February 18, 2004
(Updated) Mayor Links Posters Seeking Photo Of Scott McCollister With 'Vigilante Justice'
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
Only found about this when we got back from 4 1/2 hours watching City Council today (about which there are three items in the pipeline here). It seems some curious flyers have been posted in north and northeast Portland:
The poster, which was spotted on Tuesday, offers a reward of $40 in groceries for a picture of Officer Scott McCollister. McCollister�s face has been erased in videotapes of the shooting probe released by the Portland Police Bureau.
The poster also says "the Portland police have taken great care to keep any photos of McCollister out of public circulation. They protect him despite his crime, as they have always done."
McCollister, of course, is the Portland Police Bureau officer who shot and killed Kendra James last year during a traffic stop. After a 5-month suspension, he recently returned to duty, this time in East Precinct.
This afternoon, Mayor Vera Katz issued a statement regarding these flyers, the text of which is reproduced here in full:
A group whose members and motives are not known has recently begun distributing flyers in Portland's Northeast neighborhood. The flyers offer a 'prize' of $40 worth of free groceries for a photograph of a Portland police officer who recently returned to duty after having been involved in a highly publicized shooting last year. The flyers label this officer as an 'armed and dangerous killer.'
These flyers are appalling. While they make no overt threat, they imply advocacy of vigilante justice. Those who put out these leaflets should be ashamed. This is a rank attempt at intimidation of an officer whose case was handled through the due process of law. Further, the offer of a 'prize' of a bag of groceries diminishes the memory of the shooting victim. No one benefits from this.
While we agree that the reward seems rather, shall we say, peculiar, the Mayor's jumped the gun here in her use of "vigilante justice" rhetoric in describing the flyers, which merely ask for a photograph of a notorious police officer whose face the public simply has not seen.
Which necessarily brings us to a brief but relevant diversion into KGW's online story on this, which is headlined, "Unknown group offers reward for photo of officer who shot Kendra James." It seems strange to use the phrase "unknown group" when the article itself points out that the flyers are credited to Rose City Copwatch -- which is only an unknown group to those in the media who don't pay attention.
Why is this relevant, beyond smacking KGW for being less than bright? Because various Copwatch-type groups often compile and make available photographs of police officers who have been involved in controversial actions. But the City and the local media have kept McCollister's appearance a secret.
To label these flyers as implying "advocacy of vigilante justice" is nonsense. Regardless of what one thinks of the relative taste of the flyers, the Mayor's statement in essence is a rash one, charged with accusations that would not have been supported with a little investigation.
To be fair, everyone is bungling this one:
[Police spokesperson Cheryl] Robinson said police have never heard of the Rose City Copwatch. Nor is the city certain if Rose City Copwatch is different from Portland Copwatch, a more familiar group that has testified before the Portland city council.
No, they are not. And the fact that neither the Portland Police Bureau nor KGW knows this -- or seems incapable of making the determination before placing the two groups together in a story such as this -- is at least somewhat appalling in and of itself.
Fouls all around on this one, we're afraid. Except for us, of course, who just spelled it all out for you.
But before we leave this, there's one other statement to which we are forced to respond. This KGW article also quotes Katz's chief of staff as saying, "The reason (Katz) wanted to issue a statement is she wanted to send a message that this kind of behavior isn't acceptable in our community."
It's nice that the Mayor is so forthright and immediate when faced with the terrible tragedy of some flyers being posted asking for photographs. But where was that sort of forthrightness and immediacy when one of her police officers shot and killed Kendra James?
Update
On the heels of the Mayor's statement, the Portland Police Bureau has released the text of Chief Derrick Foxworth's letter to Rose City Copwatch:
It is my understanding that you have been circulating a poster offering a free bag of groceries to anyone who provides a photo of Officer Scott McCollister. I find this poster to be disturbing and offensive.
First, let me clear up a misconception on your poster. Oregon Law prohibits any law enforcement agency in the State of Oregon from releasing a photo of a police officer without their permission. That is why, according to your poster, the Police Bureau has "taken great care to keep any photos of McCollister out of public circulation."
In addition, Officer McCollister's conduct related to the May 2003 death of Kendra James was reviewed by the grand jury, exhaustively reported by the media, and reviewed internally by the Police Bureau. Discipline was imposed on Officer McCollister, and he served a lengthy suspension. He has now returned to work as a police officer in order to serve the community.
We recognize there are still strong feelings in the community, supportive and non-supportive of Officer McCollister and the Portland Police Bureau, related to this incident. It is time to move forward. Your actions do nothing to promote healing or strengthening the partnership between the police and the community. It is time to build trust and increase communication between police and the community, not to drive wedges of mistrust and contempt. Your actions in regard to offering a "prize" for a photo can only be perceived as an attempt to intimidate Officer McCollister and prevent him from serving the community. Your actions are sophomoric and divisive.
In closing, let me say the Portland Police Bureau is an agency that believes in Community Policing. We recognize that we are accountable for our actions and to the citizens in our community. Disseminating a poster offering a reward for his photograph serves no legitimate purpose. It would be a greater benefit to our community if you invested your time and energies in finding ways to help us find solutions to reducing crime and the fear of crime; improving neighborhood livability and strengthening the relationship between police and the community.
Unlike the Mayor's response, this -- or, at least, that final paragraph -- has some pointed and salient suggestions for productive activities.
Update
The current version of the KGW story has been updated to include a response from Rose City Copwatch:
"When a sex offender is released into the community, their photo is posted all over the neighborhood," Melissa said. �I've never heard of vigilante justice there. We just think people should know who lives in their community, and who�s armed in their community."
Click through for the rest of her comments, as well as some from a representative of the police union.
Update
For whatever it's worth, Rose City Copwatch has posted a statement to Portland Indymedia on their flyering effort.
Comments (3)
Worldwide Pablo on 18 Feb 2004
WWP is no fan of the Police Bureau, but he knows this much, and wonders:
If this isn't intimidation, what is? [And what is the logical end of such pressure?]
There's no discernible, plausible, cogent reason for anything else. Has our animus toward the city, toward the police bureau, blinded us from embracing the essential human decency that once the process has played out, we leave people alone?
Yech. This is a pool of poison no one wants to live in.
Count WWP out on this one, b!X. Vera, uncharacteristically, is right this time.
The One True b!X on 18 Feb 2004
While the flyers are arguably asinine, and while their intention perhaps might be some sort of community intimidation (or, at least, an attempt to raise community pressure), there's no way that Katz is right in linking them to "vigilante justice."
And I reiterate my rather low opinion of the hypocrisy of throwing a fit over some flyers, when the City never threw a fit over James' death.
Jack Bog on 18 Feb 2004
The fact that this story won't end and just gets uglier is a sad testament to the mayor's dismal performance running the police bureau. Bud Clark wasn't so hot at it, either, but next to Vera he looks like FDR or Gandhi.