City after city across the United States has taken to prosecuting law enforcement officers for doing their jobs. Many have been brought up on use of force charges when their actions have been well within their department guidelines.
Bringing Charges
In Portland, Oregon, the Multnomah County district attorney has declined to file charges in 12 cases involving the Portland police and rioters. Mike Schmidt, the Multnomah County District Attorney, had 21 cases from 2020 that involved Portland officers and protestors.
A number of the cases were found by prosecutors looking at civil lawsuits and social media posts, specifically to find times when officers may have used too much force.
One of the memos compiled by the office read, "The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office became aware of some of those incidents through complaints received directly, civil lawsuits filed against the city of Portland, social media posts, circulating videos, and referrals from plaintiff’s attorneys."
Closing Cases
According to Schmidt, 12 of the cases have been closed, and no charges will be filed against the officers. In most of the cases, the prosecutors saw that there was no crime committed.
The other cases had no cooperation from the supposed victims or their attorneys. There were also some instances where the officers were not able to be identified. In all of those cases, the charges were dropped.
In total, eight of the cases were closed because of a lack of involvement from the victims or their attorneys.
“The law is on a police officer’s side in doing their job, they can use force. So, for us, the analysis is: Is the use of force not allowed by law? Is it so excessive that we could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they are not allowed to use that amount of force?”
Mike Schmidt
Prosecuting Officers
According to Oregon state law, prosecutors have to look at cases from the officer's point of view. Schmidt said they would have to prove that the officer's "perception of what was going on is completely inaccurate."
Since he could not prove that, 12 of the cases were closed. As of right now, eight cases are still being investigated.
Schmidt thinks that these may, in fact, bring criminal charges. Whether or not these officers were also just doing their jobs will so be determined.
I know that I wasn't there for any of the RIOTS that took place in Portland but from what I've seen on various newscasts, the police SHOULD HAVE not only used extreme force but in certain instances could, and should, have used DEADLY FORCE.
Roiters need a large knot on their head to remember what they did and to never do it again!!!
And what does you makes $7065 weekly from home have to do with the cases of excessive force from the police? Is the home where you make all that money, your mommy's and daddy's?
True
Lock and load and not with rubber bullets. let this POS know that if they attack the cops are burn building there will be a price to pay an extreme price.
Police are taught law, and trained further in evaluating situations through observation and analysis. Chaos is the result of people refusing to follow good, sensible laws. Police are performing public service when they attempt to stop unlawful activities occurring within their observation. Victims need being defended, immediately. Criminals should be arrested, immediately, and prosecuted within a reasonable time. Failure to do so only encourages more harms to society. People have the right to not be violated in their safety or their property. Public property, such as courthouses, are funded by the public. Your and my property deserve to be defended, for not being a cause of gouging our money through wasted taxes spent on repairs resulting from riots. The courts, NOT DEMONSTRATORS, are the right arbitrators of right and wrong. Police use force, when the lack of force has not stopped the perpetrators of crimes.
Tom Streets
Police are NOT taught law. It is more accurate to say that they are marginally informed on the subject. What they are taught is PROCEDURE! "well within their department guidelines" means exactly that, not within the law. In this nation where the law applies equally to everyone: A policeman's life is valued more highly than the average citizen and as such is not held to the same standards. Essentially all that is necessary is to claim that he felt his life was in danger to commit murder. As a citizen you are not allowed that as a blanket defense. Consider: a cop asks for your registration, you reach into your glove compartment. He can kill you by simply stating that he felt you were reaching for a gun. He reaches that conclusion because he felt your actions were suspicious. You are seven times more likely to be killed by a cop than a terrorist. Simply talking to one is likely the most dangerous encounter a citizen experiences.
A dangerous job you say? In terms of likelihood of serious injury, OSHA rates law enforcement right next to the guy that mows lawns. Of those injuries more than half are due to traffic collisions.
All applicants to police academies pass a battery of tests. One of these is an IQ test. If the applicant scores too high on this he is denied. This was contested in the state of New Jersey by a rejected applicant. It went all the way to the Supreme Court who sided with the police department. Have a nice day.
I dont know where you are from and I dont care , but years ago when I went through the BLET program in the State I live we studied the Statutes / State laws and Federal laws extensively . In fact it was the two main Law books that you would see laying on the D.A.s and defense Lawyers table when you walked into the Court Room. Don`t want to leave out the Traffic Law book either. As far as reaching into your glovebox for your registration that was normal but I did make sure I could see your hands while you did that , because I did have a person on one occasion reach in and pick up a Smith & Wesson 357 magnum , he understood very quickly that he had made a mistake but lived to have his day in Court . Also you mentioned how dangerous it was to talk to a Police Officer well guess who makes that decision the Citizen that has been stopped , you treat me with respect you get the same respect back . I was not any better then anybody else and I was taught at an early age by my Parents to treat all people with respect especially your Elders . I am retired now and happy I am but I loves my job and would do it again. I will say this there are bad apples in all professions and in my later years I had to fire people that did not want to follow policy and procedure and that had treated people they had contact with poorly I did not put up with that . But Police Officer should not have to put up with this mouthy unruly ungrateful bunch of brats that have been unleased on the Streets in this day and time , and the leaders of these cities where this is happening and not backing their Police Depts. will pay a huge price in the end. I also hope you have a nice and safe day .
You are clueless regarding law enforcement. Your reference to a glovebox is pure BS as is the refusal over high IQ. For years I did background investigations for various reasons including employment by a state police agency and none of what you claim is true.
In most states police officers only need a high school education to be hired, and less additional hours than a massage therapist. Many have not completed (required) police training in crowd control, de -escalation, and racial profiling before they are given a uniform and a gun. Depression and suicide is 1.5 more prevalent than the rest of the population.
Amen my friend. A couple of times and all that nonsense would stop in a hurry.
The whole country has drifted off course ever since the civil unrest during Trump's presidency. We have to get back to the middle of the road thinking and abandon the far left and far right ideas. The majority of the country knows this is true.
I think it is MOSTLY far LEFT we need to get away from. Democrats are bringing in communism faster that expected. WE need to stop them cole in their tracks while we still can!
can you say 'revolution'???
So, which side actually looted, burned down buildings, hurt cops, broke the laws, hit old people and murdered people? ‘‘Twas the left, Alan. Seems from the film and pictures I have, the capital police held the doors open for those in Washington, June 6, which was mostly peaceful. The burning of the church was 2 weeks prior by antifa, again left, as was the looting and shooting at police.
The unrest began under Obama.
It was not ever up to President Trump to stop the rioting and destruction. That power was and still is solely in the hands of the governors of the state involved. Trump offered them help in the form of the National Guard but they refused it.
lp
So very tired and disgusted with you liberals. Everywhere you go is criminality and rotten decisions.
You're right, Nancy. And democrats, you have become blood enemies. We're NOT kidding.
Your head is in your bung hole.
There are those , who will never KNOW what MIDDLE of the road means . You might say , that a person who can eat a one round potato , a one pound steak , a large salad and two glasses of water is excessive. Then you take a man who is playing football, who can eat double what the first one can eat and not be full, is excessive. Then you got the one who can eat six ounces of salad and is full. Which is the middle of the road? Someone who adheres to the Constitution and Bill of Rights is ?Middle of the road? Yet King George the third labeled them insurrectionist and traitors to the Crown.
Then you have good old Karl Marx , who thought everything belonged to the government , and they would dole out what they thought you needed . Police who adhere to the law , and use force that is appropriate is what is needed. Not the Police who "Lord it over the people" , and this is especially the judges , lawyers , mayors and Governors of a state , and especially The President and Congress who has become a tyrant .
I have no respect for people how have to put the blame on some one else I got divorced for that stuff Biden lied when he said the buck stops here think about it Biden could have stopped it he chose not to democrats have even attack children left people in another country to die if this is your kind of a country well bully for you.
Right notion but far off on admin. Most if not all started under the "black messiah"
Good Morning I'm going to apologize now for saying what I'm about to say rioting isn't the way to solve a problem but there some black people and whites that are paid to adjuatte people on and don't thing I'm wrong just look at B L M how they screwed the black community with getting donations and I didn't hear of any money going to any communities to help them not one dime the only one's that all these riots did was put more blacks on T.V programs so the black community gets screwed again what do you have but burnt down building store closing why they don't reopen is because you handcuff police from doing there jobs so tell me why do you think riots are the way to act change can be made if people work for change unless we do things will get worst remember United We Stand Divided We Fall Remember M A G A
fuck all that we need to revolt and take back our country
Amen to that
What about those that filed the charges, shouldn’t they be charged with making a false report ? They need to be punished also, to the fullest extent of the law!
The media is the sole owner of this division and discord in America, yes, we all have made mistakes and need to be accountable, however, the media manipulates almost every thing President Trump did and continues to fail to report the acts of this Administration. After former President Trump exited the office the media admitted to what they did, no one said a word, WHY? It started with that sneaky worm former President Obama and continues to until this day. Obama has turned our democracy into a laughing stock around the WORLD!!! No one will ever take the USA serious anymore. President Biden is just an old fart that was released from Obama’s bottom. He will continue to bring disgraceful acts upon us until his VP takes his place. Kamala will lead us into the final conflict and will make our allies our enemies and laugh at us all as we are blown away by everyone. That’s what they do to “laughing stocks”. Prepare for the worst, repent and hope you are right when the judgment day arrives. Democrats and Republicans will all stand to be judge. America, the beautiful, God shed His mercy upon us, Whatcha gonna do when He comes for YOU?
The Dems have about 99% of their pieces in place to reach critical-mass. Obama & Hillary both studied
Saul D. Alinsky's work & were putting it to work. The Democrats have now reached a point, that we can do little to defend against. First they have Biden, who is inept & is there for political cannon fodder. If we remove him, we have Harris as president. Who was picked up along the way just for demographic votes. If she resigns, then we have Pelosi, as president. And she has been a major player in this game of theirs all along.
I would be surprised if Hillary wasn't in the back-round somewhere. What is going on, has been planed for a long time. Trump was a big hic-up in their plans that slowed them down a tiny bit. But we all saw how they corrected their hic-up with the next so-called election (I call it a placement).
The very near future is going be VERY ROUGH for a lot of people outside of their circle. That includes a great many who voted to put them in power. Those people don't understand, that they have out-lived their usefulness & are no longer friends of the ruling party, just it's subjects.
The police are targets for the Black Lies Matter, the Soros terrorists. The cops should a used a more convincing method of dispersing these riot scum.
AMEN
Poor Oregon. They have elected the most dishonorable bunch in the country other than Chicago and Minnesota.
Why is Portland PD not arresting Wheeler, Brown and Antifa terrorists?
Police showed restraint that put everyday law abiding citizens and their property in jeopardy.
The burning looting murdering rioters should have been stopped immediately before any destruction or harm to others occurred!
Shame shame shame on government leaders and bureaucrats who hogtied police and allowed thugs to destroy law abiding citizens bodies and property!!!!!!!
Get rid of the radicals. Police don't have to use excessive force if people comply with the law. Get rid of the criminals and the corrupt Democrats!!!!
Prosecuting Law Enforcement Officers has totally gotten of hand. Obama and his administration got it started and mainly it’s in Democratic states. I know there are some cases that needs to go before a grand jury but these prosecutors are arresting these officers before the investigation has gotten started and they are playing politics with these officer’s lives.
As a retired Police Officer I was shocked that there was so little actions taken by the Police! Had this happened in the early 80 or as far back as the late 70's these rioters would have been put down quickly. You hit an Officer back then and you got hit back, period! There wasn't any of this garbage about they are only stating a purpose when they assault the Police or burn a building down and the rioters are only taking back what they are owed when they loot stores of high priced tennis shoes and leather jackets. They certainly were not taking meats like hamburger or boloney, nooooo they were taking Filets and Porterhouse steaks! They were all laughing and mugging for the cameras while stealing other peoples livelihood. The Police should have hit them with Knee-Knocker riot ammo or other non-lethal projectiles as well as gas. who stink of gas should be arrested for returning to the rioting after being told to leave. Arsonists need to be stopped, period. Tired of this hands off approach to people like these who are being lead by certain paid professional rioters.
Though many protesters felt they had lagit reasons to publicly protest there was an organized and determined underlying number of anarchist and young people who just wanted to tear stuff up. Those are the ones to I.D. and prosecute. If they can name and prosecute,the D.C. RIOTERS they can locate the peopke who causer the destruction and anarchy.
The problem is we have not erased racism. We have just changed the parameters to meet somebody's twisted logic.
Just a side note / rant about those powerful hand held "pointer" lasers that "protesters" use to try to permanently blind police at riots and such. The legal threshold for the use of deadly force is a legitimate "fear of death or great bodily harm" to yourself and/or others. Being permanently blinded IS great bodily harm!
Anyone caught carrying those powerful hand pointer lasers into protests & riots should be arrested / charged / prosecuted the same as those caught with guns, knives, clubs and other dangerous weapons. Those hand lasers serve no legitimate purpose at those protests but to inflict _permanent_ great bodily harm when pointed at other people's eyes. This means the use of deadly force should be authorized against people purposely trying to PERMANENTLY BLIND others with them. If you saw someone trying to stab others with a knife you could lawfully shoot them to save the lives of those being attacked. If you saw someone trying to beat and bludgeon others with a club or other deadly weapon(s), ditto with the lawful use of deadly force to immediately stop the attack. The same should hold true to immediately stop those purposely trying to inflict PERMANENT BLINDNESS on others as they are trying to inflict *PERMANENT* GREAT BODILY HARM. Imagine being rendered forever unable to read this comment, or to ever be able to see anything clearly ever again, all because some hateful a**hole surreptitiously pointed a laser pointer into your eyes while you were unaware of the danger. The remainder of your entire life is a long time to be legally BLIND. A severe handicap and career ender, to say the least.
Fear of death or great bodily harm is the legal threshold for the acceptable use of deadly force. Anyone trying to permanently blind other people - law enforcement or otherwise - should be clearly, legally and publicly recognized as a threat that falls well within that use of deadly force threshold. I.E. - If you see someone purposely shining hand lasers into the eyes of others to try to permanently blind them, you should have every right to IMMEDIATELY END THE THREAT by any means at your disposal, as quickly as possible, including by simply shooting them until they are no longer a threat to anyone else. Whatever it takes to end the threat.
Just my two cents.
Your two cents has more value than than any of the politicians millions.
Cops: They are shooting me & hitting me with clubs & rocks & trying to blind me laser lights, what do we do?
Politicians: You are to do NOTHING. They are "peaceful protesters" & are "just expressing themselves".
Glad the social DA's have come to their sences about these charges. They should always look at the officers frame of mind in these cases brought from those in the attack the police.
I could not be a cop, because I am too biased. If I were called to an altercation where a Democrat politician was getting beaten. I would do my job & try to make sure that the one doing the beating did not injure themselves, ie. slow down so you don't pull a muscle or anything like that. Then tell the politician that this person is expressing themselves & I am not to deny them that rite, per Democratic orders. Then is when I would step out of line & loose my job by asking the politician "Tell me. How does STUPID feel".
You can hate me if you want. Just think before you do.
Democrats , you let this happen , why ? For votes just like open borders , the un-american politicians and global warming nonsense , stopping the keystone pipeline , that was too much for any Americans to absorb , Afghanistan and tried to blame President Donald Trump ! Biden a follower and not a leader . The puppet is in charge of this one . The brainwashing tactics at our kids schools , blm as if democrats gave a shit . Refund the police and ice ! Stopping the Wall as terrorist flood on in . And Gavin Screwsome is Hollywood's choice and there on prize . I'm encouraging divide America 50/50 democrats from republicans and get on with our lives .
They elected their mayor and commissioners. Screw them. The Portland Police do not have to suffer for even one second of this police torture. They should resign and move to a different State. Oregon is going to undergo an enormous catastrophe soon.
ASD
People are very naive about how drugs affect the body, excessive strength, flight, resistance to constraint are constant threats the police must deal with all the time. It can take three big men to hold down a medium man high on drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines (aka crank, crystal meth, speed, etc.). People have no idea, how difficult that can be when a person is high on CNS stimulants. The flight or fight response can be exacerbated five-fold in those high on drugs, and when they are asked why they ran, why they resist, why they fight, they don't even know, because their mind is way out of whack! Of course for most, they are not first-time users, it's a pattern with them, sad but true.
The Portland police should have used live ammo to protect themselves and property from the anarchists.
It used to be a decent city now it is not fit for man nor beast.