'Use Of Force' Write-Ups To Be More Extensive Than Thought
Foxworth Institutes Broader Policy Than Previously Indicated
So remember what I said about all the things Chief Foxworth has been doing in the background to get the Portland Police Bureau onto a new and more proper course? One of them was instituting a policy under which officers would have to write a report on each time they pointed their firearm at someone, a slightly reduced version of one of the PARC report recommendations.
Lo and behold, and previously-unreported as far as we know, today The Oregonian tells us all that the Chief has gone much further:
... Officers will be required to fill out a report for any action that can cause an injury.
The new "use of force" report, which officers must fill out before the end of shifts that involve force, covers everything from the use of control holds to flashlights, pepper spray, Tasers and assault rifles.
There is also a check box for handcuffs, and hands and feet are listed as "impact weapons."
This is huge news, and it nicely demonstrates the point were trying to make the other day about the need to not dump new piles of City Council directives on Foxworth's desk until and unless we fully understand what he's managing to do without the "benefit" of such political sideswiping. What's more, he appears to have wrangled the Portland Police Association:
Union leaders said Thursday they still have problems with the new policy. They say the extra report-writing will inhibit officers from using force when it is necessary, putting themselves and others in danger.
"It's one more worry for guys who are pretty much working on overload anyway," said Leo Painton, the union's secretary-treasurer.
...
Despite the union's concerns, Painton praised the new report's simplicity, which he said provides check boxes for actions that usually require narrative descriptions in police reports. He agreed the system probably would allow the bureau to do a better job of gauging the effectiveness of different types of force in various situations.
That's the only positive thing we've ever seen reported in terms of police union comment on the concept of use of force reports. That a union representative would at least cop to the clear benefits (no pun intended) of such a policy, we suspect, indicates something about Foxworth's capabilities as the Chief of Police.