published in BlueOregon
In the past couple of months Clackamas County cops have been busy busy busy. We may need to ready ourselves for an appropriation of liquid cooled weapons, as there seems to be a very real danger of gun barrels melting down from prolonged use.
On December 22nd, they answered a call in Mollala and were confronted by an armed Joseph La Marsh on the front steps of his parents home. Mr. LaMarsh, who had apparently been threatening to kill his father, was shot and is now resting comfortably in the hospital with a stomach wound.
December 15th found our intrepid marksmen called to a home near Damascus, where they were apparently forced to light up a suspect that had been vexing both Gresham and Clackamas County cops for several days. Mr. Graham apparently had a history of carjacking, assault, and successful escapes from arresting officers; and had served a long prison term for violent crimes. Anyhow, Mr. Graham, like Mr. Marsh, appeared not to be a big reader of news articles as he is alleged to have attempted to grab a rifle held by one of the arresting officers. He was shot and killed by Sergeant Tutmark while resisting arrest. The Sergeant had also had the misfortune of being involved in a "suicide by police" incident in Estacada in 2002. In that case, police shot an armed Kenneth Gerde, and were cleared of criminal wrongdoing by a grand jury, although how many shots were fired and where they hit the deceased was never revealed by the sheriff's Office.
And so it goes. Excrement Occurs. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi and all of that. There are plenty of people that richly deserve to be assisted off of this mortal coil in a Hail of Hollow Points, and we have oversight to assure that the law enforcement personnel designated by these perps to pay the Ferryman, don't wind up having their careers and lives destroyed by said punks. Sometimes, though, we have to look closely at the various actions and reactions out there on the mean streets of the county, which brings us to the depressing case of Fouad Kaady who shuffled off of this mortal coil, right here in Sandy once again with the assistance of law enforcement personnel.
Mr. Kaady's odyssey has been chronicled by the new editor at The Sandy Post the intrepid Marcus Hathcock. He was able to interview a variety of witnesses including the Sandy and Clackamas officers involved.
The bottom line on this one seems to be that a young man with no history of illegal activity, had a single incomprehensible day of sliding into insanity and death. He had wrecked at least three cars, started a couple of brush fires in the process, injuring and burning himself so that according to Mr. Hathcock's account, by the time the officers confronted him, he was on foot, naked, bloody, and so badly burned that flaps of skin were slouhging off of his torso and arms. Oh, yeah, and very obviously unarmed.
It is here that things get a bit hinky for our intrepid centurions. They get out of their squad car and Clackamas County officer Willard inexplicably lays his loaded shotgun on the hood of his cruiser.
They then approach Kaady try to restrain him, tase him repeatedly, to no apparent effect, and when Kaady starts jumping around and pulling the taser barbs out of his naked shoulders, Willard has an epiphany. From The Post's Hathcock:
Willard said he wasn’t going to let Kaady leave the scene but admitted he wasn’t sure how he was going to apprehend him, even if he complied. He thought, “I’m gonna wait until other officers get here before we do anything.”
He said he did not want to touch Kaady at all due to the amount of blood that covered the man’s body. Willard was specifically concerned that by touching Kaady, he could contract hepatitis or AIDS.
“Somebody needs to glove up before they touch this man,” Willard thought to himself.
Wait for it...........................And again further into the confrontation:
Willard said Kaady began to chase him until the suspect leaped onto the trunk of the patrol car. He moved on top of the roof, waving his arms in the air.
At that point, Willard thought to himself, “I’m going to need to shoot this man,” again stating that he did not want to come in contact with Kaady's blood. “I can’t let him touch me.”
It wasn’t long until the officers realized that the shotgun Deputy Willard had brought was sitting on the hood of the patrol car, in plain view. The car’s driver’s side door was wide open, and the engine was running.
So there you have it. A veteran cop, with a history of tactical training has now come to the conclusion (which apparently made sense to the grand jury), that lacking rubber gloves, law enforcement had no choice but to light the boy up.
So in this season of giving lets offer the Clakcamas County cops a case or two of gloves to ditributed to the boys in the squad cars.
Let's also ask Sheriff Roberts to send his boys to training. they can learn from Portland police officer Paul Ware who has a history of hostage negotiation and dealing with mentally ill suspects. Officer Ware was the Man of the Hour this year at the Capitol when he disarmed a distraught knife weilding man in Senate chambers.They could also check with the PD in Vancouver BC who have identified symptoms and instituted a whole set of procedures around this type of rare but predictable police/citizen encounter.
The official report on the incident has been delayed by Sheriff Roberts, and I take that as a potentially good sign. What we need as citizens of the county, is not retribution or the ruining of careers. No, we need assurance that police porcedures will be changed so that the police will have effective tools and training availabe when confronting the deranged, especially when they are unarmed.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Kaady investigation given time extension
from the Oregonian
A Clackamas County sheriff's review board will get an additional 60 days to conduct an internal investigation into the shooting death of 27-year-old Fouad Kaady by a deputy and a Sandy Police officer during a September confrontation on a rural highway.
Sheriff Craig Roberts granted the extension Tuesday, he said in a news release, "in order to allow the board the time necessary to thoroughly review this complex incident and to complete a clear and comprehensive report and recommendations."
During a week of deliberations that ended Oct. 24, a Clackamas County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Deputy David Willard and Sandy Police Officer William Bergin.
Kaady, a Gresham man suspected in at least three hit-and-run crashes in the hours before he died Sept. 8, was bloody, naked and combative, sheriff's officials said.
He was unfazed by 50,000 volts from a Taser stun gun and refused to respond to commands. Both officers testified that Kaady jumped from the ground to the top of a police car in an instant as he screamed at the officers, "I'm gonna kill you!" They fired eight times, hitting Kaady with seven rounds. Kaady was unarmed.
Kaady's family said his bizarre behavior was not the result of drugs or mental illness but of burns from a gasoline can that exploded into flames inside his car and of a head injury suffered during one of the three crashes.
A sheriff's spokeswoman, Detective Wendi Babst, said the head of the review board, Sheriff's Capt. Don Howard, asked for the extension because of the large volume of reports and the complexity of the case.
The board will continue to meet weekly for the next two months, Babst said, before presenting its report to Roberts in late January.
A Clackamas County sheriff's review board will get an additional 60 days to conduct an internal investigation into the shooting death of 27-year-old Fouad Kaady by a deputy and a Sandy Police officer during a September confrontation on a rural highway.
Sheriff Craig Roberts granted the extension Tuesday, he said in a news release, "in order to allow the board the time necessary to thoroughly review this complex incident and to complete a clear and comprehensive report and recommendations."
During a week of deliberations that ended Oct. 24, a Clackamas County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Deputy David Willard and Sandy Police Officer William Bergin.
Kaady, a Gresham man suspected in at least three hit-and-run crashes in the hours before he died Sept. 8, was bloody, naked and combative, sheriff's officials said.
He was unfazed by 50,000 volts from a Taser stun gun and refused to respond to commands. Both officers testified that Kaady jumped from the ground to the top of a police car in an instant as he screamed at the officers, "I'm gonna kill you!" They fired eight times, hitting Kaady with seven rounds. Kaady was unarmed.
Kaady's family said his bizarre behavior was not the result of drugs or mental illness but of burns from a gasoline can that exploded into flames inside his car and of a head injury suffered during one of the three crashes.
A sheriff's spokeswoman, Detective Wendi Babst, said the head of the review board, Sheriff's Capt. Don Howard, asked for the extension because of the large volume of reports and the complexity of the case.
The board will continue to meet weekly for the next two months, Babst said, before presenting its report to Roberts in late January.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Our debt to the deputies and Kaady's kin
from the Oregonian
The story will sound familiar.
An unarmed man high on drugs is seen walking naked down the street. The man, who appears to be psychotic, ignores police instructions and despite non-lethal attempts to subdue him, he keeps coming.
Then he lunges at a deputy.
But this is not the story of Fouad Kaady, the 27-year-old Gresham man who was fatally shot by a Clackamas County deputy and a Sandy policeman two months ago.
In this 2002 case, a man high on crack cocaine ran naked into traffic in a Seattle suburb and began pounding on cars.
A King County sheriff's deputy sprayed the man with pepper spray. But it didn't stop him. After a short wrestling match, the man gained control of the deputy's gun and shot him four times in the head, killing him.
In the Kaady shooting outside Sandy on Sept 8, police also attempted to use nonlethal means, shooting Kaady with a stun gun after he refused to obey their orders.
Then, according to police reports, Kaady ran toward police, leaped on top of a squad car and screamed that he wanted to kill them. Among other things, the two policemen were worried that Kaady would grab a loaded shotgun one of them had left sitting on the hood of the squad car.
As Kaady appeared to be lunging toward the deputy, both cops opened fire, hitting Kaady seven times.
The two cases spotlight the difficulty of police work. And the difficulty of sorting out who's responsible when things go badly.
In the King County case, a jury convicted the man of murder. Last month, a Clackamas County grand jury voted not to indict the two police officers.
Last week, in response to an editorial in The Oregonian calling for a public inquest into Kaady's death, Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote wrote a letter to the editor saying an inquest is a "flawed legal process" that can "turn into a forum to air grievances."
The bigger flaw is that in too many cases there's virtually no meaningful public review after cops shoot people.
According to newspaper investigations and experts, police agencies across the country offer a wide range of guidelines about the use of lethal force, and many don't aggressively investigate officer-involved shootings.
Two years ago, a police consultant's study of 32 police shootings in Portland over three years turned up no documented command review of one-third of the cases.
Experts say there is very little national information compiled on police shootings and how they're handled, so police leaders feel very little outside pressure to police their own.
But officer-involved shootings are dramatically reduced, experts say, when police chiefs clarify deadly force policies and make it clear that every shooting will be closely scrutinized.
Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts has said he will not comment on the Kaady shooting until after a shooting review board has completed its review of the incident.
Critics, including many people who call for public inquests, insist police reviews rarely shed light on shootings or lead to significant changes in policy.
At this point, it's impossible to know what standard of critical review Roberts will insist on or where he'll decide to lead us in this area.
He will, no doubt, call for more training money for officers. And that's fine. But training is only the very tip of this iceberg. The Clackamas County deputy involved in the shooting was well-trained, both in crisis intervention and in dealing with suspects suffering from mental illness or addiction.
Regardless of what the shooting review board decides about Kaady's death, Roberts should take this opportunity to lay out an aggressive set of guidelines for use of deadly force, and make it clear he intends to enforce them --no exceptions.
And other police departments in the county should follow his lead.
We owe that to the Kaady family. And to the two deputies who felt they had no choice but to pull the trigger.
The story will sound familiar.
An unarmed man high on drugs is seen walking naked down the street. The man, who appears to be psychotic, ignores police instructions and despite non-lethal attempts to subdue him, he keeps coming.
Then he lunges at a deputy.
But this is not the story of Fouad Kaady, the 27-year-old Gresham man who was fatally shot by a Clackamas County deputy and a Sandy policeman two months ago.
In this 2002 case, a man high on crack cocaine ran naked into traffic in a Seattle suburb and began pounding on cars.
A King County sheriff's deputy sprayed the man with pepper spray. But it didn't stop him. After a short wrestling match, the man gained control of the deputy's gun and shot him four times in the head, killing him.
In the Kaady shooting outside Sandy on Sept 8, police also attempted to use nonlethal means, shooting Kaady with a stun gun after he refused to obey their orders.
Then, according to police reports, Kaady ran toward police, leaped on top of a squad car and screamed that he wanted to kill them. Among other things, the two policemen were worried that Kaady would grab a loaded shotgun one of them had left sitting on the hood of the squad car.
As Kaady appeared to be lunging toward the deputy, both cops opened fire, hitting Kaady seven times.
The two cases spotlight the difficulty of police work. And the difficulty of sorting out who's responsible when things go badly.
In the King County case, a jury convicted the man of murder. Last month, a Clackamas County grand jury voted not to indict the two police officers.
Last week, in response to an editorial in The Oregonian calling for a public inquest into Kaady's death, Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote wrote a letter to the editor saying an inquest is a "flawed legal process" that can "turn into a forum to air grievances."
The bigger flaw is that in too many cases there's virtually no meaningful public review after cops shoot people.
According to newspaper investigations and experts, police agencies across the country offer a wide range of guidelines about the use of lethal force, and many don't aggressively investigate officer-involved shootings.
Two years ago, a police consultant's study of 32 police shootings in Portland over three years turned up no documented command review of one-third of the cases.
Experts say there is very little national information compiled on police shootings and how they're handled, so police leaders feel very little outside pressure to police their own.
But officer-involved shootings are dramatically reduced, experts say, when police chiefs clarify deadly force policies and make it clear that every shooting will be closely scrutinized.
Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts has said he will not comment on the Kaady shooting until after a shooting review board has completed its review of the incident.
Critics, including many people who call for public inquests, insist police reviews rarely shed light on shootings or lead to significant changes in policy.
At this point, it's impossible to know what standard of critical review Roberts will insist on or where he'll decide to lead us in this area.
He will, no doubt, call for more training money for officers. And that's fine. But training is only the very tip of this iceberg. The Clackamas County deputy involved in the shooting was well-trained, both in crisis intervention and in dealing with suspects suffering from mental illness or addiction.
Regardless of what the shooting review board decides about Kaady's death, Roberts should take this opportunity to lay out an aggressive set of guidelines for use of deadly force, and make it clear he intends to enforce them --no exceptions.
And other police departments in the county should follow his lead.
We owe that to the Kaady family. And to the two deputies who felt they had no choice but to pull the trigger.
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Burned! - Once Again, A Grand Jury Excuses Police Shooting
from the Portland Mercury
This much is known: Fouad Kaady, a 27-year-old Gresham man, was involved in at least one auto accident in Sandy on September 8. That collision possibly ignited a gas can in his car, which left him badly burned and with a head injury. Shortly thereafter, the young man was found walking naked down the street.
But when police arrived on the scene, instead of treating Kaady for medical concerns, they began treating him like a criminal, ordering him to lie down on the pavement. (One witness said that Kaady's skin was hanging off in places, and that he sat instead of lying on the ground.)
When officers were unable to force Kaady to lie on the ground, they shot him with a taser gun, which apparently only caused him to act more wildly. Moments later, he climbed to the top of a squad car. In response, at least one of the officers fired at him. Kaady died at the scene.
Immediate news reports said the officers thought Kaady might be armed, although they didn't offer any details as to where a naked man would conceal a weapon.
In response, a grand jury convened in Clackamas County for five days last week, examining evidence and listening to witness testimony. Each day, protestors gathered outside the Oregon City courthouse and witnesses steadfastly told media outlets that they believed the shooting to be unjustified. But on Monday, the grand jury ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to pursue a criminal charge, meaning the officers won't stand trial for Kaady's death.
At press time, it was unclear if Kaady's family will file a wrongful death civil lawsuit. It was also unclear if either the Sandy police or Clackamas County sheriff's office plans to conduct an internal investigation.
The shooting again calls into question the grand jury hearing and process. Under current state law, the court's records will remain sealed. During the recent legislative session, State Senator Avel Gordley (D-Portland), spurred on by the 2003 Kendra James shootings, tried to pass a law that would have allowed public access to grand jury records. That bill failed.
This much is known: Fouad Kaady, a 27-year-old Gresham man, was involved in at least one auto accident in Sandy on September 8. That collision possibly ignited a gas can in his car, which left him badly burned and with a head injury. Shortly thereafter, the young man was found walking naked down the street.
But when police arrived on the scene, instead of treating Kaady for medical concerns, they began treating him like a criminal, ordering him to lie down on the pavement. (One witness said that Kaady's skin was hanging off in places, and that he sat instead of lying on the ground.)
When officers were unable to force Kaady to lie on the ground, they shot him with a taser gun, which apparently only caused him to act more wildly. Moments later, he climbed to the top of a squad car. In response, at least one of the officers fired at him. Kaady died at the scene.
Immediate news reports said the officers thought Kaady might be armed, although they didn't offer any details as to where a naked man would conceal a weapon.
In response, a grand jury convened in Clackamas County for five days last week, examining evidence and listening to witness testimony. Each day, protestors gathered outside the Oregon City courthouse and witnesses steadfastly told media outlets that they believed the shooting to be unjustified. But on Monday, the grand jury ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to pursue a criminal charge, meaning the officers won't stand trial for Kaady's death.
At press time, it was unclear if Kaady's family will file a wrongful death civil lawsuit. It was also unclear if either the Sandy police or Clackamas County sheriff's office plans to conduct an internal investigation.
The shooting again calls into question the grand jury hearing and process. Under current state law, the court's records will remain sealed. During the recent legislative session, State Senator Avel Gordley (D-Portland), spurred on by the 2003 Kendra James shootings, tried to pass a law that would have allowed public access to grand jury records. That bill failed.
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Kaady death should spur a public inquest
from the Oregonian
Finally, a plausible explanation has emerged for the bizarre --and terrifying --behavior Fouad Kaady displayed Sept. 8, before he was shot and killed by a Sandy police officer and a Clackamas County sheriff's deputy. On Sunday, The Oregonian's Eric Mortenson and Stuart Tomlinson reported on their hypothesis, backed up by their own research, that Kaady may have been suffering from something called "excited delirium."
Although no one knows for sure, and it's not clear what might have triggered the condition, the explanation seems to fit what the 27-year-old Gresham High School graduate did that day. In tearing off his clothes, growling like an animal and pressing forward, unfazed, after absorbing high-voltage shocks from stun guns, Kaady mirrored textbook symptoms of this mental breakdown.
It's not a well-known phenomenon, but some law enforcement agencies (notably in Canada) are starting to wise up about it, train for it and treat it as a medical emergency, not a criminal problem. Police are seeing it more because it can be triggered by methamphetamine use, although there's no indication that this drug played a part in Kaady's case. In the hours before he died, though, Kaady's strange behavior gave rise to at least a dozen 9-1-1 calls.
Some people who saw him that day were worried; others terrified. No one who reported on his behavior could have envied the Sandy police officer and Clackamas County sheriff's deputy who actually had to confront Kaady. A Clackamas County grand jury exonerated the officers last week of any criminal misconduct, but that won't eliminate questions about this shooting. Neither will the reviews planned by the two law enforcement agencies involved.
No, those efforts won't be enough. Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote should hold a public inquest, similar to the one Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk held into a Portland police shooting. Pinning down what was wrong with Kaady is important, but the larger question is whether officers could have handled this case differently. A public inquest offers the best hope of illuminating what happened.
In the Kaady case, it's not only Kaady's family and friends who deserve a public inquest. The two officers involved deserve to tell their side of the story to the public, too.
Finally, a plausible explanation has emerged for the bizarre --and terrifying --behavior Fouad Kaady displayed Sept. 8, before he was shot and killed by a Sandy police officer and a Clackamas County sheriff's deputy. On Sunday, The Oregonian's Eric Mortenson and Stuart Tomlinson reported on their hypothesis, backed up by their own research, that Kaady may have been suffering from something called "excited delirium."
Although no one knows for sure, and it's not clear what might have triggered the condition, the explanation seems to fit what the 27-year-old Gresham High School graduate did that day. In tearing off his clothes, growling like an animal and pressing forward, unfazed, after absorbing high-voltage shocks from stun guns, Kaady mirrored textbook symptoms of this mental breakdown.
It's not a well-known phenomenon, but some law enforcement agencies (notably in Canada) are starting to wise up about it, train for it and treat it as a medical emergency, not a criminal problem. Police are seeing it more because it can be triggered by methamphetamine use, although there's no indication that this drug played a part in Kaady's case. In the hours before he died, though, Kaady's strange behavior gave rise to at least a dozen 9-1-1 calls.
Some people who saw him that day were worried; others terrified. No one who reported on his behavior could have envied the Sandy police officer and Clackamas County sheriff's deputy who actually had to confront Kaady. A Clackamas County grand jury exonerated the officers last week of any criminal misconduct, but that won't eliminate questions about this shooting. Neither will the reviews planned by the two law enforcement agencies involved.
No, those efforts won't be enough. Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote should hold a public inquest, similar to the one Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk held into a Portland police shooting. Pinning down what was wrong with Kaady is important, but the larger question is whether officers could have handled this case differently. A public inquest offers the best hope of illuminating what happened.
In the Kaady case, it's not only Kaady's family and friends who deserve a public inquest. The two officers involved deserve to tell their side of the story to the public, too.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Man killed by police possibly ill
from the Oregonian
A Gresham man whose bizarre, violent behavior resulted in his being killed by police exhibited textbook signs of "excited delirium," a rare but often deadly medical condition associated with illegal drug use, mental illness or injury, experts say.
Fouad Kaady was naked, bleeding and standing atop a police car when officers shot him Sept. 8. Last week, a grand jury found no wrongdoing on the part of the officers when they killed the unarmed man, but some public criticism remains.
As a review of the case continues, experts say excited delirium --a condition many Oregon police agencies don't train for, including one involved in the shooting --could explain Kaady's actions.
Excited delirium is of growing concern to law enforcement internationally, particularly in connection with the rise in methamphetamine abuse. That drug, however, does not appear to have been involved in this case.
Canadian police have taken the lead in addressing this condition, developing a national training package on excited delirium and seeking funding for an epidemiological study of suspects who show such symptoms. Under new policies, the Victoria, B.C., police department now treats excited delirium cases as medical emergencies, rather than criminal episodes.
U.S. agencies are beginning to follow suit. The Oakland, Calif., police department recently adopted Victoria's training standards. And Canadian experts presented their findings at a police conference in Las Vegas this year.
In Portland, police training was revamped after the shooting of Jose Santos Victor Mejia Poot when he became uncontrollable at a mental health center in April 2001. The Portland Police Bureau reassessed how to deal with mentally ill subjects and provided officers with more crisis intervention training.
But the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, one of the departments involved in the Kaady shooting, offers no training about the condition.
"To be honest, I've never heard of this," said Sgt. Nick Watt, crisis intervention trainer for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. "It's not part of the training at Clackamas County. It sounds like something we ought to teach."
The Sandy Police Department, which also had an officer involved, did not respond to questions about training.
Officers not charged
Kaady, 27, was naked, growling and had shaken off high-voltage shocks from stun guns when he threatened to kill the officers, multiple witnesses said.
Deputy David E. Willard and Officer William J. Bergin shot the unarmed man seven times. A Clackamas County grand jury heard testimony from at least 40 witnesses and decided last week not to bring charges against Willard and Bergin. Both have returned to duty.
Kaady's family and friends bitterly criticized the decision and have retained Portland attorney Shannon Connall to represent them.
Kaady's family insists he had no history of mental illness and did not take hard drugs. They think his behavior was caused by the shock of being badly burned in a car wreck about a half-hour before the shooting.
Dr. Chris Young, deputy state medical examiner, told investigators he thought Kaady's behavior was caused by drug intoxication, and that there was a possibility of it being caused by shock. Asked by an investigator about excited delirium, Young said he was not aware of it, according to a Sept. 20 report.
Police have not determined a root cause of the incident, but "it sounds like the classic excited delirium, it really does," said Acting Inspector Darren Laur of the Victoria, B.C., police department. Laur has published research on the subject and is involved in a Canadian effort to improve training and to fund an epidemiological study of suspects who fight with police and show signs of excited delirium.
Suspects in the throes of excited delirium commonly display incredible strength, are impervious to pain, growl like an animal, are aggressive and take off their clothing because they become superheated.
"They are very, very warm," Laur said. "We had a guy in Victoria with a core temperature of 112 degrees. That's why these people will shed their clothing --they're so hot they're trying to cool themselves."
Researchers think excited delirium is associated with drug use, particularly cocaine and methamphetamine, or mental illness. Marijuana use combined with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia also has been linked to the condition.
Officials have confirmed that Kaady had traces of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system. Samira Kaady, his mother, said the family is awaiting additional toxicology reports.
Drug abuse and mental illness can result in large amounts of dopamine being released in the brain. Dopamine controls the body temperature and is one of the main neurotransmitters for the "fight or flight" response, according to Laur and medical researchers.
When officers try to take the person into custody, it typically takes numerous officers to overcome the suspect's strength and endurance, said Canadian police researcher Chris Lawrence.
Lawrence, defensive tactics supervisor at Ontario Police College, and others have called for changes in police training to address excited delirium. Among other ideas, they say paramedics should be called in immediately so it can be treated as a medical emergency.
If it's possible to back off and wait for additional officers and medics, police should do so, Lawrence said.
Dangerous situation
Victoria police are doing just that.
"The quicker we can control them and hand them over to medical personnel, the better," said inspector Laur. "Now if there's an arrest, we go through a checklist: Irrational, animal sounds, partly clothed --they don't come to a cell, they go to a hospital."
But treatment can't occur until the suspect is controlled, and that's difficult, Laur said.
"It puts police in a Catch-22 situation," he said. "It's extremely dangerous; they feel no pain. A lot of traditional control tactics won't work."
Reports make clear that Willard and Bergin, the officers who shot Kaady, were startled by his behavior and felt threatened.
"I just knew that if we were to get hands on with him in a physical fight, I mean, there would have been no stopping him," Bergin told an investigator. "I mean, he would have not, not felt anything."
Willard told an investigator he recalled thinking, "Oh my God, I'm Tasing this guy (with a stun gun) and he's getting up."
Based on a synopsis of the Kaady shooting, Laur said, it appeared Willard and Bergin "did everything they could to control that situation."
Laur declined to comment on the officers' use of lethal force but said withdrawing "may not have been an option."
He and Lawrence, of the Ontario Police College, said training must be "tweaked" to treat the cases as medical emergencies.
Such training in Oregon varies by department.
Cameron Campbell, director of training for the Department of Public Safety, Standards and Training in Monmouth, said new recruits receive three hours of mental health crisis intervention training during their 10 weeks of basic training at the academy.
Portland police officers receive an additional 20 hours of supplementary crisis training, said the bureau's crisis intervention coordinator, Officer Paul Ware.
Ware said the training includes how to recognize what the bureau calls "hyperstimulation and agitated delirium."
Gresham police training closely mirrors what Portland officers receive, including how to recognize and respond to excited delirium, Gresham spokesman Officer Grant McCormick said.
"We're telling our people to ask for more cover" when they confront people in such a state, Ware said. "Don't do the cowboy thing and go at it alone unless the fight comes to you."
A Gresham man whose bizarre, violent behavior resulted in his being killed by police exhibited textbook signs of "excited delirium," a rare but often deadly medical condition associated with illegal drug use, mental illness or injury, experts say.
Fouad Kaady was naked, bleeding and standing atop a police car when officers shot him Sept. 8. Last week, a grand jury found no wrongdoing on the part of the officers when they killed the unarmed man, but some public criticism remains.
As a review of the case continues, experts say excited delirium --a condition many Oregon police agencies don't train for, including one involved in the shooting --could explain Kaady's actions.
Excited delirium is of growing concern to law enforcement internationally, particularly in connection with the rise in methamphetamine abuse. That drug, however, does not appear to have been involved in this case.
Canadian police have taken the lead in addressing this condition, developing a national training package on excited delirium and seeking funding for an epidemiological study of suspects who show such symptoms. Under new policies, the Victoria, B.C., police department now treats excited delirium cases as medical emergencies, rather than criminal episodes.
U.S. agencies are beginning to follow suit. The Oakland, Calif., police department recently adopted Victoria's training standards. And Canadian experts presented their findings at a police conference in Las Vegas this year.
In Portland, police training was revamped after the shooting of Jose Santos Victor Mejia Poot when he became uncontrollable at a mental health center in April 2001. The Portland Police Bureau reassessed how to deal with mentally ill subjects and provided officers with more crisis intervention training.
But the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, one of the departments involved in the Kaady shooting, offers no training about the condition.
"To be honest, I've never heard of this," said Sgt. Nick Watt, crisis intervention trainer for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. "It's not part of the training at Clackamas County. It sounds like something we ought to teach."
The Sandy Police Department, which also had an officer involved, did not respond to questions about training.
Officers not charged
Kaady, 27, was naked, growling and had shaken off high-voltage shocks from stun guns when he threatened to kill the officers, multiple witnesses said.
Deputy David E. Willard and Officer William J. Bergin shot the unarmed man seven times. A Clackamas County grand jury heard testimony from at least 40 witnesses and decided last week not to bring charges against Willard and Bergin. Both have returned to duty.
Kaady's family and friends bitterly criticized the decision and have retained Portland attorney Shannon Connall to represent them.
Kaady's family insists he had no history of mental illness and did not take hard drugs. They think his behavior was caused by the shock of being badly burned in a car wreck about a half-hour before the shooting.
Dr. Chris Young, deputy state medical examiner, told investigators he thought Kaady's behavior was caused by drug intoxication, and that there was a possibility of it being caused by shock. Asked by an investigator about excited delirium, Young said he was not aware of it, according to a Sept. 20 report.
Police have not determined a root cause of the incident, but "it sounds like the classic excited delirium, it really does," said Acting Inspector Darren Laur of the Victoria, B.C., police department. Laur has published research on the subject and is involved in a Canadian effort to improve training and to fund an epidemiological study of suspects who fight with police and show signs of excited delirium.
Suspects in the throes of excited delirium commonly display incredible strength, are impervious to pain, growl like an animal, are aggressive and take off their clothing because they become superheated.
"They are very, very warm," Laur said. "We had a guy in Victoria with a core temperature of 112 degrees. That's why these people will shed their clothing --they're so hot they're trying to cool themselves."
Researchers think excited delirium is associated with drug use, particularly cocaine and methamphetamine, or mental illness. Marijuana use combined with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia also has been linked to the condition.
Officials have confirmed that Kaady had traces of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system. Samira Kaady, his mother, said the family is awaiting additional toxicology reports.
Drug abuse and mental illness can result in large amounts of dopamine being released in the brain. Dopamine controls the body temperature and is one of the main neurotransmitters for the "fight or flight" response, according to Laur and medical researchers.
When officers try to take the person into custody, it typically takes numerous officers to overcome the suspect's strength and endurance, said Canadian police researcher Chris Lawrence.
Lawrence, defensive tactics supervisor at Ontario Police College, and others have called for changes in police training to address excited delirium. Among other ideas, they say paramedics should be called in immediately so it can be treated as a medical emergency.
If it's possible to back off and wait for additional officers and medics, police should do so, Lawrence said.
Dangerous situation
Victoria police are doing just that.
"The quicker we can control them and hand them over to medical personnel, the better," said inspector Laur. "Now if there's an arrest, we go through a checklist: Irrational, animal sounds, partly clothed --they don't come to a cell, they go to a hospital."
But treatment can't occur until the suspect is controlled, and that's difficult, Laur said.
"It puts police in a Catch-22 situation," he said. "It's extremely dangerous; they feel no pain. A lot of traditional control tactics won't work."
Reports make clear that Willard and Bergin, the officers who shot Kaady, were startled by his behavior and felt threatened.
"I just knew that if we were to get hands on with him in a physical fight, I mean, there would have been no stopping him," Bergin told an investigator. "I mean, he would have not, not felt anything."
Willard told an investigator he recalled thinking, "Oh my God, I'm Tasing this guy (with a stun gun) and he's getting up."
Based on a synopsis of the Kaady shooting, Laur said, it appeared Willard and Bergin "did everything they could to control that situation."
Laur declined to comment on the officers' use of lethal force but said withdrawing "may not have been an option."
He and Lawrence, of the Ontario Police College, said training must be "tweaked" to treat the cases as medical emergencies.
Such training in Oregon varies by department.
Cameron Campbell, director of training for the Department of Public Safety, Standards and Training in Monmouth, said new recruits receive three hours of mental health crisis intervention training during their 10 weeks of basic training at the academy.
Portland police officers receive an additional 20 hours of supplementary crisis training, said the bureau's crisis intervention coordinator, Officer Paul Ware.
Ware said the training includes how to recognize what the bureau calls "hyperstimulation and agitated delirium."
Gresham police training closely mirrors what Portland officers receive, including how to recognize and respond to excited delirium, Gresham spokesman Officer Grant McCormick said.
"We're telling our people to ask for more cover" when they confront people in such a state, Ware said. "Don't do the cowboy thing and go at it alone unless the fight comes to you."
Shooting timeline
from the Oregonian
Clackamas County investigators have reconstructed the events of Sept. 8, the day 27-year-old Fouad Kaady was killed during a confrontation with police. Some of this timeline also comes from independent sources and 9-1-1 and police radio recordings:
6:50 a.m.: Kaady, wearing only a sport coat and pants, drives his green Toyota pickup into a parking lot at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. Construction workers tell investigators he looks high and is blowing marijuana smoke out the windows. Kaady gets out, sticks eight cigarettes in his mouth and lights them.
7 a.m.: Kaady drives away when security guards arrive, his truck jumping several earthen berms.
7:30-8 a.m.: Kaady, wearing a suit, arrives at the home of his father, Rachid Kaady. His behavior seems fine.
9:47 a.m.: Kaady buys two packs of cigarettes at a convenience store at Southeast Stark Street and 214th Avenue. He tells the store owner, Rudd McGarrity, that he's "not okay."
12:30 p.m.: Kaady parks his pickup at a Rick's Custom Fencing, Southeast 202nd Avenue and Stark Street. Workers there report a man, wearing only boxer shorts, running toward 202nd and Stark. Kaady soon drives toward Sandy in his parents' Buick.
1:27 p.m.: A northbound car smashes into the back of 19-year-old Tiffany Stanko's car on Southeast Bluff Road. Stanko complains of neck and back pain. "He totally rear-ended me. . . . It's an old Buick . . . blue."
1:27 p.m.: Carol Vinnacomb, who lives on Southeast Bluff Road, reports seeing a blue Buick pass her after running into the back of another car. The driver looks at her with "wild look in eyes." Smoke is pouring from the car's engine compartment.
1:29 p.m.: Greg Elwell of Boring calls 9-1-1 after a Buick rear-ends his pickup several times. "They've got to get somebody after this guy."
1:30 p.m.: A car rear-ends the pickup of Frayne McAtee of Boring, then veers off Bluff Road and catches fire in the ditch.
1:31 p.m.: Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy David Willard reports that he's en route to the call.
1:32 p.m.: Sandy police Officer William Bergin is en route to the call.
1:37 p.m.: Tamara Sedgewick calls 9-1-1 to report that the driver of a burning Buick is in the woods nearby, naked and "extremely combative." She says a man who went to help the driver was assaulted. She tells dispatchers she thinks the driver has a gun and is "high on drugs."
1:56 p.m.: A caller to 9-1-1 reports seeing a naked man walking north of 362nd Avenue, "all cut up."
1:56 p.m.: Deputy Willard jumps into thepatrol car with Officer Bergin because his patrol car is surrounded by firetrucks. The two drive north on Bluff Road and left onto 362nd Avenue.
1:58 p.m.: Elaine Thornlimb calls 9-1-1 to report that a naked man just jumped onto her car on 362nd. "I'm not sure what he's gonna do . . . he's not in the right mind right now. He's walking towards Cottrell School. I see the police now. I'm afraid he might try and attack them."
1:59 p.m.: Willard and Bergin stop on 362nd, just south of the Bluff Road intersection. A man sits cross-legged about a foot off the shoulder of the road. Willard sees the man is seriously injured and calls for Code 3 medics and backup. Dispatch asks to confirm the location, but Willard does not respond. Both officers try to subdue Kaady with Tasers. Kaady laughs and pulls Taser barbs out of his skin. Kaady leaps onto the police car, moving from the hood to the roof. He shouts at the officers "I'm going to kill you."
2 p.m.: Willard calls again for Code 3 medics and says shots have been fired. "Suspect is down," Willard tells dispatchers. Paramedics are waved to where Kaady lies.
2:04 p.m.: "He's gone," a paramedic tells Willard.
Clackamas County investigators have reconstructed the events of Sept. 8, the day 27-year-old Fouad Kaady was killed during a confrontation with police. Some of this timeline also comes from independent sources and 9-1-1 and police radio recordings:
6:50 a.m.: Kaady, wearing only a sport coat and pants, drives his green Toyota pickup into a parking lot at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. Construction workers tell investigators he looks high and is blowing marijuana smoke out the windows. Kaady gets out, sticks eight cigarettes in his mouth and lights them.
7 a.m.: Kaady drives away when security guards arrive, his truck jumping several earthen berms.
7:30-8 a.m.: Kaady, wearing a suit, arrives at the home of his father, Rachid Kaady. His behavior seems fine.
9:47 a.m.: Kaady buys two packs of cigarettes at a convenience store at Southeast Stark Street and 214th Avenue. He tells the store owner, Rudd McGarrity, that he's "not okay."
12:30 p.m.: Kaady parks his pickup at a Rick's Custom Fencing, Southeast 202nd Avenue and Stark Street. Workers there report a man, wearing only boxer shorts, running toward 202nd and Stark. Kaady soon drives toward Sandy in his parents' Buick.
1:27 p.m.: A northbound car smashes into the back of 19-year-old Tiffany Stanko's car on Southeast Bluff Road. Stanko complains of neck and back pain. "He totally rear-ended me. . . . It's an old Buick . . . blue."
1:27 p.m.: Carol Vinnacomb, who lives on Southeast Bluff Road, reports seeing a blue Buick pass her after running into the back of another car. The driver looks at her with "wild look in eyes." Smoke is pouring from the car's engine compartment.
1:29 p.m.: Greg Elwell of Boring calls 9-1-1 after a Buick rear-ends his pickup several times. "They've got to get somebody after this guy."
1:30 p.m.: A car rear-ends the pickup of Frayne McAtee of Boring, then veers off Bluff Road and catches fire in the ditch.
1:31 p.m.: Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy David Willard reports that he's en route to the call.
1:32 p.m.: Sandy police Officer William Bergin is en route to the call.
1:37 p.m.: Tamara Sedgewick calls 9-1-1 to report that the driver of a burning Buick is in the woods nearby, naked and "extremely combative." She says a man who went to help the driver was assaulted. She tells dispatchers she thinks the driver has a gun and is "high on drugs."
1:56 p.m.: A caller to 9-1-1 reports seeing a naked man walking north of 362nd Avenue, "all cut up."
1:56 p.m.: Deputy Willard jumps into thepatrol car with Officer Bergin because his patrol car is surrounded by firetrucks. The two drive north on Bluff Road and left onto 362nd Avenue.
1:58 p.m.: Elaine Thornlimb calls 9-1-1 to report that a naked man just jumped onto her car on 362nd. "I'm not sure what he's gonna do . . . he's not in the right mind right now. He's walking towards Cottrell School. I see the police now. I'm afraid he might try and attack them."
1:59 p.m.: Willard and Bergin stop on 362nd, just south of the Bluff Road intersection. A man sits cross-legged about a foot off the shoulder of the road. Willard sees the man is seriously injured and calls for Code 3 medics and backup. Dispatch asks to confirm the location, but Willard does not respond. Both officers try to subdue Kaady with Tasers. Kaady laughs and pulls Taser barbs out of his skin. Kaady leaps onto the police car, moving from the hood to the roof. He shouts at the officers "I'm going to kill you."
2 p.m.: Willard calls again for Code 3 medics and says shots have been fired. "Suspect is down," Willard tells dispatchers. Paramedics are waved to where Kaady lies.
2:04 p.m.: "He's gone," a paramedic tells Willard.
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