What’s the cost of deadly force?

From the Portland Tribune, September 19 2008

Washington County has no plans to build up its casualty fund even with two wrongful death lawsuits filed in federal court

How much will three deaths at the hands of sheriff’s deputies cost Washington County? And can the county afford it?

Ultimately, it could be up to a jury to decide.

Today, Washington County has two deputy-involved wrongful death suits filed against it in federal court – for the shooting deaths of Lukus Glenn in September 2006 and Jordan Case in October 2006.

And the family of Shane Grundmeyer, a man shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies on Feb. 16 of this year, submitted a tort claim letter in April notifying the county of their intentions to sue.

So far the Glenn lawsuit is the only one that has attached a monetary value to its claims – two claims for relief, each for $7 million.

The last wrongful death suit filed against a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy was in 2001. A federal jury threw out the $10 million lawsuit filed by the family of Rodney Ray Layman, who was shot and killed by a deputy during a traffic stop.

But how would Washington County handle a wrongful death suit if it had to pay?

Up until last year, the county had operated as a completely self-funded insurer for liability claims. It maintains what is called a casualty fund. Instead of paying premiums for insurance to an outside company, the county pays into its own fund which is used to pay on general liability claims.

The county currently has about $2,268,179 in its casualty fund.

That number seems insufficient when compared to the $14 million relief claims being sought by the Glenns. But County Risk Manager Sara Stevenson said the county has no plans to increase the fund even with some possible multi-million lawsuits on the horizon.

Stevenson said she is confident in the actuarial studies done every two years that inform the county how much to put in a casualty fund in order to keep pace with complaints and claims.

“It assumes the future will follow the past,” Stevenson said.

And in the past, the county’s done well at keeping its claims and payments down.

In 2006-2007, the county’s casualty fund paid out just under $194,000 for liability claims. Last fiscal year it paid out $46,000, but Stevenson expects that number to go up as the county settles some claims. During fiscal year 2007/2008, the county had 135 tort claims filed against it. Four of those resulted in lawsuits.

Last October, the county began purchasing excess liability insurance after an appellate court ruled that tort claim caps even for public entities were unconstitutional. In the case of a large suit, the county would only be liable for the first $1 million. Stevenson likened it to how a deductible works for car insurance.

Unfortunately, the new insurance doesn’t apply to incidents that happened before Oct. 1, 2007, and wouldn’t pay in the cases of Glenn and Case. If the county were slapped with a multi-million dollar court decision, it could look at a structured settlement, Stevenson said.

As with any claim, Stevenson said her office investigates the claims for any negligence on the part of the county. While all three shootings were cleared of criminal wrong doing by the district attorney’s office, Stevenson said her office does another investigation for civil lawsuits.

And if her office finds any negligence on the part of the county, it tries to settle.

In each of the three deputy-involved cases, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office called the shootings “justified.”

And in each case, the men were under the influence when they encountered Washington County sheriff’s deputies. Lukus Glenn had a blood alcohol content level of .18 at the time of his death. Case had been ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms. And Grundmeyer, according to a toxicology report, had a substantial amount of methamphetamine in his blood at the time of the shooting.

The Case lawsuit – which names Washington County and the cities of Tualatin and Sherwood as well as the officers and deputy involved– has a tentative November 2009 jury trial date.

Agencies named in the Glenn shooting lawsuit, including the city of Tigard, Washington County and the officer and deputies involved, have not yet filed their answers to the lawsuit allegations.

Grundmeyer’s family has reportedly switched lawyers, and John McVea, who represented the family for the tort claim letter, said he’s unsure if they have retained new counsel yet or not.

• LUKUS GLENN

Hit with: eight bullets

The call: On Sept. 16 2006, Washington County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a domestic disturbance call in Metzger involving a male subject armed with a knife.

The outcome: Deputies fired eight rounds into 18-year-old Glenn as he, according to police, tried to run back into his home.

The family’s claims: Among 12 failures listed by the Glenn family one says Washington County and Tigard failed to properly train law enforcement in management, detention and arrest of persons suffering from mental impairments.

• JORDAN CASE

Hit with: four bullets

The call: On Oct. 21, 2006, a Tualatin woman called 9-1-1 to report an intruder in her apartment.

The outcome: A deputy shot 20-year-old Case three times in the chest as he opened the door to a running patrol car. After another attempt to enter the vehicle, Case was shot in the head.

The family’s claim: Echoes the Glenn family claims that the county and cities of Sherwood and Tualatin didn’t provide adequate training for management, detention and arrest of people suffering mental impairments.

• SHANE GRUNDMEYER

Hit with: two bullets

The call: On Feb. 16, 2008, two deputies devised a plan to intercept 39-year-old Grundmeyer in Aloha. He was wanted on a felony warrant.

The outcome: Deputies shot and killed Grundmeyer as he, according to the deputies, rammed two patrol vehicles with his BMW in an attempt to elude law enforcement.

The family’s claims: According to the tort claim letter, “force was used in the stop resulting in Grundmeyer’s death.”

Parents of Tigard teen shot by police file lawsuit

The Mental Health Association of Portland has followed the what happened to Lukus Glenn since 2006 on our web site - What Happened to Lukus Glenn.

The family of an 18-year-old Tigard man shot to death by police during a domestic disturbance in 2006 filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday against the county, city and officers involved.

Hope Glenn, the mother of Lukus Glenn, filed the suit against Washington County, the two deputies who shot her son, the city of Tigard and a Tigard police officer.

There are two claims for relief in the lawsuit. Each seeks more than $7 million.

"We were forced to go ahead and file this to shed light on the events of that night," Hope Glenn said. "It's all been very hard and it just gets worse not better."

Spokesmen for the Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Tigard Police Department declined to comment on the lawsuit.

A Washington County district attorney's office investigation into the shooting, completed in October 2006, called the incident "tragic" but "legally justified." The probe ultimately rejected Hope Glenn's call for a public review of the shooting.

The incident began about 3 a.m. Sept. 16, 2006, when Hope Glenn called 9-1-1 from her Tigard residence, saying her son was drunk, out of control and threatening the family. Three officers arrived minutes later to find Lukus Glenn outside his house holding a knife.

When Glenn refused to drop the weapon, Tigard police Officer Andrew Pastore shot him with nonlethal beanbags. As Glenn turned and moved back toward his house, where his family members were, Washington County sheriff's Deputies Mikhail Gerba and Tim Mateski opened fire with their service weapons, killing him.

An autopsy showed that two of the eight bullets that struck Glenn inflicted fatal injuries by severing large pelvic arteries. Nonfatal shots also struck Glenn in the legs, buttocks, lower back and right shoulder.

A medical examiner's report found that Glenn, a former high school soccer and football star, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 at the time of his death. Oregon's legal limit for driving is 0.08.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by Lake Oswego attorney Lawrence K. Peterson, says official accounts of the Sept. 16, 2006, shooting contained "glaring inconsistencies and self-contradictions that were never resolved."

The official account of the shooting, for instance, said the beanbag rounds fired at Glenn had no effect and he continued to "act out" after they were shot. The lawsuit says, however, that an audio record of the events shows the lethal fire was discharged almost simultaneously to the beanbags.

The officers' failure to use appropriate crisis intervention techniques, to engage Glenn in conversation rather than relying on yelled commands and to use the beanbag shotgun in a manner that moved Glenn toward the doors of his residence, among other factors, all contributed to his death, according to the lawsuit.

RIP Lukus Glenn


EXTRA - From AP.com, August 13 2008
EXTRA - For all previous stories about what happened to Lukus Glenn from the Oregonian CLICK HERE.
EXTRA - Lukus Glenn family files wrongful death suit, Tigard Times August 13 2008
EXTRA - Myspace - group memorial for Lukus David Glenn

Plan addresses police-shooting investigations

From The Oregonian

Deadly force - A law seeking inquiry fairness prompted Washington County's proposal

Washington County is the first jurisdiction in the metro area to develop a plan for investigating police shootings under a new law passed by the 2007 Oregon Legislature.

Though Multnomah and Clackamas counties aren't far behind, Washington County's plan will be the subject of a public hearing next week in Hillsboro.

The plan was written to satisfy Senate Bill 111, which was passed by the 2007 Legislature at the request of Attorney General Hardy Myers. The bill directs counties to develop plans in hopes of bringing uniformity and fairness to the processes set in motion by a police shooting.

"Really, we already do this in Washington County," said Sgt. David Thompson, Washington County Sheriff's Office spokesman. "Our deadly-force cases are turned over to the Major Crimes Unit, which includes police from all the cities. This way, investigations can be as transparent and impartial as possible."

Lane County was the first to adopt its plan and submit it to the attorney general's office, as required by law.

In recent years, critics have charged that investigations into police use of deadly force have been tainted.

In 2003, critics charged that officers were allowed to confer before they were questioned about the fatal shooting of Kendra James by Portland police. In that case, an officer partially entered a car James was driving, then tried to pull her from the driver's seat as she put the car in gear. Officers then shot James, testifying that they feared for their lives. They were legally cleared of wrongdoing.

In 2004, critics alleged racism when Portland police shot and killed James Jahar Perez after he resisted officers' attempts to remove him from a car for not having a driver's license. Police testified that they saw Perez pull a clenched fist from his pocket and thought he was drawing a gun. A public inquest cleared police of criminal wrongdoing, but a civil lawsuit against police is proceeding in federal court.

In 2006, the fatal shooting of Lukus Glenn, an 18-year-old former Tigard High football star, by Washington County deputies raised more questions. Although an investigation upheld the shooting, Glenn's family has unsuccessfully pressed for an inquest and has threatened to file a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the attorney general's office launched a study of how deadly-force cases are handled, then wrote the bill that was filed in the 2007 Legislature. Testifying before the Oregon Senate, Myers said more uniformity in post-shooting investigations would help allay fears by the public and ensure fairness to the police and victims.

Washington County's proposed plan calls for:

Requiring training for police in the use of deadly force, including annual seminars.

Providing mental health counseling and support for police involved in shootings.

Requiring at least one police officer from a different agency to investigate the shooting.

Notifying the district attorney's office, which will have discretion over how to proceed.

Requiring investigators to debrief officers and then determine whether police followed the deadly-force policies or whether the policies themselves should be amended.

Meeting annually to evaluate whether the plan needs revisions.