Police Bureau repeats fatal mistake in shooting death of Aaron Campbell After reading a thoughtful letter written by the Grand Jury reviewing the case, Commissioner Leonard noticed that the circumstances surrounding Aaron Campbell's death were eerily similar to a case from four years prior, when Raymond Gwerder was killed by a police sniper. On February 16, Randy posted this essay outlining the similarities between the two tragedies, and his view that the Police Bureau leadership should be held accountable for failing to correct the glaring communication problems that resulted in two needless deaths.
Gwerder, like Campbell, was killed by a police sniper who was unaware of the progress a police negotiator was making toward a peaceful outcome. The City settled a lawsuit with the Gwerder family for a record $500,000 in 2007. At that time, Commissioner Leonard met with Chief Sizer to ask what was being done to ensure that communication on scene was improved so nothing of the sort would happen again. Chief Sizer assured both Commissioner Leonard and the public that the Police Bureau would take action to address the communication failures. Just a few years later, the same communication failures continued despite Chief Sizer's public assurances, and Aaron Campbell lost his life as a result.
When she should have acknowledged and began remedying the communication failures, Chief Rosie Sizer chose another path. First she suggested that more mental health experts on the scene would solve the problem, and then she used the opportunity to campaign for a $100 million regional training facility. Neither of these have any relationship to the cause of the two tragedies, and represent the Police Bureau Administration's continued focus on deflecting criticism in crisis, rather than accepting responsibility and taking action to resolve the root cause of the tragic incidents.
Steve Duin of the Oregonian makes a similar point in his recent column.
Read Commissioner Leonard's essay on the circumstances, as well as an unedited TV interview with Commissioner Leonard on KGW, and other media coverage here.
Grand Jury releases transcripts from Campbell case
Transcripts of the Campbell shooting were released this week detailing the tragedy and the lack of communication among police officers on scene. Read more coverage of the Campbell case here.
Fire Bureau moves ahead with plans to purchase second rapid response rescue boat
A tragic drowning death of a young boy in the Willamette last May highlighted the need for a second rapid response rescue boat to be stationed in the Willamette River. Currently, the closest rapid response boat is on the Columbia River, with response times to areas like the Sellwood bridge coming in at over 40 minutes. The new craft, which will be housed at Station 21 at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge, will give the Fire Bureau the ability to respond to an area like Sellwood in less than 6 minutes. Read more about the craft, and the Fire Bureau's plan to staff the boat, here.
Water Bureau solar array sets single day, and weekly record for electricity generated
On Thursday, February 18, the Spring weather helped the Water Bureau's solar array generate the most power it has ever generated in a single day -- 1,166 Kilowatt hours of electricity! Just when we were busy being excited about that, the array followed that up with another record breaking day on Friday the 19th with 1,168 Kilowatt hours of power produced. These two occurrences mark the first time the array has broken the 1,000 kilowatt hour mark for a single day, and 1,168 Kilowatt hours is enough juice to power 37 houses for an entire day!
For the week of February 13-19, the array generated a weekly record of 5,156 kilowatt hours of electricity. That is a dramatic increase from the 3,075 Kilowatt hours generated last week. 5,156 Kilowatt hours is enough to power:
-->1 average household for 5 1/2 months OR
-->5 1/2 average households for 1 month OR
-->22 households for 1 week OR
-->165 households for 1 day!
Some new, some old, none forgotten
On President's Day, Commissioner Leonard and his staff took the opportunity to reflect on their favorite presidents.
Posted by: TK