by Dana Tims and Kate Taylor
SUMMARY: Lukus Glenn The district attorney finds no cause for a grand jury in the death of a Tigard-area young man
HILLSBORO --The Washington County district attorney's office finished investigating the Sept. 16 shooting death of a Tigard-area youth Wednesday, calling the incident "tragic" but "legally justified."
Lukus Glenn's family, however, is not done with the case. On Wednesday, his mother and attorney criticized the decision and said they are considering a lawsuit.
As sheriff's officials launched an administrative review into deadly force policies and training Wednesday, members of the Glenn family renewed their call for a public inquest. They said they were disappointed that a grand jury would not look into the incident in which two Washington County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Glenn, 18, after he refused to put down a knife.
Hope Glenn called 9-1-1 about 3 a.m. that morning, saying her son was drunk, out of control and threatening the family. Minutes later, three officers arrived at the family's house. When the youth refused to drop the knife, an officer shot him with bean bags before the deputies opened fire as he moved toward the home.
"We're disappointed with the decision," said Larry K. Peterson, attorney for the Glenn family. He said he plans today to say more about the district attorney's decision and added that "all options are open" when asked whether the family plans to file a civil lawsuit.
The district attorney's office released several hundred pages of investigative notes, charts, interviews and medical reports Wednesday morning detailing the days, and minutes, that culminated in Glenn's early morning death.
"I have concluded that the shooting of Mr. Glenn, while tragic, was legally justified," wrote Rob Bletko, the county's chief deputy district attorney, in a letter to Washington County Sheriff Rob Gordon.
"The material facts surrounding the shooting are not in dispute. There is no good reason to believe that the deputies committed a crime, and therefore a grand jury review in this case is not warranted."
In a separate interview Wednesday, Bletko said he could find no legal basis for holding the public inquest Peterson called for late last week.
Statutory provisions for public inquests rest largely on whether key facts are in question, Bletko said. Those most often focus on disputes over the identity of the deceased, the determination of where and when a person died, and the cause and manner of death.
"In this particular case," he said, "all of the questions at issue are very clear. The medical examiner's report and supporting documents answer every one of those."
Peterson, however, said family members and friends of Glenn's, who were present during the brief but heated encounter with deputies Mikhail Gerba and Tim Mateski and Tigard police patrol officer Andrew Pastore, disagree with a number of the investigation's findings.
They dispute, for instance, deputies' contention that Glenn was shot only after he started running toward the house, where his mother, father and grandmother looked on.
Hope Glenn, Lukus Glenn's mother, said on Wednesday that her son was slowly staggering, not running, toward the house's front door. She has in the past told investigators that her son was trying to move around the side of the house to get away from the bean bags.
In interviews with investigators, all three officers at the scene said that Glenn, armed with a knife, either "ran" or "bolted" toward the house, even after Pastore shot him with at least five nonlethal bean bag rounds.
Shots' timing questioned
Family members and friends also said that the brief pause between the bean bags and the bullets was far too short for the officers to adequately evaluate the effects of the bean bags.
"They both shot simultaneously," Hope Glenn said. "You can hear that on the (9-1-1) tape."
Gerba, explaining why he opened fire so soon after the bean bags were used, again referred to Lukus Glenn's speed moving toward the residence, telling investigators, "I felt that we were either going to have a hostage situation or he was going to kill somebody in the house."
The bean bags themselves, he said, appeared to have little or no effect on Glenn.
"From what I looked at it, it looked like somebody just tossed something and just bounced off of him," Gerba said.
He added that the situation escalated so quickly that the officers had no time to discuss tactics or defensive strategies, such as positioning themselves between Glenn and the house or ordering the family to evacuate the house through a back door.
"I'm thinking, let's wait for more officers to get here," Gerba told investigators. "We need to come up with a plan."
Only seconds later, the fatal shots were fired, with Gerba shooting four times and Mateski seven. A total of eight bullets struck Glenn, according to medical reports, with two of those shots doing enough damage to be fatal.
Sheriff starts review
The Washington County Sheriff's Office has launched an administrative review into the shooting, said Chief Deputy Pat Garrett.
Since the district attorney's office determined the deputies violated no laws, the review will address additional or different tools, training or policies that could be used to help with similar situations, Garrett said.
The sheriff's office, he added, will consider bringing in nationally recognized experts and may accept suggestions from the public on the scope of the review.
Lt. John Black, the sheriff's training leader and expert in the use of force, said the failure of the bean bags to disable Glenn will be studied. He described the bean bags as 2-inch-wide bags filled with pellets that are packed into a shotgun and, when fired, travel at a rate of more than 400 feet per second.
"It's like getting hit with a hardball," Black said.
Deputies Gerba and Mateski returned to work several days ago, said Sgt. Michael O'Connell, head of the county's Major Crimes Team. Both deputies have received department-provided psychological assistance considered mandatory following fatal shootings, he said. They will continue to be evaluated in coming months.
"It's clear the events of the night of the 16th have been and will continue to be devastating to everyone involved," Garrett said.
Holly Danks of The Oregonian staff contributed to this story.
SUMMARY: Lukus Glenn The district attorney finds no cause for a grand jury in the death of a Tigard-area young man
HILLSBORO --The Washington County district attorney's office finished investigating the Sept. 16 shooting death of a Tigard-area youth Wednesday, calling the incident "tragic" but "legally justified."
Lukus Glenn's family, however, is not done with the case. On Wednesday, his mother and attorney criticized the decision and said they are considering a lawsuit.
As sheriff's officials launched an administrative review into deadly force policies and training Wednesday, members of the Glenn family renewed their call for a public inquest. They said they were disappointed that a grand jury would not look into the incident in which two Washington County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Glenn, 18, after he refused to put down a knife.
Hope Glenn called 9-1-1 about 3 a.m. that morning, saying her son was drunk, out of control and threatening the family. Minutes later, three officers arrived at the family's house. When the youth refused to drop the knife, an officer shot him with bean bags before the deputies opened fire as he moved toward the home.
"We're disappointed with the decision," said Larry K. Peterson, attorney for the Glenn family. He said he plans today to say more about the district attorney's decision and added that "all options are open" when asked whether the family plans to file a civil lawsuit.
The district attorney's office released several hundred pages of investigative notes, charts, interviews and medical reports Wednesday morning detailing the days, and minutes, that culminated in Glenn's early morning death.
"I have concluded that the shooting of Mr. Glenn, while tragic, was legally justified," wrote Rob Bletko, the county's chief deputy district attorney, in a letter to Washington County Sheriff Rob Gordon.
"The material facts surrounding the shooting are not in dispute. There is no good reason to believe that the deputies committed a crime, and therefore a grand jury review in this case is not warranted."
In a separate interview Wednesday, Bletko said he could find no legal basis for holding the public inquest Peterson called for late last week.
Statutory provisions for public inquests rest largely on whether key facts are in question, Bletko said. Those most often focus on disputes over the identity of the deceased, the determination of where and when a person died, and the cause and manner of death.
"In this particular case," he said, "all of the questions at issue are very clear. The medical examiner's report and supporting documents answer every one of those."
Peterson, however, said family members and friends of Glenn's, who were present during the brief but heated encounter with deputies Mikhail Gerba and Tim Mateski and Tigard police patrol officer Andrew Pastore, disagree with a number of the investigation's findings.
They dispute, for instance, deputies' contention that Glenn was shot only after he started running toward the house, where his mother, father and grandmother looked on.
Hope Glenn, Lukus Glenn's mother, said on Wednesday that her son was slowly staggering, not running, toward the house's front door. She has in the past told investigators that her son was trying to move around the side of the house to get away from the bean bags.
In interviews with investigators, all three officers at the scene said that Glenn, armed with a knife, either "ran" or "bolted" toward the house, even after Pastore shot him with at least five nonlethal bean bag rounds.
Shots' timing questioned
Family members and friends also said that the brief pause between the bean bags and the bullets was far too short for the officers to adequately evaluate the effects of the bean bags.
"They both shot simultaneously," Hope Glenn said. "You can hear that on the (9-1-1) tape."
Gerba, explaining why he opened fire so soon after the bean bags were used, again referred to Lukus Glenn's speed moving toward the residence, telling investigators, "I felt that we were either going to have a hostage situation or he was going to kill somebody in the house."
The bean bags themselves, he said, appeared to have little or no effect on Glenn.
"From what I looked at it, it looked like somebody just tossed something and just bounced off of him," Gerba said.
He added that the situation escalated so quickly that the officers had no time to discuss tactics or defensive strategies, such as positioning themselves between Glenn and the house or ordering the family to evacuate the house through a back door.
"I'm thinking, let's wait for more officers to get here," Gerba told investigators. "We need to come up with a plan."
Only seconds later, the fatal shots were fired, with Gerba shooting four times and Mateski seven. A total of eight bullets struck Glenn, according to medical reports, with two of those shots doing enough damage to be fatal.
Sheriff starts review
The Washington County Sheriff's Office has launched an administrative review into the shooting, said Chief Deputy Pat Garrett.
Since the district attorney's office determined the deputies violated no laws, the review will address additional or different tools, training or policies that could be used to help with similar situations, Garrett said.
The sheriff's office, he added, will consider bringing in nationally recognized experts and may accept suggestions from the public on the scope of the review.
Lt. John Black, the sheriff's training leader and expert in the use of force, said the failure of the bean bags to disable Glenn will be studied. He described the bean bags as 2-inch-wide bags filled with pellets that are packed into a shotgun and, when fired, travel at a rate of more than 400 feet per second.
"It's like getting hit with a hardball," Black said.
Deputies Gerba and Mateski returned to work several days ago, said Sgt. Michael O'Connell, head of the county's Major Crimes Team. Both deputies have received department-provided psychological assistance considered mandatory following fatal shootings, he said. They will continue to be evaluated in coming months.
"It's clear the events of the night of the 16th have been and will continue to be devastating to everyone involved," Garrett said.
Holly Danks of The Oregonian staff contributed to this story.
What's next
from The Oregonian
What happened: The Washington County district attorney's office said Wednesday it found that two sheriff's office deputies acted legally when they shot and killed Lukus Glenn, 18, outside his Tigard-area home Sept. 16.
What it means: Criminal charges will not be considered by a grand jury. The district attorney's office also declined to hold a public inquest sought by family members of Lukus Glenn.
What's ahead: The sheriff's office will launch an administrative review of the shooting that will focus on whether new or additional tools or policies may be useful in preventing similar outcomes in the future. Glenn's family is considering filing a civil suit stemming from the shooting.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Police faceoff ends with fatal shots
from The Oregonian, by Jill Rehkopf Smith
SUMMARY: Forest Grove A 45-year-old with a gun in each hand walks out of his apartment and confronts officers
FOREST GROVE --A 45-year-old man was shot and killed by officers Sunday night after police said he confronted them outside his apartment with a gun in each hand.
Forest Grove police identified the man as Neil Bruce Marcy. Three officers were involved in the shooting at the College Place Apartments, 2607 21st Ave.
"In terms of whether this was an attempted 'suicide by cop,' we're certainly looking at that as a possibility," said Capt. Aaron Ashbaugh, spokesman for the Forest Grove Police Department. "There's no question that he wanted to engage the police."
Barney Cogswell, who was staying next door with Ed and Donna Johnson in an apartment that now has bullet holes in the walls, said he heard police yelling, "Put down your guns!" and Marcy shouting, "You put yours down first."
Cogswell and the Johnsons were among those evacuated by police after the incident began.
The incident shocked neighbors, who described Marcy, a machine-shop worker who lived alone, as friendly and responsible. However, bartenders at a neighborhood tavern said Marcy could cause problems when he was drinking.
Ashbaugh could not confirm whether the investigation into Marcy's death will include testing for drugs or alcohol. The state medical examiner's office did not return calls for comment.
According to Ashbaugh, someone called
9-1-1 about 10:50 p.m. to report something about a shooting before quickly hanging up. Ashbaugh declined to say who made the call and said the Washington County Major Crimes Team, which is investigating the shooting, would release that information later.
When police arrived at the complex, they began taking cover, positioning themselves around Marcy's apartment and trying to talk him into a peaceful solution.
About 11:35 p.m., police saw Marcy walk outside with a pistol in his hand, fire it into the air and return inside, Ashbaugh said.
About 11:50 p.m., Marcy walked out the apartment door with a gun in each hand, Ashbaugh said. When Marcy raised his hands, officers shot and killed him. It is unclear how many shots were fired.
"It almost sounded like machine-gun fire," said Gary Alexander, who lives a few houses away from the apartment complex.
Two of the officers involved in the shooting were from the Forest Grove Police Department and one from the Cornelius Police Department. Following standard practice, the officers are on paid leave for about 10 days, Ashbaugh said. The names of the officers involved in the shooting will not be released until the Major Crimes Team finishes its investigation.
Marcy's death follows the shooting of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn by Washington County sheriff's deputies in Metzger last month. Deputies responded to the Glenn home Sept. 16 after reports that the intoxicated teen, armed with a pocket knife, was threatening others and himself.
Marcy had lived at the apartment complex for about two years, Ashbaugh said. According to public records, Marcy did not have a criminal history.
Neighbors described him as sociable and friendly. He brought food to last year's Thanksgiving celebration at the apartment complex. And he had befriended a stray cat. Monday morning, a dish with water and cat food still sat outside Marcy's apartment door.
Neighbors said Marcy has a sister who visited him frequently and also has an 18-year-old son.
The Johnsons sat outside Saturday night enjoying a beer with Marcy. They said he was talking about his job and was excited about switching companies and getting better pay. He was always respectful, Ed Johnson said: "He didn't cuss or anything."
But bartenders at the Circle Inn Tavern saw a different side.
Bartender Hannah Coates used to see Marcy every Saturday night when she worked the night shift months ago.
"He usually drank double shots of (Jose) Cuervo," she said. "Once he had that tequila in him, he was a totally different person." He would get rowdy and annoy customers, she said.
Three weeks ago, Coates said, the night bartender "eighty-sixed" Marcy, ordering him to leave and not to come back.
This is the second fatal police shooting Ashbaugh can recall in the city in 20 years. The other was in January 2003 at a manufactured home park, when a member of the Washington County Sheriff's Tactical Negotiations Team shot a man who appeared to be firing at neighbors and police.
SUMMARY: Forest Grove A 45-year-old with a gun in each hand walks out of his apartment and confronts officers
FOREST GROVE --A 45-year-old man was shot and killed by officers Sunday night after police said he confronted them outside his apartment with a gun in each hand.
Forest Grove police identified the man as Neil Bruce Marcy. Three officers were involved in the shooting at the College Place Apartments, 2607 21st Ave.
"In terms of whether this was an attempted 'suicide by cop,' we're certainly looking at that as a possibility," said Capt. Aaron Ashbaugh, spokesman for the Forest Grove Police Department. "There's no question that he wanted to engage the police."
Barney Cogswell, who was staying next door with Ed and Donna Johnson in an apartment that now has bullet holes in the walls, said he heard police yelling, "Put down your guns!" and Marcy shouting, "You put yours down first."
Cogswell and the Johnsons were among those evacuated by police after the incident began.
The incident shocked neighbors, who described Marcy, a machine-shop worker who lived alone, as friendly and responsible. However, bartenders at a neighborhood tavern said Marcy could cause problems when he was drinking.
Ashbaugh could not confirm whether the investigation into Marcy's death will include testing for drugs or alcohol. The state medical examiner's office did not return calls for comment.
According to Ashbaugh, someone called
9-1-1 about 10:50 p.m. to report something about a shooting before quickly hanging up. Ashbaugh declined to say who made the call and said the Washington County Major Crimes Team, which is investigating the shooting, would release that information later.
When police arrived at the complex, they began taking cover, positioning themselves around Marcy's apartment and trying to talk him into a peaceful solution.
About 11:35 p.m., police saw Marcy walk outside with a pistol in his hand, fire it into the air and return inside, Ashbaugh said.
About 11:50 p.m., Marcy walked out the apartment door with a gun in each hand, Ashbaugh said. When Marcy raised his hands, officers shot and killed him. It is unclear how many shots were fired.
"It almost sounded like machine-gun fire," said Gary Alexander, who lives a few houses away from the apartment complex.
Two of the officers involved in the shooting were from the Forest Grove Police Department and one from the Cornelius Police Department. Following standard practice, the officers are on paid leave for about 10 days, Ashbaugh said. The names of the officers involved in the shooting will not be released until the Major Crimes Team finishes its investigation.
Marcy's death follows the shooting of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn by Washington County sheriff's deputies in Metzger last month. Deputies responded to the Glenn home Sept. 16 after reports that the intoxicated teen, armed with a pocket knife, was threatening others and himself.
Marcy had lived at the apartment complex for about two years, Ashbaugh said. According to public records, Marcy did not have a criminal history.
Neighbors described him as sociable and friendly. He brought food to last year's Thanksgiving celebration at the apartment complex. And he had befriended a stray cat. Monday morning, a dish with water and cat food still sat outside Marcy's apartment door.
Neighbors said Marcy has a sister who visited him frequently and also has an 18-year-old son.
The Johnsons sat outside Saturday night enjoying a beer with Marcy. They said he was talking about his job and was excited about switching companies and getting better pay. He was always respectful, Ed Johnson said: "He didn't cuss or anything."
But bartenders at the Circle Inn Tavern saw a different side.
Bartender Hannah Coates used to see Marcy every Saturday night when she worked the night shift months ago.
"He usually drank double shots of (Jose) Cuervo," she said. "Once he had that tequila in him, he was a totally different person." He would get rowdy and annoy customers, she said.
Three weeks ago, Coates said, the night bartender "eighty-sixed" Marcy, ordering him to leave and not to come back.
This is the second fatal police shooting Ashbaugh can recall in the city in 20 years. The other was in January 2003 at a manufactured home park, when a member of the Washington County Sheriff's Tactical Negotiations Team shot a man who appeared to be firing at neighbors and police.
Monday, October 9, 2006
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR -10/9/06
Who supplied the alcohol?
I've read the accusations of "inept" police and grieved for a mother who wishes she'd never called 9-1-1 about her son's behavior. But how about considering the real cause of the tragedy? Who gave Lukus Glenn the alcohol that resulted in his intoxication?
"Drunk" is not a rational state for anyone, but the usual highs and lows of simply being 18 years old may exacerbate the effects. The real villain is the supplier of alcohol to someone not of legal drinking age.
DAR YOUNG
Tigard
I've read the accusations of "inept" police and grieved for a mother who wishes she'd never called 9-1-1 about her son's behavior. But how about considering the real cause of the tragedy? Who gave Lukus Glenn the alcohol that resulted in his intoxication?
"Drunk" is not a rational state for anyone, but the usual highs and lows of simply being 18 years old may exacerbate the effects. The real villain is the supplier of alcohol to someone not of legal drinking age.
DAR YOUNG
Tigard
Friday, October 6, 2006
Family of teen seeks inquest in his shooting
from The Oregonian, by Kate Taylor
The family of Lukus Glenn on Thursday called for a public inquest into the 18-year-old's fatal shooting by Washington County sheriff's deputies last month near Tigard.
The request, made in a letter written by the family's attorney, Larry K. Peterson of Lake Oswego, asks in particular that the Washington County Board of Commissioners and the Tigard City Council also ask for a public inquest.
Sheriff's deputies responded to the Glenn home Sept. 16 after reports that the intoxicated teen was breaking windows and, armed with a pocket knife, was threatening others and himself.
The Washington County Major Crimes Team, made up of detectives from several different local agencies, is still investigating the death.
Tom Brian of the Washington County Board of Commissioners was not available for comment, but in a letter signed by four other commissioners and published in The Oregonian on Thursday, he asks the public to patiently wait for the investigation to be done.
Commissioners, he writes, are "respectful of the difficult decisions law enforcement officers must make every day to ensure our safety."
But because of misleading comments from law enforcement, Peterson said, the Glenn family has "lost confidence in Washington County's ability to perform the full and fair investigation that has been promised to the public."
Now, he said, "the Glenns do not believe a grand jury proceeding alone will fully and fairly address the circumstances of Luke's death . . . the grand jury proceeding is also not transparent as it is conducted entirely in secret."
Thursday, October 5, 2006
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - 10/5/06
from The Oregonian
Be patient during probe
We are all saddened by the death of Lukus Glenn, and our hearts go out to his family. We are also respectful of the difficult decisions that law enforcement officers from all agencies must make every day to ensure our safety.
As readers may know, an investigation about the Metzger shooting is under way by the district attorney's office and the Washington County Major Crimes Team. Highly experienced detectives from a half-dozen law enforcement agencies in Washington County, under the leadership of the district attorney, are thoroughly gathering and analyzing all available information about this tragic incident.
Like everyone else concerned about the loss of a life and the impact of such an incident on the family of the young man, as well as the deputies and their families, we must await the results of the district attorney's review. The district attorney's function is limited to determining whether any criminal charges are warranted as a result of anyone's conduct in connection with this incident and whether to present the case to a grand jury.
The sheriff and his staff also carefully review every incident involving the use of force by deputies. They examine whether existing policies are followed; they will determine whether policy changes are needed and work to ensure that deputies have access to all the resources and equipment needed to successfully resolve such incidents without resorting to deadly force if possible. Through this effort, they will also identify lessons learned that can be included in the regular use-of-force training received by all deputies.
Please join us in patiently waiting for the time necessary to obtain the results of these thorough and impartial investigations.
Chairman Tom Brian and the Washington County Board of Commissioners
Be patient during probe
We are all saddened by the death of Lukus Glenn, and our hearts go out to his family. We are also respectful of the difficult decisions that law enforcement officers from all agencies must make every day to ensure our safety.
As readers may know, an investigation about the Metzger shooting is under way by the district attorney's office and the Washington County Major Crimes Team. Highly experienced detectives from a half-dozen law enforcement agencies in Washington County, under the leadership of the district attorney, are thoroughly gathering and analyzing all available information about this tragic incident.
Like everyone else concerned about the loss of a life and the impact of such an incident on the family of the young man, as well as the deputies and their families, we must await the results of the district attorney's review. The district attorney's function is limited to determining whether any criminal charges are warranted as a result of anyone's conduct in connection with this incident and whether to present the case to a grand jury.
The sheriff and his staff also carefully review every incident involving the use of force by deputies. They examine whether existing policies are followed; they will determine whether policy changes are needed and work to ensure that deputies have access to all the resources and equipment needed to successfully resolve such incidents without resorting to deadly force if possible. Through this effort, they will also identify lessons learned that can be included in the regular use-of-force training received by all deputies.
Please join us in patiently waiting for the time necessary to obtain the results of these thorough and impartial investigations.
Chairman Tom Brian and the Washington County Board of Commissioners
LETTERS - 10/5/06
from The Oregonian
County examines death
We are saddened by the death of Lukus Glenn and our hearts go out to his family. We are also respectful of the difficult decisions law enforcement officers must make every day to ensure our safety.
An investigation about the shooting is under way by the district attorney's office and the Washington County Major Crimes Team. Experienced detectives from a half-dozen law enforcement agencies, under the leadership of the Washington County district attorney, are analyzing information about this tragic incident.
Like everyone else concerned about the loss of a life and the impact on the family of the young man as well as the deputies and their families, we must await results of the review. The district attorney is limited to determining whether criminal charges are warranted and whether to present the case to a grand jury.
The sheriff and his staff also carefully review every incident involving the use of force by deputies. They examine whether policies are followed; they will determine whether policy changes are needed and work to ensure that deputies have access to resources and equipment needed to resolve such incidents without resorting to deadly force if possible. They will also identify lessons learned that can be included in the regular use-of-force training received by all deputies.
Please join us in patiently waiting for the time necessary to obtain the results of these thorough and impartial investigations.
Chairman Tom Brian
co-signed by four county
commissioners
Washington County Board
of Commissioners
County examines death
We are saddened by the death of Lukus Glenn and our hearts go out to his family. We are also respectful of the difficult decisions law enforcement officers must make every day to ensure our safety.
An investigation about the shooting is under way by the district attorney's office and the Washington County Major Crimes Team. Experienced detectives from a half-dozen law enforcement agencies, under the leadership of the Washington County district attorney, are analyzing information about this tragic incident.
Like everyone else concerned about the loss of a life and the impact on the family of the young man as well as the deputies and their families, we must await results of the review. The district attorney is limited to determining whether criminal charges are warranted and whether to present the case to a grand jury.
The sheriff and his staff also carefully review every incident involving the use of force by deputies. They examine whether policies are followed; they will determine whether policy changes are needed and work to ensure that deputies have access to resources and equipment needed to resolve such incidents without resorting to deadly force if possible. They will also identify lessons learned that can be included in the regular use-of-force training received by all deputies.
Please join us in patiently waiting for the time necessary to obtain the results of these thorough and impartial investigations.
Chairman Tom Brian
co-signed by four county
commissioners
Washington County Board
of Commissioners
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
High alcohol level in youth killed by police
from The Oregonian, by Dana Tims
SUMMARY: Autopsy No other drugs are found in Lukus Glenn, and the case might be headed to a grand jury
Lukus Glenn's blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit when he was shot and killed by two Washington County sheriff's deputies Sept. 16, according to a deputy state medical examiner.
Glenn, an 18-year-old former high school soccer and football star, had a blood alcohol level of .18 at the time of his death, said Dr. Larry Lewman. Oregon's legal limit is .08.
Additional toxicology tests showed that the Tigard-area teen had no other prescription or illegal drugs in his system at the time of the shooting, Lewman said.
An autopsy showed that two of the eight bullets that struck Glenn inflicted fatal injuries by severing large pelvic arteries. Non-fatal shots also struck Glenn in the legs, buttocks, lower back and right shoulder, Lewman said.
Meanwhile, a Washington County prosecutor said Tuesday that he will decide early next week whether to present facts surrounding the early morning shooting to a grand jury.
Rob Bletko, the county's chief deputy district attorney, said all investigative reports detailing Glenn's shooting should be on his desk as early as Friday.
Bletko said he will review the reports for several days before deciding either to ask for more information or take the case directly to a grand jury for possible criminal indictments. He said he could also conclude that the reports are sufficient, but that a grand jury presentation isn't warranted.
Among the topics Bletko hopes to see covered in the investigative documents is where Glenn obtained the alcohol he drank prior to the shooting.
Two Washington County sheriff's deputies, responding to a frantic 9-1-1 call for help from Glenn's mother, shot the young man after he refused to drop the knife he was holding and headed back into his house, which contained family members.
Only 10 minutes elapsed from the time Hope Glenn called police at 3:05 a.m. and the time her son lay dead near the family's front door step. Lukus Glenn was described by family members as extremely distraught and inebriated in the minutes leading up to the shooting.
In a related item, the Wilson High School girls soccer team has raised more than $3,000 through sales of T-shirts bearing the word HOPE --Help Officers Peacefully Enforce --in part to memorialize Lukus Glenn and honor Hope Glenn. Many girls at Wilson High are or have been coached by Hope Glenn. Proceeds from the sales will go to local police agencies to help provide enhanced training in crisis intervention.
The T-shirts will be available on the school's Web site, www.wilsonhs.com, in a day or two, according to school officials.
SUMMARY: Autopsy No other drugs are found in Lukus Glenn, and the case might be headed to a grand jury
Lukus Glenn's blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit when he was shot and killed by two Washington County sheriff's deputies Sept. 16, according to a deputy state medical examiner.
Glenn, an 18-year-old former high school soccer and football star, had a blood alcohol level of .18 at the time of his death, said Dr. Larry Lewman. Oregon's legal limit is .08.
Additional toxicology tests showed that the Tigard-area teen had no other prescription or illegal drugs in his system at the time of the shooting, Lewman said.
An autopsy showed that two of the eight bullets that struck Glenn inflicted fatal injuries by severing large pelvic arteries. Non-fatal shots also struck Glenn in the legs, buttocks, lower back and right shoulder, Lewman said.
Meanwhile, a Washington County prosecutor said Tuesday that he will decide early next week whether to present facts surrounding the early morning shooting to a grand jury.
Rob Bletko, the county's chief deputy district attorney, said all investigative reports detailing Glenn's shooting should be on his desk as early as Friday.
Bletko said he will review the reports for several days before deciding either to ask for more information or take the case directly to a grand jury for possible criminal indictments. He said he could also conclude that the reports are sufficient, but that a grand jury presentation isn't warranted.
Among the topics Bletko hopes to see covered in the investigative documents is where Glenn obtained the alcohol he drank prior to the shooting.
Two Washington County sheriff's deputies, responding to a frantic 9-1-1 call for help from Glenn's mother, shot the young man after he refused to drop the knife he was holding and headed back into his house, which contained family members.
Only 10 minutes elapsed from the time Hope Glenn called police at 3:05 a.m. and the time her son lay dead near the family's front door step. Lukus Glenn was described by family members as extremely distraught and inebriated in the minutes leading up to the shooting.
In a related item, the Wilson High School girls soccer team has raised more than $3,000 through sales of T-shirts bearing the word HOPE --Help Officers Peacefully Enforce --in part to memorialize Lukus Glenn and honor Hope Glenn. Many girls at Wilson High are or have been coached by Hope Glenn. Proceeds from the sales will go to local police agencies to help provide enhanced training in crisis intervention.
The T-shirts will be available on the school's Web site, www.wilsonhs.com, in a day or two, according to school officials.
Monday, October 2, 2006
Police training seems to ensure fatal outcomes
from The Oregonian, by Andy Parker
Ray O'Driscoll's the first to say he's nothing special, just a retired guy with a new hammock and some Old World views of cop work.
He and his wife, Claudia, live in the hills out beyond Colton, a place where thick fingers of moss drip from tree limbs and backyards spill seamlessly into sprawling federal forests.
They moved to Oregon 32 years ago from the Bay Area. They'd tired of all the congestion. And after 12 years of cop work in cities outside San Francisco, Ray was ready for a change.
After a variety of jobs, he spent his last years before retirement as Oregon City's code compliance officer.
During his years as a police officer, O'Driscoll never shot anybody. But he knows what it feels like to break up a bar brawl and wake up later trying to recall what kind of beer bottle hit you.
It was just part of the job, he says, a job where you get paid to take necessary risks. No risks, no gain.
It's a concept he believes is foreign to today's police training.
O'Driscoll likes cops. He's torn about speaking out because he knows how tough the work is. He knows most police officers, even those who kill someone, are just hard-working guys doing what they've been trained to do.
And that's precisely the problem.
In his years of police work in the Bay Area, he knew some cops who shot bad guys, some who got shot. But back in the 1960s and '70s, he says, cops were taught to use their 2-foot-long batons as a defensive tool to defuse potentially violent situations.
It didn't always work. Sometimes you got hurt. But these days, most cops don't even carry batons. It's as if it's all designed so police officers never have to touch anyone and rarely put themselves at risk, he said. And that is a sure way to guarantee more fatal endings to routine incidents.
O'Driscoll wrote a letter to the editor last week about the fatal police shooting of an 18-year-old Tigard man. His letter was responding to a Portland police officer who wrote: "I seriously doubt anyone who is being critical of the Lukus Glenn slaying has ever had to face that kind of situation."
In his response, O'Driscoll wrote, "An officer who has taken the step to end another person's life is hardly an expert on other possible options. . . . And I do believe that three officers facing a drunk teenager with a 3-inch knife could have disarmed him."
To be clear, O'Driscoll doesn't believe his own time as a cop makes him an expert on anything. But it arms him with enough experience to ask reasonable questions that deserve reasonable answers.
We can all recite the outcome of any police-involved shooting:
The internal investigation that finds police followed regulations and clears officers of any wrongdoing.
The grand jury that follows the recommendation of the district attorney and finds no crime has occurred.
The district attorney who refuses to investigate his colleagues any further.
In many police-involved shootings, that outcome is appropriate. But that doesn't explain the shootings. It doesn't explain the training or why we're supposed to believe cops almost never shoot at the wrong time.
O'Driscoll believes nothing will change until voters see a need and demand it. And he isn't holding his breath. "The problem is most people know cops or someone involved in law enforcement. And they know they are good people doing a difficult job."
Understandably, he says, it's the same within the ranks of police officers. "I was the same way. Whenever a cop kills someone in the line of duty, police say two things: 'Thank God I didn't have to pull the trigger.' And 'We've got to stand behind that guy.' "
That seems to sum up our blueprint for ensuring more and more police-involved shootings.
Until law enforcement leaders push for dramatic change, said O'Driscoll, police training will continue to center on protecting innocent bystanders and police at all costs.
"Basically," he said, "the current policy is, 'Shoot first, explain later.' "
Ray O'Driscoll's the first to say he's nothing special, just a retired guy with a new hammock and some Old World views of cop work.
He and his wife, Claudia, live in the hills out beyond Colton, a place where thick fingers of moss drip from tree limbs and backyards spill seamlessly into sprawling federal forests.
They moved to Oregon 32 years ago from the Bay Area. They'd tired of all the congestion. And after 12 years of cop work in cities outside San Francisco, Ray was ready for a change.
After a variety of jobs, he spent his last years before retirement as Oregon City's code compliance officer.
During his years as a police officer, O'Driscoll never shot anybody. But he knows what it feels like to break up a bar brawl and wake up later trying to recall what kind of beer bottle hit you.
It was just part of the job, he says, a job where you get paid to take necessary risks. No risks, no gain.
It's a concept he believes is foreign to today's police training.
O'Driscoll likes cops. He's torn about speaking out because he knows how tough the work is. He knows most police officers, even those who kill someone, are just hard-working guys doing what they've been trained to do.
And that's precisely the problem.
In his years of police work in the Bay Area, he knew some cops who shot bad guys, some who got shot. But back in the 1960s and '70s, he says, cops were taught to use their 2-foot-long batons as a defensive tool to defuse potentially violent situations.
It didn't always work. Sometimes you got hurt. But these days, most cops don't even carry batons. It's as if it's all designed so police officers never have to touch anyone and rarely put themselves at risk, he said. And that is a sure way to guarantee more fatal endings to routine incidents.
O'Driscoll wrote a letter to the editor last week about the fatal police shooting of an 18-year-old Tigard man. His letter was responding to a Portland police officer who wrote: "I seriously doubt anyone who is being critical of the Lukus Glenn slaying has ever had to face that kind of situation."
In his response, O'Driscoll wrote, "An officer who has taken the step to end another person's life is hardly an expert on other possible options. . . . And I do believe that three officers facing a drunk teenager with a 3-inch knife could have disarmed him."
To be clear, O'Driscoll doesn't believe his own time as a cop makes him an expert on anything. But it arms him with enough experience to ask reasonable questions that deserve reasonable answers.
We can all recite the outcome of any police-involved shooting:
The internal investigation that finds police followed regulations and clears officers of any wrongdoing.
The grand jury that follows the recommendation of the district attorney and finds no crime has occurred.
The district attorney who refuses to investigate his colleagues any further.
In many police-involved shootings, that outcome is appropriate. But that doesn't explain the shootings. It doesn't explain the training or why we're supposed to believe cops almost never shoot at the wrong time.
O'Driscoll believes nothing will change until voters see a need and demand it. And he isn't holding his breath. "The problem is most people know cops or someone involved in law enforcement. And they know they are good people doing a difficult job."
Understandably, he says, it's the same within the ranks of police officers. "I was the same way. Whenever a cop kills someone in the line of duty, police say two things: 'Thank God I didn't have to pull the trigger.' And 'We've got to stand behind that guy.' "
That seems to sum up our blueprint for ensuring more and more police-involved shootings.
Until law enforcement leaders push for dramatic change, said O'Driscoll, police training will continue to center on protecting innocent bystanders and police at all costs.
"Basically," he said, "the current policy is, 'Shoot first, explain later.' "
Sunday, October 1, 2006
600 mourners share in loving celebration of Lukus Glenn's life
from The Oregonian, by Kate Taylor
SUMMARY: 9-1-1 shooting His compassion and smile are recalled, and a HOPE shirt is unveiled
TIGARD --Lukus Glenn's death on Sept. 16 was sudden, violent and followed by anguished questions about how police and community agencies should handle teenagers in crisis.
His memorial on Saturday, by contrast, was empty of such questions and full of memories and images loved ones hold of the 18-year-old football star.
After about 600 people filled Tigard High School's Deb Fennell Auditorium, former coaches and friends spoke of his skills as a kicker as well as his compassion and gift for making people laugh.
Glenn was often late to class, said Scott Gilsdorf, a Tigard High School English teacher. But when he was, Glenn would approach his teacher sheepishly, usually with a mocha for Gilsdorf or a little leftover lunch to share.
As many of Glenn's friends and family laughed in recognition, Gilsdorf said, "He'd always have that great, great smile, and huge, huge dimples." Glenn was always the one with the bag of Doritos and salsa to share in the back of the classroom, his teacher said.
Police --who shot Glenn in the early morning hours after his mother called 9-1-1 to report that he was drunk and threatening himself and others with a knife --were mentioned only on a T-shirt worn and sold by many of his friends at the memorial.
The T-shirt bears the word HOPE and, underneath, the phrase Help Officers Peacefully Enforce. Proceeds from the T-shirt, students and parents said, will go to local police departments to help provide more police officers with training in ending a crisis peaceably.
Two Washington County sheriff's deputies are on routine leave until an investigation is complete. Rob Bletko, Washington County's chief deputy district attorney, said he expects to take one more week before determining whether to present the case to a grand jury.
Several at the memorial talked about how difficult it is to understand how Glenn died. The youth spent the hours leading up to the shooting having dinner with his girlfriend and her parents, going to a football game and then to a party in Tigard.
"If you keep asking yourself that, you can drive yourself crazy," said Frank Geske, one of Glenn's mentors and former coaches. "God's ways are not our ways, and our ways are not God's ways."
One thing Geske has decided to do as a result of his young friend's death, he said, is to make a list of everyone he loves and put a check next to the name of everyone he's said "I love you" to.
"There are some I still need to do," Geske said. "And there is one I want to do (now). Luke, I am proud of you, and Luke, I love you."
Most who took the podium spoke directly to Hope Glenn, Luke Glenn's mother and a longtime soccer coach who had worked with many teens at the memorial. They spoke of how the community must come together and remember to care for her and her husband, Brad Glenn.
Eddie Phillips, a close friend of Luke Glenn's and one of Hope Glenn's soccer students, ended his talk with a poem he'd written for her. As he spoke the poem's last lines, at least 30 young men stood up and turned to her, where she sat with her husband. Then, slowly, the entire auditorium stood and clapped to show her their support.
Hope, it's already done,
I want to tell you that Luke wasn't your only son,
You've helped me grow and helped raise me into a man,
You've been a second mom to me since classic soccer began.
You have so many boys, Hope, even in this room,
We love you so much and I am easily able to assume,
That they all feel like me, and as we talk to each other,
We have so much respect for you,
Are comfortable calling you mother.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - 9/28/06
from The Oregonian
Deputy saved son's life
I'd like to share another story involving a depressed young man, too much alcohol, a suicide attempt, a mother's frantic 9-1-1 call and Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Mikhail Gerba.
Early this summer, it was Gerba who responded to our home after my frantic 9-1-1 call. It was Gerba who stayed with our family for three hours, patiently, calmly and compassionately working to find and help our suicidal son. It was Gerba who offered to postpone his vacation, drive to Tillamook in the middle of the night and safely deliver our son to a hospital near our home.
I fully realize that, had a few details been different, I could be the grieving mother, and my heart and prayers go out to the family and friends of Lukus Glenn. But I also want the public to know that Deputy Gerba is the same man whose professionalism, compassion and perseverance helped to save my son's life.
ANNE MARIE OWEN
Beaverton
Deputy saved son's life
I'd like to share another story involving a depressed young man, too much alcohol, a suicide attempt, a mother's frantic 9-1-1 call and Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Mikhail Gerba.
Early this summer, it was Gerba who responded to our home after my frantic 9-1-1 call. It was Gerba who stayed with our family for three hours, patiently, calmly and compassionately working to find and help our suicidal son. It was Gerba who offered to postpone his vacation, drive to Tillamook in the middle of the night and safely deliver our son to a hospital near our home.
I fully realize that, had a few details been different, I could be the grieving mother, and my heart and prayers go out to the family and friends of Lukus Glenn. But I also want the public to know that Deputy Gerba is the same man whose professionalism, compassion and perseverance helped to save my son's life.
ANNE MARIE OWEN
Beaverton
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Heed Portland's police chief on mental health
from The Oregonian
SUMMARY: The death of James Philip Chasse Jr. in police custody demands a public inquest,
and a new preventative strategy
To some, it may have sounded like an excuse. The recent death of James Philip Chasse Jr., a 42-year-old mentally ill Portlander, while in police custody put Police Chief Rosie Sizer on the defensive, after all. She's at another disadvantage, too: She's not yet able to share all the facts surrounding Chasse's death.
Still, the chief was right Monday to remind us about the larger context surrounding this death: our broken mental health care system. Constantly dealing with the mentally ill is part of the "burden . . . police officers carry with them each and every
day . . . to an extent unprecedented in my 21-year tenure in the Police Bureau," Sizer said.
But that's not an excuse, and Sizer wasn't wielding it that way.
Sizer has promised to make the police investigation into Chasse's death public as soon as possible. That's good, but as we've argued for years, any death at police hands or in police custody also demands a public inquest. Both Chasse's death in custody and another recent death in the area --the police shooting of Lukus Glenn, 18, of Tigard --underscore why a public inquest is always essential.
For the public, both of these deaths instinctively fall into the category of: "This shouldn't have happened." Both Glenn's and Chasse's families deserve a full public airing of the facts. And only a public inquest can elucidate the circumstances sufficiently to rebuild a foundation of public trust and confidence in the law enforcement agencies involved.
But invaluable as public inquests would be in these cases, Oregon needs a more proactive strategy for dealing with the mentally ill (Chasse) and those in crisis (Glenn). These two recent deaths strongly suggest that it's time to consider mandating intensive training in crisis intervention and in dealing with the mentally ill for patrol officers.
True, some get a few hours of training now, and some agencies provide more intensive training on a voluntary basis. (With 188 officers certified in crisis intervention, Portland is one of the leaders in this field.) It's also important to emphasize that no training program can eliminate such tragic deaths. At times, events spin out of control and police must act to protect themselves and the public.
But teaching police smarter, safer, low-key approaches to dealing with the mentally ill and people in crisis could save lives. And police careers, too. "The officers were devastated" by Chasse's death, the chief said Tuesday. "This is not the outcome they desired or expected."
Although it would be expensive to train all officers intensively to intervene with the mentally ill, Portland and other police agencies need to start calculating the cost, making the pitch and pushing for such intensive training, not just for new officers, but for police bureau veterans, too.
Police shouldn't shoulder so much of the burden of dealing with the mentally ill and those in crisis, but, as Sizer acknowledged this week, they often do. As long as they make up the front line in dealing with people in these situations, it would be better for everyone --the officers, and the community --if police really knew what to do.
SUMMARY: The death of James Philip Chasse Jr. in police custody demands a public inquest,
and a new preventative strategy
To some, it may have sounded like an excuse. The recent death of James Philip Chasse Jr., a 42-year-old mentally ill Portlander, while in police custody put Police Chief Rosie Sizer on the defensive, after all. She's at another disadvantage, too: She's not yet able to share all the facts surrounding Chasse's death.
Still, the chief was right Monday to remind us about the larger context surrounding this death: our broken mental health care system. Constantly dealing with the mentally ill is part of the "burden . . . police officers carry with them each and every
day . . . to an extent unprecedented in my 21-year tenure in the Police Bureau," Sizer said.
But that's not an excuse, and Sizer wasn't wielding it that way.
Sizer has promised to make the police investigation into Chasse's death public as soon as possible. That's good, but as we've argued for years, any death at police hands or in police custody also demands a public inquest. Both Chasse's death in custody and another recent death in the area --the police shooting of Lukus Glenn, 18, of Tigard --underscore why a public inquest is always essential.
For the public, both of these deaths instinctively fall into the category of: "This shouldn't have happened." Both Glenn's and Chasse's families deserve a full public airing of the facts. And only a public inquest can elucidate the circumstances sufficiently to rebuild a foundation of public trust and confidence in the law enforcement agencies involved.
But invaluable as public inquests would be in these cases, Oregon needs a more proactive strategy for dealing with the mentally ill (Chasse) and those in crisis (Glenn). These two recent deaths strongly suggest that it's time to consider mandating intensive training in crisis intervention and in dealing with the mentally ill for patrol officers.
True, some get a few hours of training now, and some agencies provide more intensive training on a voluntary basis. (With 188 officers certified in crisis intervention, Portland is one of the leaders in this field.) It's also important to emphasize that no training program can eliminate such tragic deaths. At times, events spin out of control and police must act to protect themselves and the public.
But teaching police smarter, safer, low-key approaches to dealing with the mentally ill and people in crisis could save lives. And police careers, too. "The officers were devastated" by Chasse's death, the chief said Tuesday. "This is not the outcome they desired or expected."
Although it would be expensive to train all officers intensively to intervene with the mentally ill, Portland and other police agencies need to start calculating the cost, making the pitch and pushing for such intensive training, not just for new officers, but for police bureau veterans, too.
Police shouldn't shoulder so much of the burden of dealing with the mentally ill and those in crisis, but, as Sizer acknowledged this week, they often do. As long as they make up the front line in dealing with people in these situations, it would be better for everyone --the officers, and the community --if police really knew what to do.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - 9/27/2006
from The Oregonian
Roiling over police shootings
As I read the articles and letters surrounding the shooting death of Lukus Glenn, a few things occurred to me.
Glenn's GPA, polite demeanor and football skills are irrelevant. His mom called 9-1-1 to report that her son was "out of control" and "threatening to kill everybody." She also informed a dispatcher that her son was "threatening to kill himself . . .." These were the facts the police officers were faced with.
One letter writer mentioned the use of tranquilizer darts, as are used on lions and grizzly bears. Would you prefer a gun or tranquilizer dart if you were being charged by a lion or bear, say, at 20 feet? Would you feel confident the dart would have its desired effect?
It is important not to confuse speculation with facts. It is easy for us to react emotionally with our two cents. But the fact is, in this case, police were given only four minutes and limited yet critical information.
Ultimately, he was shot as he approached the front door of his home with a knife --the same front door that was protecting his mom and her family, [after he had] threatened to kill them.
DENNIS J. ORTEGA
Tualatin
The recent killings of citizens by the Portland and Washington County police can, at best, only be labeled as gross incompetence, and flat-out outrageous.
The excessive blunt trauma to James Philip Chasse Jr., who was severely mentally ill, has provoked strong protests from eyewitnesses. The shooting of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn, who was drunk and suicidal but armed with only with a small pocket knife, was totally unnecessary and demonstrates abysmal police training in handling mentally disturbed individuals.
Only luck prevented the wounding or death of Glenn's 72-year-old grandmother from police bullets that penetrated the family's house.
I have been watching numerous "Animal Planet" shows in which Steve Irwin and his staff were able to totally control massive, ferocious, man-eating crocodiles, armed only with ropes and netting. I strongly suggest that all police squad cars be equipped with ropes and nets for these type of confrontations.
ALAN B. LACHMAN, M.D.
Beaverton
In the Sunday Opinion section, a retired Portland police officer, Jim Bellah, wrote, "I seriously doubt anyone who is being critical [of the Lukus Glenn slaying] has ever had to face that kind of situation."
I have faced that kind of situation several times, and I am very thankful that I did not kill the person who was wielding the knife. I can sleep at night. An officer who has taken the step to end another person's life is hardly an expert on other possible options.
As a police officer for many years during the turbulent 1960s and '70s in a major metropolitan area, I faced and dealt with drunks with knives, and not-so-drunks with guns. I do not feel that makes me an expert, either, but I do believe that three officers facing a drunk teenager with a three-inch knife could have disarmed him without killing him, without getting cut themselves, and most surely not risking death.
Glenn is dead because two officers chose to shoot him and end his young life. There has to be a better way.
RAY O'DRISCOLL
Colton
Crisis intervention training is too critical to be voluntary. It must be part of a police officer's regular training. Legislators, taxpayers, the powers that be --all must see that each officer is provided crisis intervention training.
JEAN MITCHELL
Northeast Portland
Questions "go on and on" about the Lukus Glenn case (Sunday front page) because The Oregonian keeps raising questions, on and on.
The officers involved had to make a snap judgment that may have saved the lives of the other family members. Had they not fired and further violence ensued, would not the officers have faced questions about why they had not stopped Glenn?
We should all support the officers who did absolutely the best they could in this tragedy. Let the questions --and columnists --be stilled and allow everyone to grieve.
DAVID A. FLOREA
Donald
Roiling over police shootings
As I read the articles and letters surrounding the shooting death of Lukus Glenn, a few things occurred to me.
Glenn's GPA, polite demeanor and football skills are irrelevant. His mom called 9-1-1 to report that her son was "out of control" and "threatening to kill everybody." She also informed a dispatcher that her son was "threatening to kill himself . . .." These were the facts the police officers were faced with.
One letter writer mentioned the use of tranquilizer darts, as are used on lions and grizzly bears. Would you prefer a gun or tranquilizer dart if you were being charged by a lion or bear, say, at 20 feet? Would you feel confident the dart would have its desired effect?
It is important not to confuse speculation with facts. It is easy for us to react emotionally with our two cents. But the fact is, in this case, police were given only four minutes and limited yet critical information.
Ultimately, he was shot as he approached the front door of his home with a knife --the same front door that was protecting his mom and her family, [after he had] threatened to kill them.
DENNIS J. ORTEGA
Tualatin
The recent killings of citizens by the Portland and Washington County police can, at best, only be labeled as gross incompetence, and flat-out outrageous.
The excessive blunt trauma to James Philip Chasse Jr., who was severely mentally ill, has provoked strong protests from eyewitnesses. The shooting of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn, who was drunk and suicidal but armed with only with a small pocket knife, was totally unnecessary and demonstrates abysmal police training in handling mentally disturbed individuals.
Only luck prevented the wounding or death of Glenn's 72-year-old grandmother from police bullets that penetrated the family's house.
I have been watching numerous "Animal Planet" shows in which Steve Irwin and his staff were able to totally control massive, ferocious, man-eating crocodiles, armed only with ropes and netting. I strongly suggest that all police squad cars be equipped with ropes and nets for these type of confrontations.
ALAN B. LACHMAN, M.D.
Beaverton
In the Sunday Opinion section, a retired Portland police officer, Jim Bellah, wrote, "I seriously doubt anyone who is being critical [of the Lukus Glenn slaying] has ever had to face that kind of situation."
I have faced that kind of situation several times, and I am very thankful that I did not kill the person who was wielding the knife. I can sleep at night. An officer who has taken the step to end another person's life is hardly an expert on other possible options.
As a police officer for many years during the turbulent 1960s and '70s in a major metropolitan area, I faced and dealt with drunks with knives, and not-so-drunks with guns. I do not feel that makes me an expert, either, but I do believe that three officers facing a drunk teenager with a three-inch knife could have disarmed him without killing him, without getting cut themselves, and most surely not risking death.
Glenn is dead because two officers chose to shoot him and end his young life. There has to be a better way.
RAY O'DRISCOLL
Colton
Crisis intervention training is too critical to be voluntary. It must be part of a police officer's regular training. Legislators, taxpayers, the powers that be --all must see that each officer is provided crisis intervention training.
JEAN MITCHELL
Northeast Portland
Questions "go on and on" about the Lukus Glenn case (Sunday front page) because The Oregonian keeps raising questions, on and on.
The officers involved had to make a snap judgment that may have saved the lives of the other family members. Had they not fired and further violence ensued, would not the officers have faced questions about why they had not stopped Glenn?
We should all support the officers who did absolutely the best they could in this tragedy. Let the questions --and columnists --be stilled and allow everyone to grieve.
DAVID A. FLOREA
Donald
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The standoff lasted 4 minutes, but the questions go on and on
from The Oregonian, by Kate Taylor and Dana Tims
SUMMARY: The police shooting of Lukus Glenn, 18, has both loved ones and authorities trying to find answers
On Lukus Glenn's last day, he and his mother argued about the job he had just quit, but made up later with playful text messages.
He was polite at dinner with his girlfriend and her parents, but brooding at a football game, talking with friends how his high school football career had soured.
When he took his girlfriend home at 12:30 a.m., he kissed her hand and told her he trusted her enough to tell her that, now and then, he felt so low he thought of killing himself.
Hours later, the 18-year-old former football star at Tigard High School was dead, shot during a standoff with police in front of his Tigard-area home Sept. 16.
It was a brief, violent convergence of forces --a drunken, suicidal teen with a knife and police who stake their lives on the procedures they follow. When domestic-violence situations escalate to the point that police face knives and guns, they are trained to stop the threat and protect innocent bystanders.
But across the Portland area, police increasingly are adopting a new model of crisis intervention that has shown remarkable success at defusing violent encounters. The Memphis model emphasizes "active listening" to the pain released by a person in mental crisis and recognizes that such episodes probably involve severe depression and psychic breaks with reality.
There is no way to know whether that approach would have made a difference in the case of Lukus Glenn. What began as a yelling match with three officers escalated into the fatal shooting in just four minutes.
No simple explanation satisfies. Questions linger. As do stories of a loving, and loved, teenager with problems and three police officers who grew up dreaming of public service, stepping into a tragic nightmare.
Remembering
a soulful friend
In the past week, family and friends have mourned the beautiful, as well as the troubled, sides of Luke Glenn.
He was his dad's fishing and Yahtzee partner. He was the one who called his mother "Skerniffles" --a pet name he made up --and text-messaged her sometimes 30 times a day to make jokes or tell her what he was doing or what kind of food he wanted in the pantry, his parents said.
Sitting on the living room couch where she's spent most of her time since her son was shot, Hope Glenn said she'd been his soccer coach for years, beginning when he was 5, and that he still watched many of the soccer games she coached.
He was funny and unpredictable in a lovable way, said Tony Morales and David Lucas --the two close friends who witnessed the shooting. He puppy-tackled friends, and he could lighten up any situation with one of his jokes, but he was also a great listener, Morales said.
To his girlfriend, 17-year-old Beth Salzberg, he was soulful and supportive, she said.
"You know how it is when you're a girl --there's times you don't feel like you look good, you feel bloaty. . . . He would be like, 'There is only one way for you to look, and that is perfect,' " she said. "He made me feel like a million bucks. He was a good, good person. I miss so much about him."
Yet nobody who was truly close to Glenn denied that he struggled. He liked vodka mixed with energy drinks, and he drank a lot of what he called "Sparks," friends said.
"He really did drink a lot --he did it less around me," Salzberg said. "When I talked to my friends about it, they still said, 'He's a keeper.' "
Sometimes, he also cut into his arms with a knife, or got a friend to cut him, while he pointed out to whoever was around that he could withstand pain, friends and relatives said.
He'd argued plenty with his mother in the past year, and once she called the police to her home after he ran away. He returned before police arrived, she said.
His depression, friends and family say, began with the departure of a beloved coach who supported him and was essential to his record-breaking performance as a kicker in his junior year.
Back then, he was featured in an August 2005 community newspaper article, with a picture of him running across a sunlit field after a great kick. He's quoted as dreaming about being a kicker for Arizona State University.
But he left the team last fall and had brooded about it ever since. He never got the football scholarship he'd dreamed of, his mother said, and as many of his friends went off to college this year, "he felt like a failure."
Still, she thought he was leaving the problem behind as he learned more about the world outside football, at least until she saw him through the window of her house, blood-streaked with a knife at his throat.
She picked up the phone at 3:05 a.m. Sept. 16 and dialed 9-1-1.
Six minutes later, Washington County sheriff's Deputy Mikhail Gerba, 27, arrived at a chaotic scene, followed quickly by Deputy Timothy Mateski, 26, and Tigard police Officer Andrew Pastore, 29.
Altar boy grows
into police officer
Growing up in Portland, Gerba dreamed of being a police officer. In high school, he enjoyed nothing more than going on "ride-alongs" with local cops.
"From the start, that's all he wanted to do," said his grandmother, Wynema Gerba. "He always said it was the best way he could help people."
His mother, Diana, named him Mikhail to underscore her love of ballet, associating it with Russia's grand tradition of dance.
Before his family moved to Wilsonville in the early 1990s, he served as an acolyte, or altar server, at St. Peter & Paul Episcopal Church in Southeast Portland, his grandmother said. "The move meant he couldn't hold that position in that church any longer," she said. "He was so brokenhearted that he cried."
After high school, his eyes already set on a career in law enforcement, Gerba took criminal justice classes at Clackamas Community College's Wilsonville campus. Classmates there remember him as a standout student with a winning sense of humor.
"He was very excited about his future," said one classmate, who asked that her name not be used. "I never had any doubt that he was getting into law enforcement for the very best of reasons."
Little information on the two deputies' careers is available. Washington County law enforcement officials, citing the ongoing investigation into Glenn's death, have declined to release information detailing any commendations or demerits.
Others, familiar with the plights of police who have had to use deadly force on the job, say the pair's path back to patrol will be arduous.
If their actions in Glenn's death are upheld after review, the officers must undergo counseling as well as simulation training proving they can again pull the trigger in the line of duty.
"These are frequently career-ending events for police who take someone's life," said Don Rosen, director of residency training in OHSU's psychiatry department. "It's important to note that the tragedy for the family is also a tragedy for the officers."
Standoff spirals
out of control
Only 10 minutes elapsed between the time Hope Glenn called 9-1-1 for help and when her son lay dead.
She told a dispatcher that her son was threatening to kill himself and everyone in the house. That included her, her mother and Brad Glenn, the young man's father.
Her son was outside smashing her car's windows with a shovel, cutting his hands in the process. Two friends were trying to calm him down.
"You kill me or I kill me," Luke Glenn shouted as Gerba, Mateski and Pastore approached.
The officers yelled repeatedly at Glenn to drop the knife, a plastic-handled weapon with a serrated, hooked, 3-inch blade.
He bellowed back that they would have to kill him.
"Don't let them shoot him," Hope Glenn pleaded with the dispatcher. "Please don't let them shoot him."
Pastore had access to a Taser and beanbags --both nonlethal weapons. With Luke Glenn apparently retreating toward the house, where the family members he'd threatened to kill were standing inside, Pastore opted for the beanbags --considered a higher level of force than a Taser. He fired several rounds from his 12-gauge shotgun, striking the young man.
The impacts sent Glenn reeling against the garage, but he remained on his feet. He swiveled toward the house, his left side facing the officers. Less than two seconds later, the emergency dispatcher could hear the crackle of repeated gunfire, then nothing.
"Hope?" the 9-1-1 operator asks.
There was no reply.
"Hope?"
Assessing actions
and alternatives
The investigation into Glenn's death is just beginning.
Rob Bletko, Washington County's chief deputy district attorney, won't have reports for at least a week and will take another week before determining whether to present the case to a grand jury.
Already Glenn's death is raising questions about the amount of crisis intervention training that law enforcement officers receive.
In Oregon, few police departments have had formal training in crisis intervention for longer than five years. Such training is almost always voluntary.
Washington County, like a growing number of jurisdictions, employs the increasingly popular Memphis model, adopted by police in Memphis, Tenn., after a controversial shooting.
Washington County's new hires all undergo an initial four-hour training session, said Deputy Jason Leinenbach, the department's mental health liaison. Annual 24-hour classes updating the training are voluntary. Countywide, more than 100 deputies and officers have taken the classes, he said.
Clark County, by comparison, offers a 40-hour annual crisis intervention class. Sgt. Kathy McNicholas, the county's crisis intervention trainer, said instances in which force has been used against out-of-control people have declined markedly in the five years the county has used the program.
Washington County officials said neither Gerba nor Mateski had taken the department's voluntary course on crisis intervention.
Leinenbach declined to speculate whether officers who had taken the 24-hour class would have responded to the Glenn incident any differently from those who hadn't. But he added, "I'd hope they would do things differently, but I can't say they necessarily would. Even if you start out doing things differently, you might end up with the same outcome in the end."
With police nationwide encountering a growing number of mentally ill people on the streets, much more training can only help, said Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute at Minnesota State University at Mankato.
"We offer a 90-hour class, which we consider just the bare bones of what's really needed," Lewinski said. "Most departments don't even come close to that level."
Making sense
of tragedy
There's nowhere for Hope Glenn to look in her home without seeing her son. Her living room is full of pictures: infant Luke in the tub with his dad, 5-year-old Luke in his first soccer uniform. Luke, smiling in a field with his puppy Brandon, now a large, friendly golden retriever.
She doesn't know where to begin again, she says.
"That was my only son," she says. "I don't know what to do with myself."
"I don't know why it happened," she says in the low whisper that has replaced her usually vibrant voice. "Maybe something will change because of this. Maybe something will start to make more sense."
OBITUARIES - 9/24/2006
Lukus David 'Luke' Glenn
from The Oregonian
A memorial service will be at noon Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006, in the Deb Fennell Auditorium of Tigard High School for Lukus David "Luke" Glenn, who died Sept. 16 when he was shot by police. He was 18.
Mr. Glenn was born April 22, 1988, in Portland. He graduated from Tigard High School, where he was an all-conference kicker for the football team. He liked soccer and played for several leagues.
Survivors include his parents, Brad and Hope; and grandparents, Delores Larson and Mike Glenn.
Arrangements by Young's.
from The Oregonian
A memorial service will be at noon Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006, in the Deb Fennell Auditorium of Tigard High School for Lukus David "Luke" Glenn, who died Sept. 16 when he was shot by police. He was 18.
Mr. Glenn was born April 22, 1988, in Portland. He graduated from Tigard High School, where he was an all-conference kicker for the football team. He liked soccer and played for several leagues.
Survivors include his parents, Brad and Hope; and grandparents, Delores Larson and Mike Glenn.
Arrangements by Young's.
Deputies rarely drew guns, fired twice in 2005
from The Oregonian, by Wendy Owen
Washington County sheriff's deputies pulled their guns 404 times last year and fired twice, wounding a man in one case and hitting a car while shooting at a suspect in another.
On average, officers pulled their guns more than once a day. With 5,190 arrests in 2005, however, that means deputies drew their firearms in about 8 percent of those cases, according to a Washington County Sheriff's Office use of force analysis.
"The odds of displaying a gun are remote," sheriff's Sgt. John Black said.
When it is pulled, however, a firearm typically resolves the situation without being used, he said.
The exception over the past five years, according to The Oregonian archives, appears to be cases involving suicidal people. Deputies have shot and killed four people, including Lukus Glenn, since 2002, and nearly all were determined to be suicidal.
In 2002, a Washington County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a 38-year-old man in Hillsboro after a two-hour standoff. Daniel L. Flannigan was distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend and threatened to kill her and himself. Police found him outside her apartment with a gun that later turned out to be a pellet gun. When he walked toward officers, a sniper shot him.
In 2003, a Beaverton police officer and a Washington County sergeant each fired on and killed a 37-year-old gunman who had fired more than 30 times during a standoff with police after they were called to the address because of a suicidal man.
The officers were members of the county Tactical Negotiations Team.
In 2004, a Cedar Mill man was shot and killed in a similar scenario, although it was not officially determined to be a suicidal incident.
Neighbors called police after hearing explosions and seeing Warren D. Sercombe, 46, breaking windows in front of his home. Deputies saw a handgun on the roof of his car and ordered him to lie on the ground. Instead, he reached for the gun and a corporal shot him. Officers later found explosive cord in his waistband and boot.
Last year ended with no officer-involved shooting deaths in Washington County.
Washington County sheriff's deputies pulled their guns 404 times last year and fired twice, wounding a man in one case and hitting a car while shooting at a suspect in another.
On average, officers pulled their guns more than once a day. With 5,190 arrests in 2005, however, that means deputies drew their firearms in about 8 percent of those cases, according to a Washington County Sheriff's Office use of force analysis.
"The odds of displaying a gun are remote," sheriff's Sgt. John Black said.
When it is pulled, however, a firearm typically resolves the situation without being used, he said.
The exception over the past five years, according to The Oregonian archives, appears to be cases involving suicidal people. Deputies have shot and killed four people, including Lukus Glenn, since 2002, and nearly all were determined to be suicidal.
In 2002, a Washington County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a 38-year-old man in Hillsboro after a two-hour standoff. Daniel L. Flannigan was distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend and threatened to kill her and himself. Police found him outside her apartment with a gun that later turned out to be a pellet gun. When he walked toward officers, a sniper shot him.
In 2003, a Beaverton police officer and a Washington County sergeant each fired on and killed a 37-year-old gunman who had fired more than 30 times during a standoff with police after they were called to the address because of a suicidal man.
The officers were members of the county Tactical Negotiations Team.
In 2004, a Cedar Mill man was shot and killed in a similar scenario, although it was not officially determined to be a suicidal incident.
Neighbors called police after hearing explosions and seeing Warren D. Sercombe, 46, breaking windows in front of his home. Deputies saw a handgun on the roof of his car and ordered him to lie on the ground. Instead, he reached for the gun and a corporal shot him. Officers later found explosive cord in his waistband and boot.
Last year ended with no officer-involved shooting deaths in Washington County.
How the shooting unfolded
from The Oregonian
When police arrived at the Glenn home Sept. 16, it was dark and the side door was only about 10 feet from the garage where Lukus Glenn, already blooded from smashing car windows, stood. Experts say such close proximity contributed to the incident. Police are trained to keep at least 20 to 25 feet between themselves and an armed person.
Hope Glenn called police at 3:05 a.m. requesting help calming her drunken 18-year-old son, Lukus, who she told dispatchers was "out of control." About 10 minutes elapsed between her call to police and the shooting. Based on the police, 9-1-1 tapes and witness accounts, here's what happened in the last eight minutes.
1) 3:07 a.m. Hope Glenn, who's looking out a door window, tells the dispatcher her son is "bleeding pretty bad" after smashing windows with his hands. She says his two friends, David Lucas and Tony Morales, are trying to calm him.
3:10 a.m. Hope Glenn says her son, holding a knife to his throat, says he's not going down without killing someone.
2) 3:11 a.m. Two deputies from the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Mikhail Gerba and Timothy Mateski, arrive at the home and take up positions in the yard. Tigard Officer Andrew Pastore arrives, equipped with a nonlethal beanbag weapon.
3:13 a.m. Lukus Glenn stands at the corner of the garage. Hope Glenn says "They're telling him to drop the knife or they're going to shoot him."
3) 3:15 a.m. Pastore fires several beanbag rounds at Lukus Glenn, who slumps against the garage but otherwise appears unaffected.
4) Lukus Glenn moves toward the door of the home, 10 feet away, where the family is inside.
5) Gerba and Mateski fire their guns, and Lukus Glenn collapses at the doorstep. Hope Glenn tells the dispatcher, "They shot him." The dispatcher calls Hope Glenn's name over and over, but there is no answer.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - 9/24/06
from The Oregonian
The Lukus Glenn shooting: Did he have to die?
Use training instead
I graduated from the Portland Police Academy and the Oregon Police Academy and retired after 25 years as a police administrator. I'm writing about young Lukus Glenn.
As a deputy sheriff, I responded to a call of a man holding a shotgun on his family. Upon arrival, I found just that. His wife and five children were hysterical. I was able to get his attention on me and away from his family.
I could have shot him immediately before he turned on me. But it was likely that a bullet might strike the family. I used my training instead to talk the man into surrendering his shotgun.
Today, that man is a teacher and still married to the same woman. He could have easily shot me, but he didn't. I could have shot him, but I didn't.
I'm not saying the Washington County deputies shouldn't have shot Glenn; what I am saying is that it's every police officer's call. But given the particulars of that incident, I would not have fired upon a young lad who, when faced with yelling police, tried his best to return to the safety of his mother, while armed with nothing but a simple pocket knife.
JAMES TAYLOR
Southeast Portland
The Lukus Glenn shooting: Did he have to die?
Use training instead
I graduated from the Portland Police Academy and the Oregon Police Academy and retired after 25 years as a police administrator. I'm writing about young Lukus Glenn.
As a deputy sheriff, I responded to a call of a man holding a shotgun on his family. Upon arrival, I found just that. His wife and five children were hysterical. I was able to get his attention on me and away from his family.
I could have shot him immediately before he turned on me. But it was likely that a bullet might strike the family. I used my training instead to talk the man into surrendering his shotgun.
Today, that man is a teacher and still married to the same woman. He could have easily shot me, but he didn't. I could have shot him, but I didn't.
I'm not saying the Washington County deputies shouldn't have shot Glenn; what I am saying is that it's every police officer's call. But given the particulars of that incident, I would not have fired upon a young lad who, when faced with yelling police, tried his best to return to the safety of his mother, while armed with nothing but a simple pocket knife.
JAMES TAYLOR
Southeast Portland
Thursday, September 21, 2006
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - 9/21/06
from The Oregonian
There are questions surrounding the death of Lukus Glenn.
I saw, firsthand, what police can do when they are well trained to handle a crisis. A woman who lived across the hall from me in Minneapolis attacked her husband with an 8-inch butcher knife. Three armed officers arrived. She stood there, not 25 feet but two feet from them. They talked to her, calmly.
Finally, after five tense minutes, she whirled and fled toward the back of the room, and one quickly tackled her. None of those men, who were within inches of a large knife, even once touched their guns or a Taser.
The cops in Garden Home used loud commands on a scared, drunk boy. I think a calm attitude might have made all the difference. Crisis training should include communication training to defuse, not aggravate such situations.
BRINN C. HEMMINGSON
Southeast Portland
It seems rather bizarre that a middle-aged nurse can single-handedly wrestle a claw hammer away from an intruder and strangle him to death, but three cops needed to shoot and kill a teenager [armed] with a three-inch knife.
Of course we will hear that "you had to be there." Apparently several people were, and I hope that this sort of stupidity on the part of those sworn to protect us is not blown off and therefore legally sanctioned.
DAN W. PETERSON
Northeast Portland
I have been deeply saddened by the senseless death of Lukus Glenn by Washington County sheriff's deputies. As a mental health professional and board member of the Clark County chapter of NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill), I know how often families are faced with these terrifying emergencies and how quickly they can escalate out of control. All persons involved are vulnerable to serious injury and death.
In Vancouver, the city police department operates an intensive week-long crisis intervention training twice each year. It is highly lauded as an effective preventative to scenarios that seem to be playing out frequently across the river.
I urge police administrators in Oregon to implement something similar. I am convinced Vancouver's crisis intervention training program saves lives.
MICHELE WOLLERT
Vancouver
For once I'd like to see someone come to the defense of an officer involved in a shooting. Imagine working a job where you could be shot over a speeding ticket. Imagine a job where you know going into it that some day you might have to choose in a split second to take someone's life in order to spare someone else's or your own.
How many of us can say we'd make the perfect decision every time? I can't, and it's unreasonable to put that expectation on our police officers.
Give them the benefit of the doubt before criticizing them. After all, these are the same people we call in our times of greatest need, and these are the people who come running to help because it is their job to protect and serve.
JUSTIN FARRELL
North Portland
Most people are naive as to what constitutes reasonable and necessary force used by police officers. I am a retired criminology professor and 27-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department.
One citizen wrote that the suspect was "armed only with a knife" (Letters, Sept. 19). Interestingly, one of the most horrific knifings I ever witnessed was at the hands of a 19-year-old male using a two-inch pocket knife.
Many people believe that police officers can simply shoot the knife or gun from the hand of a perpetrator, ending the threat. Other than luck, this only happens in the movies.
Police officers receive many hours of training on the use of force and many more hours dedicated to the use of deadly force. Police officers do not, however, receive training on how to be gallantly killed. This then begs the question: What were the obligations or choices of the suspect when ordered to drop the knife? Did the suspect have a right or duty to ignore or resist the officers? Or did the suspect's conduct dictate the actions of the officers?
If the type of weapon or its size is still a barrier of justification for you, just remember what kind of weapon the terrorists used to take over the 9/11 flights.
STEPHEN E. BROWN
Roseburg
There are questions surrounding the death of Lukus Glenn.
I saw, firsthand, what police can do when they are well trained to handle a crisis. A woman who lived across the hall from me in Minneapolis attacked her husband with an 8-inch butcher knife. Three armed officers arrived. She stood there, not 25 feet but two feet from them. They talked to her, calmly.
Finally, after five tense minutes, she whirled and fled toward the back of the room, and one quickly tackled her. None of those men, who were within inches of a large knife, even once touched their guns or a Taser.
The cops in Garden Home used loud commands on a scared, drunk boy. I think a calm attitude might have made all the difference. Crisis training should include communication training to defuse, not aggravate such situations.
BRINN C. HEMMINGSON
Southeast Portland
It seems rather bizarre that a middle-aged nurse can single-handedly wrestle a claw hammer away from an intruder and strangle him to death, but three cops needed to shoot and kill a teenager [armed] with a three-inch knife.
Of course we will hear that "you had to be there." Apparently several people were, and I hope that this sort of stupidity on the part of those sworn to protect us is not blown off and therefore legally sanctioned.
DAN W. PETERSON
Northeast Portland
I have been deeply saddened by the senseless death of Lukus Glenn by Washington County sheriff's deputies. As a mental health professional and board member of the Clark County chapter of NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill), I know how often families are faced with these terrifying emergencies and how quickly they can escalate out of control. All persons involved are vulnerable to serious injury and death.
In Vancouver, the city police department operates an intensive week-long crisis intervention training twice each year. It is highly lauded as an effective preventative to scenarios that seem to be playing out frequently across the river.
I urge police administrators in Oregon to implement something similar. I am convinced Vancouver's crisis intervention training program saves lives.
MICHELE WOLLERT
Vancouver
For once I'd like to see someone come to the defense of an officer involved in a shooting. Imagine working a job where you could be shot over a speeding ticket. Imagine a job where you know going into it that some day you might have to choose in a split second to take someone's life in order to spare someone else's or your own.
How many of us can say we'd make the perfect decision every time? I can't, and it's unreasonable to put that expectation on our police officers.
Give them the benefit of the doubt before criticizing them. After all, these are the same people we call in our times of greatest need, and these are the people who come running to help because it is their job to protect and serve.
JUSTIN FARRELL
North Portland
Most people are naive as to what constitutes reasonable and necessary force used by police officers. I am a retired criminology professor and 27-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department.
One citizen wrote that the suspect was "armed only with a knife" (Letters, Sept. 19). Interestingly, one of the most horrific knifings I ever witnessed was at the hands of a 19-year-old male using a two-inch pocket knife.
Many people believe that police officers can simply shoot the knife or gun from the hand of a perpetrator, ending the threat. Other than luck, this only happens in the movies.
Police officers receive many hours of training on the use of force and many more hours dedicated to the use of deadly force. Police officers do not, however, receive training on how to be gallantly killed. This then begs the question: What were the obligations or choices of the suspect when ordered to drop the knife? Did the suspect have a right or duty to ignore or resist the officers? Or did the suspect's conduct dictate the actions of the officers?
If the type of weapon or its size is still a barrier of justification for you, just remember what kind of weapon the terrorists used to take over the 9/11 flights.
STEPHEN E. BROWN
Roseburg
Helping cops deal with all the chaos
from The Oregonian, by Steve Duin
In 1987, the city of Memphis was rocked by a police shooting as tragic and pointless as the death early Saturday morning of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn.
The 27-year-old victim had a knife. He was cutting himself and threatening family members. He was also mentally ill, and the Memphis police, ill-equipped to deal with that population, shot him more than enough times to end his life.
"The outcry," Major Sam Cochran of the Memphis Police told National Public Radio last year, "was so intense, it spilled over into the political arena." The mayor got involved. A task force was formed.
And said Officer Paul Ware of the Portland Police Bureau --the University of Tennessee Psychiatric Hospital stepped up with suggestions on how the police could better deal with the mentally ill in crisis situations. For the safety of everyone involved.
The suggestions were so on target that police-inflicted injuries to mental health patients in Memphis dropped 40 percent in less than four years.
In a front-page story Wednesday, several law enforcement types suggested the fatal shooting of Lukus Glenn by two Washington County sheriff's deputies was "by the book."
A 1987 book, perhaps. An updated manual based on the Memphis model is making the rounds, said Angela Kimball of the Association for Oregon Community Health Programs, and a number of police bureaus and county sheriffs long ago memorized the chapter on crisis intervention.
That includes the Portland Police Bureau, where Ware coordinates the training program. You may remember Ware. In January 2005 --on National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Day, as a matter of fact --Ware confronted a knife-wielding man in the state Senate chamber and spent 45 minutes talking the guy down off the proverbial ledge.
Ware has set up a voluntary 40-hour program in crisis intervention; he estimates one-quarter of the city's patrol officers have undergone training in mental disorders, personality disorders (including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), suicide prevention, hostage negotiations and post-traumatic stress disorder.
That program is embraced, said defense attorney Laura Graser, by all the major players in law enforcement and mental health because it reduces the incidents that "cause everyone pain, including the police officers."
By all accounts, Glenn was simply drunk, depressed and angry early Saturday when he set out on the rampage that forced his mother, Hope, to call 9-1-1. But as Graser says, "I don't know if it matters whether it was genetics, alcohol, methamphetamines, poor nurturing . . .: He was acting crazy. When that 9-1-1 call came in, it could have dispatched someone with the training to deal with the mentally ill."
The Washington County Sheriff's Office also has voluntary crisis intervention training for its deputies, but spokesman Dave Thompson said the two officers who responded Saturday --Deputies Mikhail Gerba and Timothy Mateski --have not taken the course.
Ware said there's no guarantee, however, that additional training --which mandates "the most effective and compassionate response possible" --would have saved Glenn's life.
"I try to slow down the situation. I try to contain the person. I try to talk to them about what the problem is," Ware said, but it would have been difficult to have a quiet, calm conversation with Glenn while honoring the "21-foot-rule," the margin of safety officers maintain when confronting someone with a knife.
"Crisis intervention training increases the odds of me having a successful intervention," Ware said, "but I can't control human behavior. I don't know the Jedi mind trick. People put that burden on us. People have seen too much Hollywood hype."
In 1987, the city of Memphis was rocked by a police shooting as tragic and pointless as the death early Saturday morning of 18-year-old Lukus Glenn.
The 27-year-old victim had a knife. He was cutting himself and threatening family members. He was also mentally ill, and the Memphis police, ill-equipped to deal with that population, shot him more than enough times to end his life.
"The outcry," Major Sam Cochran of the Memphis Police told National Public Radio last year, "was so intense, it spilled over into the political arena." The mayor got involved. A task force was formed.
And said Officer Paul Ware of the Portland Police Bureau --the University of Tennessee Psychiatric Hospital stepped up with suggestions on how the police could better deal with the mentally ill in crisis situations. For the safety of everyone involved.
The suggestions were so on target that police-inflicted injuries to mental health patients in Memphis dropped 40 percent in less than four years.
In a front-page story Wednesday, several law enforcement types suggested the fatal shooting of Lukus Glenn by two Washington County sheriff's deputies was "by the book."
A 1987 book, perhaps. An updated manual based on the Memphis model is making the rounds, said Angela Kimball of the Association for Oregon Community Health Programs, and a number of police bureaus and county sheriffs long ago memorized the chapter on crisis intervention.
That includes the Portland Police Bureau, where Ware coordinates the training program. You may remember Ware. In January 2005 --on National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Day, as a matter of fact --Ware confronted a knife-wielding man in the state Senate chamber and spent 45 minutes talking the guy down off the proverbial ledge.
Ware has set up a voluntary 40-hour program in crisis intervention; he estimates one-quarter of the city's patrol officers have undergone training in mental disorders, personality disorders (including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), suicide prevention, hostage negotiations and post-traumatic stress disorder.
That program is embraced, said defense attorney Laura Graser, by all the major players in law enforcement and mental health because it reduces the incidents that "cause everyone pain, including the police officers."
By all accounts, Glenn was simply drunk, depressed and angry early Saturday when he set out on the rampage that forced his mother, Hope, to call 9-1-1. But as Graser says, "I don't know if it matters whether it was genetics, alcohol, methamphetamines, poor nurturing . . .: He was acting crazy. When that 9-1-1 call came in, it could have dispatched someone with the training to deal with the mentally ill."
The Washington County Sheriff's Office also has voluntary crisis intervention training for its deputies, but spokesman Dave Thompson said the two officers who responded Saturday --Deputies Mikhail Gerba and Timothy Mateski --have not taken the course.
Ware said there's no guarantee, however, that additional training --which mandates "the most effective and compassionate response possible" --would have saved Glenn's life.
"I try to slow down the situation. I try to contain the person. I try to talk to them about what the problem is," Ware said, but it would have been difficult to have a quiet, calm conversation with Glenn while honoring the "21-foot-rule," the margin of safety officers maintain when confronting someone with a knife.
"Crisis intervention training increases the odds of me having a successful intervention," Ware said, "but I can't control human behavior. I don't know the Jedi mind trick. People put that burden on us. People have seen too much Hollywood hype."
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Letters to the Editor
from The Oregonian
Police reacted properly
I am appalled at the condemnation of the Washington County sheriff's deputies who shot Lukus Glenn (Letters, Sept. 19). Based on The Oregonian's reporting, I can fault these two officers only for not shooting sooner and thereby letting Glenn get closer to the house (resulting in the trajectory of the bullets penetrating the house).
Ideas suggested such as "shoot at the legs" and "(b)ring out the Tasers" indicate a warehouse of ignorance by the writers.
The effective killing range of a knife is about 21 feet. The legs are extremely hard to hit if the target is moving, especially with the adrenaline factor going, and a hit in the legs is less likely to stop the target.
Rules of engagement are always to shoot for the torso. If a situation such as this ever occurs at my house, the conduct exhibited by these two officers is exactly what I would want.
LYNDON GRAHAM, Hillsboro
+++
Reading all the criticism in Tuesday's issue about the shooting of the young man from Tigard reminds me that law enforcement is probably the only career that a person can enter in which, even after hundreds of hours of training, the public knows more about how to do your job than you do.
LARRY A. WARD, Gresham
+++
A great kid under the influence of a drug --alcohol --acting out his frustrations. But wait, he's only 18! Why was he drunk to begin with? Where were the parents? Where's the accountability from the place he got his booze?
Lukus Glenn made a choice to be drunk. The police reacted in an appropriate manner considering the threat they faced and the resources they had available.
MARK KOBERSTEIN, Boring
+++
Regarding Steve Duin's column, "The last turn in the life of Lukus Glenn" (Sept. 19), have you ever spent an evening with Damon Coates or his wife and children?
I am an "ex-hippie" from the 1960s, a mother of four children ranging from 18 to 25 years, an educator with extensive experience with youth, and I do not own a gun. My heart goes out to those involved in the latest tragedy.
However, after having met Coates and his family, I would ask you: "After the crippling injuries of Damon Coates, what police officer could be expected to answer a domestic violence call involving a troubled teen?"
JEANNE KENDRICK KING, Southwest Portland
Police reacted properly
I am appalled at the condemnation of the Washington County sheriff's deputies who shot Lukus Glenn (Letters, Sept. 19). Based on The Oregonian's reporting, I can fault these two officers only for not shooting sooner and thereby letting Glenn get closer to the house (resulting in the trajectory of the bullets penetrating the house).
Ideas suggested such as "shoot at the legs" and "(b)ring out the Tasers" indicate a warehouse of ignorance by the writers.
The effective killing range of a knife is about 21 feet. The legs are extremely hard to hit if the target is moving, especially with the adrenaline factor going, and a hit in the legs is less likely to stop the target.
Rules of engagement are always to shoot for the torso. If a situation such as this ever occurs at my house, the conduct exhibited by these two officers is exactly what I would want.
LYNDON GRAHAM, Hillsboro
+++
Reading all the criticism in Tuesday's issue about the shooting of the young man from Tigard reminds me that law enforcement is probably the only career that a person can enter in which, even after hundreds of hours of training, the public knows more about how to do your job than you do.
LARRY A. WARD, Gresham
+++
A great kid under the influence of a drug --alcohol --acting out his frustrations. But wait, he's only 18! Why was he drunk to begin with? Where were the parents? Where's the accountability from the place he got his booze?
Lukus Glenn made a choice to be drunk. The police reacted in an appropriate manner considering the threat they faced and the resources they had available.
MARK KOBERSTEIN, Boring
+++
Regarding Steve Duin's column, "The last turn in the life of Lukus Glenn" (Sept. 19), have you ever spent an evening with Damon Coates or his wife and children?
I am an "ex-hippie" from the 1960s, a mother of four children ranging from 18 to 25 years, an educator with extensive experience with youth, and I do not own a gun. My heart goes out to those involved in the latest tragedy.
However, after having met Coates and his family, I would ask you: "After the crippling injuries of Damon Coates, what police officer could be expected to answer a domestic violence call involving a troubled teen?"
JEANNE KENDRICK KING, Southwest Portland
Police shooting: 'by the book'
from The Oregonian, by Dana Tims
SUMMARY: Deadly force Experts say officers responded as they were trained to the knife-wielding teen
The shooting death of an 18-year-old man unfolded with Washington County sheriff's deputies following current training procedures, authorities say.
Though tragic, the officers' response was by the book, say law enforcement officers in Oregon and across the nation.
Anyone wielding a knife and standing within 25 feet of a police officer, as Lukus Glenn of the Tigard area was, is considered an imminent threat, according to uniformly accepted training principles.
An assailant can cover that distance in just over one second and sink a knife into an officer's chest before the officer can even draw a gun, police experts say.
"It appears to have been very much by the book," said Geoffrey Alpert, chairman and professor in the department of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina. "In this case, the use of deadly force to save people inside that house seems to have been reasonable."
But the Glenn shooting early Saturday has also raised questions anew whether current police training for use of deadly force is sufficient.
State Sen. Avel Gordly, whose bill addressing use of deadly force by law enforcement officers died in the last legislative session, said the training book may not be enough. She agreed that Glenn's death was a tragedy, but emphasized that increased training for police officers could help prevent such instances in the future.
"It's all about the training," Gordly said. "And the point is that barbers and hairdressers receive more training than our police officers."
Threat level
Police are trained to assess levels of threat and react based on that assessment, said Bob Charpentier, an Oregon State Police trooper assigned to the training section. Standard training says that you respond to a threat level with a level deemed one step higher on a seven-step "force matrix."
The first, or lowest step, is an officer's presence. It involves just showing up at a scene. The seventh entails use of deadly force against an assailant who is deemed imminently liable to kill or seriously injure either the officer or one or more bystanders.
In between are use of verbal commands; hands-on manipulation, such as grabbing an elbow to escort an assailant; use of chemical agents, such as pepper spray; empty-hand strikes, such as hooks or straight punches; and use of impacts weapons, including beanbags or Tasers.
In Glenn's case, deputies initially used loud verbal commands, telling him to drop the knife he was holding. When he refused, they shot him with non-lethal beanbags.When he then turned and started back into his house, where family members were looking on, deputies opened fire, hitting him multiple times and killing him.
Representatives of police agencies throughout the metro area were emphatic about not wanting to comment specifically about Glenn's death. But they spoke openly about their respective departments' training regimens, which for the most part come straight from textbooks taught nationwide on how and when force can be used by officers.
"The person representing the threat has the advantage because they dictate the amount of force to be used," said Lt. Jason Gates, public information officer for the Portland Police Bureau. "If that threat becomes imminent to the police officer or someone else, we have the obligation to neutralize that threat as best we can."
Unlike confrontational situations so often portrayed in movies or on television, police never try to shoot a weapon out of an assailant's hand or aim for an extremity, Charpentier said.
"In high-stress situations, the first thing to go out the window are the fine motor reflexes," he said. "That's why you have instances where many, many shots are fired and not a single one ends up hitting the target.
"We don't shoot to wound the person, and we don't shoot to kill the person," Charpentier continued. "We shoot to stop the threat. And the best way to do that is to shoot the center mass."
The aftermath
Sgt. Craig Hogman, who works in the Clark County Sheriff's Office, knows only too well the stress of a high-stakes confrontation. Fleeing bank robbers shot at his pursuing patrol car multiple times in 1997. After they crashed their vehicle and continued firing, deputies ended up killing two of the suspects and later captured the other.
Hogman said he never felt nervous or afraid during the confrontation itself. He credited long hours of training with preparing him for the ordeal. Only later, he said, did the enormity of the experience begin to take its toll.
"Until you've been out there, you just can't fathom the number of decisions you have to make in a split second," Hogman said.
Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Center on Violence at Northeastern University in Boston, was among the thousands of people who listened to the 9-1-1 call made by Lukus Glenn's mother to emergency dispatchers. It was clear, he said, that Glenn had committed "suicide by cop."
The challenge ahead, for police, will be persuading investigators that the knife Glenn possessed presented an imminent danger to family members in the house.
"If he had refused to lower a handgun or a rifle, there would have been little, if any, controversy as to proper police tactics," Levin said. "A review board will have to determine whether the pocket knife carried by the assailant was a realistic threat to the police or whether one of the officers reacted reflexively to his magnified perception of imminent danger."
Whether more training could have helped avoid the death appears likely to be debated.
As a legislator, Gordly helped institute increases in the amount of training all new Oregon law enforcement officers get, particularly as it relates to mental health issues.
But even with those increases, she said, the 16 weeks of academy training Oregon's law enforcement recruits will get starting in January --up from the current standard of 10 weeks --will still lag far behind the national average of 21 weeks.
"We need to focus on the amount and quality of training our officers are getting," she said. "These situations are going to happen, we know that. The more options we provide to law enforcement professionals, the more tools they'll have in the tool box."
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