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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2011)
Street roots March 18, 2011 Defense principle protects against a moment too late ine years ago, I attended my first instructors didn’t have us play the hand-slap have any chance of defending myself. defensive tactics class at the basic game. Instead they handed us practice This principle was certainly screaming police academy. Defensive tactics pistols loaded with blanks. We were told to through the minds of the Gresham Poliqe are the techniques officers use to keep point the gun at an instructor, who also had officers who shot Sgt. Anthony McDowell, a themselves safe. These include control a gun, held down at his side, and told us to generous, honorable and mentally ill veteran holds, proper handcuffing methods, use of shoot as soon as we saw the instructor wielding a rifle this past January, even pepper spray and baton, how to safely move? The instructor was invariably able to though the muzzle was not pQinted directly searcn someone, raise, his gun and shoot at us before we at any one officer. All of the officers on H proper stances could squeeze our own trigger. After we scene that night had been taught that if the and distances to fully understood the game and were ready use when for it, a cadet or two were able to muster a contacting a ( tie, but in a real-world game of bullet swap a * suspect The tie is the .same as a loss. As citizens, it is im perative that we are also first lesson of Policing is largely a reactionary business, Robert Pickett that first day, aware of the action-reaction principle, so we and when you consider all that an officer . however, focused must think about when deciding how to can better understand and judge our officers' on one of the react to asuspect - including but not actions, as grand jurors Or as community most important and universal tenets of safe limited to the immediacy and severity of the members reading about police incidents in policing, a basic rule that forms the threat to other people or the officer, time foundation for officers’ thinking on how and „ and resources available, the severity of the the media. when to contact suspects and use force all crime, the legality, practicality and safety of over the country - the action-reaction a particular reaction - it makes sense that principle. officers are always, inevitably, playing catch The action-reaction principle says that a up. This is why officers want to see hands - person who initiates an action will always because a- suspect can draw and deploy a suspect intends to shoot, by the time the get the jump on anyone attempting to react weapon from a pocket way before an officer gun’s muzzle is pointed, it is too late to stop to it. An easy example is that classic can duck, let alone grab his own weapon. him. * schoolyard game where one person sticks This is the foundation for the “Twenty-One , As citizens^ it is imperative that we are her hands out palm-up, and a second person Foot Rule” — that a suspect armed with a also aware of the action-reaction principle, puts his hands on top of hers, palm down. knife can close a 21-foot distance and so we can better understand and judge our She then tries to slap the top of his: hands potentially stab an officer before the officer officers’ actions, as grand jurors or as before he can jerk them away, As the can register the approaching threat and community members reading about police person who initiates thè action, she should draw his own gun from its holster. This is incidents in the media. win every time, because she has already had why officers will slowly, deliberately and The entire transcript of the grand jury the opportunity to think: about when and cautiously approach apparently unconscious proceedings related to the January shooting how she will move her hands. On the other suspects laying on top of or hear weapons. is available onliiie at the Multnomah County hand, his brain must recognize that it is This is why I ask drivers to keep their door District Attorney website. This document " .time to move, send a message to his hands shut on traffic stops, or sit on the curb if serves as an excellent, direct window into to move, and then actually move his hands. they are riding a bicycle - because it takes the minds of officers during one of the most By that time they are usually already so long for me to register and react to a difficult, stressflil and frightening situations stinging. threat^ I know I need the warning of the they will ever encounter on duty 8 On that first dày of training, our door opening or the rider standing up to H STREET BLUES Robert Pickett has been a Portland Police Officer fo r eight years. H e has spent m ost o f th a t tim e working in inner Southeast Portland, firs t a s a f a t r o l officer, a n d more recently a s a Neighborhood Response Team officer working on neighborhood livability issues. Fix the mismatch between development, transportation BY ROB SADOWSKY geese. It is the enlightened business that locates near transit stations understanding ransportation is not an isolated issue. the, importance of mobility in attracting Like the roads we travel on, quality employees. transportation is essentially linked to So, if you live onthe far east side of our starting and ending points, Typically Portland or in eastern Multnomah County, those points are you are most likely traveling farther to work where we live and than those living in the Pearl. This where we work, translates into higher transportation costs but also includes making the mismatch further inequitable. where we shop, We need to address this mismatch to where we or our Bicycle • effectively build a mobile workforce and one children go to Transportation that reduces barriers. Transit-oriented . school, and Alliance development should be the focus of tax , where we go for breaks. But ifis'not enough to simply build entertainment. large office buildings near transit, we need The longer those to make our transit center attractive once points are from each other, the higher our you arrive. I’ve seen too many developments costs of transportation become. that sit empty or are underutilized because Our region has a mismatch when it comes the design looks sterile or focuses only on to jobs and housing, meaning that our jobs businesses that operate during the day are not always within easy reach of where leaving the centers devoid of energy at we live. Families with lower-wage jobs often night. face the worst of this mismatch living As a bicycle advocate, I want more people farther toward the fringes of the tri-county choosing the bicycle for as many trips as area. This has not always been the case. they can during their day. To get to this When many of our large cities were goal, I know that we need neighborhoods developed in the 1800s, the urban core was throughout the tri-county area that have the home of our working class and our integrated mixed-income housing. We also underserved communities. The middle-class need to place real costs on our parking so and wealthier communities trended toward that parking in that huge lot in the suburbs the suburbs. People living in underserved is no cheaper than parking downtown, and communities were often steps away from they are both a higher cost than selecting their factories and warehouses, only the transit. After all, I started biking to work wealthy had carriages or cars. every day not because I’m a crazy Today, we face challenges with businesses environmentalist who hates cars: I started locating in areas where land is cheap, taxes biking to work every day because it was are affordable, or where taxes are. more convenient I simply got to work every discounted to attract the businesses in the day faster and reliably. I was never late first place. They operate on large campuses because of traffic or driving around looking sprawled with manmade lakes filled with C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T ■ H ealthy Streetbeat is a m onthly colum n for Street Roots written by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA). O ur contributors are Rob Sadowsky, executive director, a n d M argaux M ennesson, com m unications director. for a parking space (and I had a six mile, commute). Once I started biking, I learned about the other values including increasing my physical activity and reducing my contributions to global warming. Too often transportation is not an issue addressed as part of a community One step that we should take in our region is to m ake sure that the voices of affordable housing advocates and real estate developers are heard around the transportation tables and vice versa. Housing and jobs should be addressed as part of sustainable transportation planning. development organization’s mission that is struggling to build better jobs and housing opportunities. In that same light, transportation policy groups often fail to understand the importance of economic development and affordable housing as integral strategies that improve transportation choices. One step that we should take in our region is to make sure that the voices of affordable housing advocates and real estate developers are heard around the transportation tables and vice versa. Housing and jobs should be addressed as part of sustainable transportation planning. It has taken years of work to build the mismatch and it will take years of hard effort to address it. M issed yo u rja vo rite colum nist? Check o u t www.streetroots.wordpress.coin fo r p a st articles.
