C ommenter ?
4 • T he C lackamas P rint
F ebruary 25, 2004
Group offers reward for cop mug
Flyers intended to alert public of return
Ben Maras
O pinion E ditor
Two weeks ago, Portland Police
Officer Scott McCoUister returned
to work despite a massive public
outcry that he be given the boot,
demonstrated by flyers that began
to spring up downtown, offering a
bounty for his picture.
So far, the posters have only
incurred ridicule. Mayor Vera Katz
has already spoken out against
them, as has Police Chief Derrck
1'’oxworth, and the general consen
sus of the city seems to be that
Rose City Copwatch (RCCW), the
organization offering the reward, is
completely in the wrong and should
be punished for their request.
I'or those unfamiliar with the
situation, McCoUister shot and
killed an unarmed African
American-mother'of two by the
name of Kendra James in May.
During a routine traffic stop,
McCoUister ran James’ name
through the computer and found
that she had an outstanding warrant
for her arrest. With this informa
tion alone, McCoUister broke
bureau policy,and entered her.car,
at which point James put her car
into drive. McCoUister drew, his
9mm pistol and shot and killed
James.
A massive civil rights backlash,
similar to Rodney King’s case,
■immediately followed. I,''ormer
Portland Police Chief Mark
Kroeker promised a full investiga
tion of the McCoUister case. In the
end Kroeker declared that
McCoUister never^hould have put
himself in the position that he did,
and he would be punished for his
breaking of policy—not for the
death of James. Immediately fol
lowing the incident, Kroeker
resigned from his position, sending
shouts of joy throughout some
Portlanders.
Now, after five and a half
months
of
unpaid
leave,
McCoUister is returning to the
force, which worries many. This
prompted RCCW to request a’
photo of McCoUister, saying that
he if> dangerous and it. is the peo
ple’s right to know what he looks
like, similar to the way flyers would
be circulated through a neighbor
hood into which a sex offender had
moved.
The City of Portland, along with-
the - Portland Police Department
(PPD), refused to release a photo:
of McCoUister, as Oregon State law
prohibits the- release of a'public
officials photo.without their explic--
it permission. .This .prompted:
RCCW to distribute flyers offering
a bag of groceries worth $40 to
whoever furnishes the organization
with’ McCollistcr’s photo.
While this may- seem absurd,
some think that providing the pub
lic with a picture would be the least
they could do for putting a “killer”
back on the force. Whether or not
McCoUister was in the wrong could
be debated for hours; but if he did
in fact go through the proper legal
channels and was found innocent,
then why is the city trying to hide
him from us?
Yes, police officers arc granted
a certain amount of rights other
citizens usually would not have,
because the job is so stressful and
demanding, but with this comes
responsibility for their actions.
McCollistcr’s first- reaction was to
shoot James rather than. use the
mace cops employ so much
against protesters or use the text
book self-defense techniques they
arc trained in. Although it was
later found that James had small
amounts of cocaine in her blood
and hence the mace might not
have been as effective, that fact
was not known at the time and
therefore is irrelevant.
An independent, unbiased
committee must investigate the
McCoUister case, because it is
unreasonable to think that the
police department could be impar
tial with one of their own kind.
Such an investigation could begin
to put the issue to rest and please
those on cither side of the debate.
Officers have the right and duty
to defend themselves and others,
but they cannot abuse their power.
Although James was very much in
the wrong, she did not deserve to
die for her actions.
There is no black and white in
the world, and both individuals arc
at fault. James although called a
“crackhead’’ by some, has already
paid the ultimate price. All that is
asked is that McCoUister take more
responsibility for his actions.
The boundaries of technology have
far exceeded the limits of sanity
Isaiah Creel
T he C lackamas P rint
Technology
is
apparent
throughout this campus, brom
high-tech classrooms to automatic
doors, CCC is on the cutting edge
of the technological front. The
question is: are all of these techno
logical advances improving civiliza
tion, or just perpetuating the
slovenly attitude typically displayed
by the American population?
The answer: both. The sloven
ly American is in fact the cutting
edge of the technological front.
If a product facilitates laziness, it
is by necessity, technologically
advanced. Automatic doors are a
great invention, because they
allow, handicapped members of
society access to their various
places of interest. They also allow
some of those non-handicapped
people a cliance to expend less
energy then they normally would.
The most trivial of these auto
matic devices come in the bath
room. Isn’t it great having a toi
let that flushes itself, so nobody
has to get their hands dirty? Isn’t
it great not having to touch that
filthy door handle that some
commoner might have''
touched? Isn’t it also
great becoming so
dependent on machines
that
human
beings
become obsolete?
Some may say that
thinking like this is
counterproduc
five and that
keeping your
hands clean is
a
necessity.
While hand san
itizing is neces
sary and the idea
of machines rul
ing over civiliza
tion is rather far- .
fetched-, constant
ly worrying if hands
are clean is in itself foolish.
Yes, contracting a disease
from filthy conditions would be a
horrible way to die, but getting
run over by a speeding limo
would be just as deadly. The
point is that no one can predict
their own demise (clairvoyants
perhaps excluded) and whether
through personal injury or
through deadly virus, every
human by nature will die.
. This is not to say that every
one should go out looking for
death by fighting bulls or not
washing their hands, but just be
aware that death is imminent.
Maybe not today, and maybe not
tomorrow, but one day and all the
hand-washing and disinfecting
•»will come to naught.
By
depending
on
the
machines to do the work normal
ly done by humans, such as flush
ing the toilet, humans become
more and more dependent
on the machines to survive.
In the days of our
ancestors,
there wercxz
automatic toilets (or toilets them
selves for that matter) and they got
along just fine. Since, the advent
of the technological-age things
like automatic doors, automatic
toilet flushers and personal com
puters have become so common
place that life without them would
seem dull or downright impossi
ble.
None of this is to say that
these marvelous contraptions
are detrimental to society; quite
the contrary. Our ancestors
would gaze in wonder at these
advancements and praise the
thinkers responsible. This is
only a warning not to become
too dependent on these wonders
as they run on principles that
would not be' possible without
humans behind them.
Take then the opportunity to
think, about what things a person
can do that a machine cannot
and don’t put so much trust into
any automatic device, because
when they realize they have been
used for all of these years they
might become aware of how
much we depend on them while
they really don’t need
us at all.
PUBLIC SERVICE
ANNOUNCEMENT
ARMED AND DANGEROUS
KELLER RELEASED TO EAST
PORTLAND!
On Mays, 2003 Officer Scott
McCoUister shot and killed Kendra
James, an unarmed, 21-year old
African-American mother of two. After
a 9 month vacation, Scott McCoUister
was re-armed and released to YOUR
community on February 5, despite
widespread demand for his firing.
The Portland Police have taken great
care to keep any photos of McCoUister
out Of public circulation. They protect
him despite his crime, as they have
always done. The community has a
right to know what this predator looks
like. For that reason we are sponsoring
a contest we will reward the first
person who provides a photo of
McCoUister with a
free bag of groceries, worth wo.
We see this as a first step towards
getting McCoUister off-the police force!
To claim the prize, contact
ROSE CITY COP WATCH
at 503-993-9464or Info@r05ecitycopwatdi.ar?.
SCOTT MCCOUUSTE* «$ A WHiTt MAL£»'
27*28 YCARS X>M>» MKOi’UM tfUtLO»- LAST SBtN
WEARING ALL »UUK.THIS FOSTER IS PART OP A
CAMPAIGN TO BRING PUBLIC SCRUTINY TO TH<
PRACTICES OFTHS PORTLAND POLICE. •
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPRfiNENO THIS MAN!
P hoto C ourtesy of The Portland Tribune
This flyer has been distributed by the Rose City
Copwatch organization after the Portland Police
Department refused to release a picture of Officer
Scott McCoUister, who shot Kendra James last May. .
Portland Police answer questions about
the Kendra James shooting
following are the Portland Police Department’s response to questions
asked by members of the Albina Ministerial Alliance. More may be
found at www.portlandonline.com/police
Q: HCZirvz [Chief Kroeker] announced the suspension of the officer involved in
the shooting of Kendra James, he staled that he had concerns leading up to the
shooting of Kendra James. What were those concerns!
A: Chief Mark Kroeker stated in media interviews that though he
thought the officer involved did not shoot Kendra James out of
malice or bias, and the shooting was ruled justified, there were tac
tical errors that were made by the officer that led up to the shoot
ing. It was because of those tactical decisions that Chief Kroeker
felt it necessary to discipline the officer involved.
Q: There were two, /ess lethal weapons used on Kendra James, pepper spray and
a Taser. Ifizt there an equipment failure or were they not properly used!
N-. The investigation determined that the Taser deployed, but the
Taser probes contacted Ms. James’ clothing, but not her skin, not
allowing for the desired effect.
As to the pepper spray, the Police Bureau was able to conclude that
Officer McCoUister did pull the canister from his belt. Investigators
are able to conclude from tests that Officer McCollistcr’s pepper
spray canister was operating correctly.forensics examination deter--
mined that no evidence of pepper; spray existed inside of the car.
Investigators were unable to conclusively determine whether or not
Officer McCollistcr’s thumb depressed the discharge button.
Q: IFZw/ Zr /A? City’s medical /¡ability for a police-shooting victim! What is
the amount of the medical liability!
A: The city is self-insured and each case is handled individually.
There is no set amount.
E-mail letters to chiefed@clackamas.edu or bring them
on a floppy disk tp RR.135 by this Friday at 1 p.m.
Please include your name and limit all letters to no
more than 200 words.
Submissions become property of The Clackamas Print and are subject
to editing on the grounds of clarity; grammatical and otherwise.
Photo Illustration by JESSE LAMOND T he C lackamas P rint