April 28, 2004
(Updated) Jury Of Inquest: Day One, Hour Six
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
At we move into the top of the hour, the first witness is Sergeant Kelly of the Portland Police Bureau, with the Bureau since 1984.
He was aware of the "shots fired" call, while in his office at North Precinct. His testimony is full of mumbles that are heard to make out.
He and another officer went to the scene of the incident. Again, his testimony is accompanied by the diagram of the scene. He says his guess is it took about "a couple of minutes" to arrive on the scene.
During his trip to the scene, he says there were radio communications, but he does not remember all of them.
Upon arriving, the situation was still "hot" and did not appear to be safe. Sery was walking away from the stopped vehicle, and he indicated he was the one involved with the shooting. Kelley says that by policy, they wanted to pull that officer away from the scene as soon as possible.
At that point, Kelley had assumed control at the scene.
The door was open, the car running, but he couldn't see into the car from where he was. He asked if the rest of the car was clear, that point was checked and confirmed that no one else was in the vehicle.
Kelley opted to render the scene safe themselves, based upon being told that the person in the car had made no "independent movements" -- meaning movements not caused by the use of the Taser.
One officer wanted to get get driver out of the car, Kelly decided not to do so in order to keep the environment of the crime scene as it was. Taking him out of the car, he says would have lengthened the amount of time that they sould be using instead to get the medical team to the scene.
Either Sothern or Macomber reached into the car to prep the seatbelts, and they handcuffed the driver's hands in front, to keep it as close to possible to the actual environment of the scene (as opposed to behind him). The driver's pulse was checked and there was none.
Kelley still had concern over whether they were wrong that the driver was dead, whichh is why he wanted to hands secured, and hand his handcuffs further secured with flexcuffs out of the way. The driver was checked for weapons, and officers were asked about weapons. Kelley was told none were seen.
He says the driver was the only one in the car, his head was bag, and a baggie was in his mouth. Once the driver was ecured, EMS came in ("it seemed like thirty seconds"). Sery was asked how many times he shot, and where -- he said three or four times, int he chest.
A determination was made that there would not be a rescue effort, and those people were asked to remove themselves from the scene. The scene was taped off and secured.
Schrunk has asked about Kelley's tactical training (he's been on the SERT teams). Since 1979, Kelley has had "more than 3,000 hours" of training through the Bureau and other organizations.
Perez' attorney asked about which windows were tinted. Kelley said the driver's door was open, but he believes every window was tinted except for the windshield. But from where they all were, he could not be sure at the time is anyone else was in the car, which is why they eventually opened up the back door.
Follow-up: Did you learn that the tint was the legal tint limit? (There will be another witness to answer tthis later.)
Family question: You said you thought the radio or stereo was on? Are you sure, and what was the level?
Kelley said "loud is in the eye of the beholder" but that it was not "obnoxiously loud." He said it did not hamper their communications and didn't think it would have hampered them with the driver of the car.
A juror question was not asked by Schrunk because it was "not in the purview" of the proceedings.
Update
Next witness is someone whose words we cannot make out as she gives her name and her occupation. She is one of the medics who responded.
She and her partner responded to the call and stopped to the side of the incident. They received the call at 5:08 PM.
They arrived at the scene four minutes after receiving the call and approached the officers near the vehicle and received instructions to examine the driver.
The officer explained that medics were not to disturb the scene but needed to check for a pulse. None was detected and the driver did not appear to be breathing. A plastic bag was in his mouth. She heard no heart sounds thorugh a stethoscope.
Officers explained the driver had received three or four gunshot wounds to the chest. She could see blood, a bruised raised spot on the driver's chest, and he exhibited no signs of life. Determination was made that there was no reason to attempt to revive the driver.
She and her partner then backed out of the scene another six minutes later.
An exhibit was identified as properly depicting what she had seen at the scene of the incident.
Update
At about the bottom of the hour, the next witness is Dr. William Lewinski (sp?) who needs to set-up, so there will be a 5-10 minute recess.
Update
Lewinski has done research involving police shootings over the course of twenty-five years, including perception, decision-making processes, action, reaction, bio-mechanics, etc.
Some research into lethal-force issues stretches back over 150 years, he says, including aspects of reaction time. Perception research goes back around one hundred years.
Such research is used by law enforcement officers during their training. He says that manuals talk of "action beats reaction" but that such terms were never really defined in the past. Research s also used in lawsuits over officer-involved shootings, and also by the public which often judges officers, he says, through "romantic notions of right and wrong."
(You can see where this testimony is headed already.)
Update
Lethal force encounters are traumatic events for everyone concerned, he says. Three-fourths of officers involved in such incidents leave the force within five years. He says the science and research needs to be brought inti play to better prepare officers.
Lewinsky is familiar with the training that Portland officers go through, including simulations involving action and reaction. He says training begins with fundamental technical skills (such as the mechanics of one's weapon) so that one's use becomes unconscious and instinctive. Next comes "operational proficiency."
He says that simulation is required because it's an effective transition stage from training into the real world.
Lewinski will describe action/reaction issues with the aid of video exhibits.
Update
He's describing that we know the length of time many actions take (using the turning of his head as an example). Law enforcement officers, for the most part he says, do not do action, they do reaction.
To simply move your finger (like on a trigger) in response to what is said takes approxmately 18/100 of a second.
Lewinski described various tests and experiments on action and reaction as it pertains to the firing of weapons, involving much discussion of how quickly and by what means certain guns reset after the trigger is pulled.
Update
It was determined that when an officer pulls a trigger in response to a sound, the officer can do that on average in 1/4 of a second.
In response to a light rather than a sound, another 6/100 of a second is added.
Most officers do not respond to lights, but to some form of decision-making. When they introduced decision-making into things, the processing time comes to about half a second -- and that's in the simplest decision-making process.
Question from Senators Gordly and Carter: What does science have to say about the impact of racism in the decision-making of white officers assigned to an African-American community? Schrunk provides the context that ths presentation seems to exist in a "sterile" world apart from the real one.
No studies at this time have examined this, that he knows of involving police officers. But there have been studies involving civilians and perceptions of weapons in which there is some indication that race is a factor. "But this is civilians, not officers," he says.
The major perception of threat, he says, is the loss of control over the circumstances. To the extent that race is a factor, he says he will get to that, but wants to do so after he finishes up his presentation on action and reaction.