welcome
july
2009
3
from the editor...
Well, the ongoing saga of police use of force
continues in Vernonia. Last month, I stated my
opinion and don’t really have a lot more to say on
the issue. Mr. Ed Johnson has stated his differing
opinions in another newspaper, opinions he is
certainly entitled to.
Actually, I’m glad Ed Johnson has raised
the issue of police use of force in our community.
Most of us would not have heard about this incident
and would have been unaware that police had used
a taser on one of our citizens if Mr. Johnson hadn’t
brought it to our attention. Mr. Johnson raises a
good point-- it is important for citizens to monitor
what their police are doing, how they are handling
themselves, and how they treat citizens they come
in contact with. The job of police officer is ripe
with opportunities for abuse, and I think it’s good
for officers to know citizens are paying attention. I
applaud Mr. Johnson for asking questions about this
incident, even if I don’t agree with how he’s done it.
I also applaud our city government for
taking Mr. Johnson’s claims about what happened
to his family member seriously, and initiating not
one, but two separate investigations. If eighteen-
year-old Elliot Graf truly believes he was mistreated
by the Vernonia Police and truly believes Vernonia
Police used excessive force, then an investigation
was called for. Police should be held accountable for
their actions.
This incident has stirred up a lot of emotions
and raised a couple of issues for this community to
consider, hopefully providing an opportunity for
some discussion and dialogue-- dialogue that could
lead us to find some common ground and possible
solutions. I think, at the end of the day, we all
really want the same thing-- a safe, affordable and
interesting place to live, work and play.
It makes me sad that we find ourselves
arguing with each other about this issue. I think
it’s sad that we have to arm our police officers with
weapons and things like tasers, pepper spray or
batons. I think it’s sad that we have eighteen-year-
olds who can’t find constructive things to do, and
that as a community we aren’t providing healthy
and safe activities for our youth and young adults. I
think it’s sad that our school budget is being cut and
that so much of the city general budget goes to law
enforcement, with nothing left to fund community
development programs. I think it’s sad that we
currently only have one police officer who chooses
to lives in our community and call this city home.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could eliminate all
those issues from our communities? (And I’m sure
we’re not the only rural community that struggles
with these same issues.) Those might sound like
lofty ambitions, but I believe they are things that
might be at least partially attainable by working
together, listening to each other, respecting each
other, and trying to find solutions. This current
incident has shown that we could all do better at
working together, listening, respecting and trying to
find solutions, myself included.
A couple of final notes. At the last City
Council meeting in June, there was a discussion
about what might be done to encourage more of
our police officers to live here in town. With a new
City Administrator starting in late June and the
hiring process started for a permanent police chief,
this seems like a good time for this community to
seriously start that discussion. And, while we’re at
it, maybe we could discuss whether we really want
our police officers to carry and use tasers, and what
do we want our future police force in Vernonia to be.
That seems like a good place to start.
Scott Laird
Editor and Publisher
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
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