from the Oregonian
A week that saw two longtime county deputies indicted for felony crimes was capped off Saturday afternoon by a protest calling for a citizen review of why police fatally shot Fouad Kaady last September.
The protest started a new wave of e-mails into my in-box from people questioning why no one was held accountable when police shot and killed the unarmed, naked man.
When you study the police report on the shooting, you probably see whatever you want to see in it. It's not likely to change many minds on either side of the issue about whether police should have shot Kaady.
But in the report, you'll also see the portrait of a hardworking, highly trained Clackamas County deputy who was faced with an incredibly tough decision.
David Willard worked his normal day shift on Sept. 7. Then, when asked to work a few more hours, he agreed to four hours overtime.
He got home a little before 10 p.m., chatted for a bit with family members and had a small bowl of Raisin Bran before hitting the sack.
As always, he was up at 5 the next morning. After showering, he had some oatmeal and orange juice, took his vitamins then read from his Bible for about 20 minutes.
In a few hours, he would be staring across his handgun at Kaady, an enraged, bloody man who was threatening to kill him.
Kaady refused to lie down and charged Willard. After he jumped on top of a police car, Willard and a Sandy police officer feared he might tackle one of them and gain control of one of their weapons. When it appeared Kaady was jumping off the police car, they opened fire.
In October, a grand jury cleared the officers of wrongdoing. Last month, a sheriff's shooting review board found that Willard acted appropriately when he pulled the trigger.
It's easy to lump all last week's news into a pile and question the professionalism of the cops sworn to protect us.
And you'd have to be someone who simply doesn't care if you aren't asking questions about a sheriff's office whose deputies were involved in the shooting deaths of three people last year.
The answers don't come easy. Even when talking with current and former Clackamas County deputies, I got mixed opinions about the Kaady shooting. Some weren't sure it was necessary. But everyone admitted you can't be sure until you're the one standing there deciding whether to pull the trigger.
Sheriff Craig Roberts says he doesn't want to draw up a policy that's too restrictive because every potentially deadly situation is different.
His focus, he says, will be to continue to try to make sure deputies get the best possible training.
That makes sense. And yet, the concern of people questioning the shootings also makes sense. When you're trying to understand why some people feel like cops can get away with murder in the United States, you have to understand the big picture.
Just two months ago a jury in San Jose found a California narcotics agent not guilty of voluntary manslaughter after he fatally shot a man --in the back --who was running away.
It turns out the agent had mistaken the man for a wanted parolee.
In my opinion, the circumstances of that shooting have almost nothing in common with the Kaady shooting.
And as horrible as the verdict might sound in the California case, it has one important thing going for it: the fact that there was a very public process.
I'm not suggesting anyone should have been put on trial for the Kaady shooting. But the sheriff's office only hurts itself when the only investigations of the matter --a grand jury hearing and police review board hearing --are private.
When high-profile matters such as this are handled largely behind closed doors, the sheriff's office only encourages people to believe it has something to hide.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Saturday, January 21, 2006
SHOOTING REVIEW BOARD REVIEW COMPLETED REGARDING FOUAD KAADY
Press Release from: Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office
SHOOTING REVIEW BOARD REVIEW COMPLETED REGARDING FOUAD KAADY
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Shooting Review Board (SRB) has completed the review of the Fouad Kaady shooting incident and presented their findings to Sheriff Craig Roberts and Under Sheriff Charles Bowen. The SRB found that Deputy Dave Willard acted within existing rules and regulations, and according to current training. A copy of the Shooting Review Board Summary and Findings is attached to this release.
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office has taken the following steps to continue to improve our response to critical incidents:
Crisis Intervention Team training was first presented to several employees in 2005, and more participants are scheduled for the weeklong training starting in February 2006.
Sheriff's Office personnel continue to work closely with many community groups, such as NAMI, and other government agencies such as Clackamas County Mental Health, to further develop our Crisis Intervention Team training, and to implement it department wide as well as offering the training to other law enforcement agencies.
Firearms and defensive tactics instructors are continually reviewing all critical incidents and will consult regularly with subject matter experts, in order to identify ways to constantly adapt and improve in-service training.
Defensive tactics training concentrating on ground fighting techniques and vehicle extraction techniques has been recently provided to all sworn employees as part of regular ongoing required training; this type of training will better equip members to use physical control techniques that may preclude a suspect from escalating the situation to a greater use of force.
Sheriff's Command Staff are also finalizing a policy to replace the Shooting Review Board with a Critical Incident Review Board to review all incidents, which result in death or serious injury to any party. We can learn from every situation.
Sheriff Craig Roberts stated, "On behalf of the entire Clackamas County Sheriff's Office staff, I would like to again extend our condolences to the family and friends of Fouad Kaady. Everyone involved would have hoped for a different outcome."
"After a thorough and careful review, the Shooting Review Board found no violations in the following of current Sheriff's Office policies. However, we will continue to assess our policies, procedures, training and tactics to improve public safety for all citizens of Clackamas County."
"I continue my commitment to protect all citizens, especially those who are most vulnerable. Dwindling available resources for individuals who suffer from mental illness and/or drug addiction, makes this an ongoing challenge to public safety in our community. This is why it is so critical that we look at improving the system-wide response."
"Unfortunately, when these tragic events do occur they can happen in an instant, and the training our members receive is what they rely upon. I am proud of the men and women of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office who have to face these difficult situations day in and day out. My goal is to work together with our own members, our citizens, community groups, and other agencies to do everything we reasonably can to prevent these tragic events from occurring."
Contact Info: Detective Wendi Babst
Public Information Officer
Clackamas County Sheriff's Office
Pager: 503-237-2643
SHOOTING REVIEW BOARD REVIEW COMPLETED REGARDING FOUAD KAADY
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Shooting Review Board (SRB) has completed the review of the Fouad Kaady shooting incident and presented their findings to Sheriff Craig Roberts and Under Sheriff Charles Bowen. The SRB found that Deputy Dave Willard acted within existing rules and regulations, and according to current training. A copy of the Shooting Review Board Summary and Findings is attached to this release.
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office has taken the following steps to continue to improve our response to critical incidents:
Crisis Intervention Team training was first presented to several employees in 2005, and more participants are scheduled for the weeklong training starting in February 2006.
Sheriff's Office personnel continue to work closely with many community groups, such as NAMI, and other government agencies such as Clackamas County Mental Health, to further develop our Crisis Intervention Team training, and to implement it department wide as well as offering the training to other law enforcement agencies.
Firearms and defensive tactics instructors are continually reviewing all critical incidents and will consult regularly with subject matter experts, in order to identify ways to constantly adapt and improve in-service training.
Defensive tactics training concentrating on ground fighting techniques and vehicle extraction techniques has been recently provided to all sworn employees as part of regular ongoing required training; this type of training will better equip members to use physical control techniques that may preclude a suspect from escalating the situation to a greater use of force.
Sheriff's Command Staff are also finalizing a policy to replace the Shooting Review Board with a Critical Incident Review Board to review all incidents, which result in death or serious injury to any party. We can learn from every situation.
Sheriff Craig Roberts stated, "On behalf of the entire Clackamas County Sheriff's Office staff, I would like to again extend our condolences to the family and friends of Fouad Kaady. Everyone involved would have hoped for a different outcome."
"After a thorough and careful review, the Shooting Review Board found no violations in the following of current Sheriff's Office policies. However, we will continue to assess our policies, procedures, training and tactics to improve public safety for all citizens of Clackamas County."
"I continue my commitment to protect all citizens, especially those who are most vulnerable. Dwindling available resources for individuals who suffer from mental illness and/or drug addiction, makes this an ongoing challenge to public safety in our community. This is why it is so critical that we look at improving the system-wide response."
"Unfortunately, when these tragic events do occur they can happen in an instant, and the training our members receive is what they rely upon. I am proud of the men and women of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office who have to face these difficult situations day in and day out. My goal is to work together with our own members, our citizens, community groups, and other agencies to do everything we reasonably can to prevent these tragic events from occurring."
Contact Info: Detective Wendi Babst
Public Information Officer
Clackamas County Sheriff's Office
Pager: 503-237-2643
Monday, December 26, 2005
The Guns of Clackamas County
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.
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.
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.
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