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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2011)
Street roots 13 June 10, 2011 Friends on the force are the hardest to leave behind ’m with Portland Copwatch. Why are you harassing this man?” service here but taking manpower away from the precinct’s wider 911 response * ability. I looked up in disbelief from Mr. Of course this is a long, complicated story Jarmer, an elderly, homeless regular of SE that the man from Copwatch knew nothing Hawthorne whom I’d gotten to know during about He made his judgment based on my summer patrolling the area on a bicycle. preconcepfions mixed with a brief, initial A former college teacher, malt liquor was observation. In this practice he is not guiding his life now. He usually sported a alone, particularly in our world of instant lucid, good- media searching incessantly for items to fill ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ humored buzz, the 24-hour news cycle. It wasn’t until but today my becoming an officer that I could begin to STR EET partner and I compare news accounts with personal B T fR iC ! discovered him experience and see that they often differ dramatically. Robert Pickett sidewalk, highly Media outlets ate always on the lookout h w m m h h m m inebriated and for dramatic or controversial stories for unable to walk their emotional pull on readers, but they because of some don’t have a lot of space to explain or time sort of leg injury. I was trying to decipher to research because of the pressure to be his slurred account of his leg problem when the first to report a story. Police events the twenty-something man interrupted me ; often fit the drama and controversy with his demanding tone. requirements, but it can take time for ; It made me angry. Not only was the investigators to figure out what really young man interrupting my work, but he’d happened, and police are often loath to made a judgment that something was awry quickly release information théy have based on nothing more than the scene of a compiled for fear of jeopardizing ongoing police officer bending over a man lying on investigations. A result of this tension can the sidewalk. If he’d quietly watched for ten be promptly produced, but incomplete or seconds, he would have quickly realized that inaccurate news stqries. I knew Mr. Jarmer by name and was trying I now watch and read the news with an to figure out how to best help him. In fact, overhanging question, regardless of topic-is it was hard to imagine what he could have there more to this story? possibly found lacking in the service we I write this from Washington D.C., where were providing. I just finished my first day at my new job as My partner and I knew most of the - a Foreign Service Officer with the United regulars of the neighborhood because we! States Department Of State. After a few had been out on bicycles much of the months of training^ my family and I will be summer, building relationships with all of sent to the first of many yet-to-be-decided . them. It enabled us to provide nuanced countries, where I will work as a diplomat in 'police service tailored to specific problems U.S embassies ’a nd consulates. This and people in the neighborhood. This was opportunity came suddenly, and only a job I some of the most intimate policing that ofsuch potfentiaLservice^growth, travel and modern, efficiency-driven (and therefore education, for me and my family, could tear patrol car-driving) Portland had to offer, us away from Portland, our friends and the harkening back to the foot-beat officer of the Police Bureau. 1950s. I’ve heard countless older While I look forward to learning more to Portlanders speak wistfully of those officers the story at the national and international and the personal relationships they had with level, I already miss the best part of being a them. Furthermore, it was a service Portland officer — my co-workers. These initiated by a few interested officers in men and women in uniform and their Southeast Precinct—we’d convinced then- support staff tend to over 400,000 calls for Commarider Rosie Sizer to let us ride bikes service every year, many involving high- in this relatively small area, improving I Robert Pickett has been a Portland Police Officer fo r eight years. He has spent most o f that time working in inner Southeast Portland, first as a patrol officer, and more recently as a Neighborhood Response Team officer working on neighborhood livability issues. stress, swiftly evolving situations. We ask them to be mental-health workers, parents, law scholars, mediators, chemists, ministers, social workers, diplomats^ protectors and sometimes warriors. We ask them to be tough and compassionate, balance the interests of victims and suspects, evaluate risk to themselves and to the community, and navigate criminal law and constitutional rights. Occasionally we expect them to make these judgments in a matter of seconds, and then accept as a matter of course the lengthy, intense scrutiny of courts, co-workers, media and citizenry that follows. Of course, being human, our police are fallible, and imperfections are always spotlighted. What can get lost if we focus solely on critical stories, however, is the big picture: while not perfect, Portland police officers are — in general — very, very good. They routinely do patient, thoughtful, dangerous and occasionally heroic work. Such daily habits rarely make the news. During my final roll call as an Officer last Wednesday, we debriefed an incident from the previous day where a suicidal man was threatening to jump from the Vista Bridge. After speaking at length with the potential jumper, one of the; officers was able to inch close enough tograpple the ill man to the bridge deck, where lie was handcuffed and safely sent to the hospital via ambulance. The supervisors of the shift were confronted with a challenging leadership problem—how to commend and respect the officer’s probable life-saving actions, while generally discouraging such actions in the future because of the grave risk of a suicidal person pulling an officer over the railing. One-by-one the sergeant, lieutenant, captain Street Roots has enjoyed working with Robert in bringing you this column. While Robert is moving on, the beat will continue with a new writer fro m the Portland Police Bureau this summer. and commander each did their best to "delicately communicate th e irc o n c e rn fo r^ their officers’ safety. Left unspoken, however, was the reality that risking themselves for others is what officers show up to do every day. Asking an officer to refrain from such an act is like giving a lollipop to a child and asking her not to lick. I am tremendously honored and thankful for the opportunity work among such people. The citizens of Portland can be proud of them. The Dill Pickle Club and Publication Studio present BURNSIDE: A COMMUNITY PDX PRINT is a e rie s of p u b lic a tio n s and f r e e p u b lic le c tu r e s c e le b ra tin g obscured and o u t- o f - p r in t books on P o r tla n d 's v is u a l c u ltu r e . D a te /T im e : T h u r s . J u n e 3 0 , 2011— 7PM L o c a ti o n ; g i s t e r s Of The Road C afe 133 NW 6 t h A ve. P o r t l a n d , O re . Burnside; A Community assembles photographs of the Old Town f Chinatown area .photographer Kathleen Ryan« by self -taught; KATHLEEN RYAN P h o t o g r a p h e r , A u th o r ISRA EL BAYER E x e c u tiv e D ir e c t o r , S t r e e t R oots SUENN HO Urban D e sig n e r, A r t i s t J U L IE MeCORBY H ousing O rg a n iz e r, S i s t e r s Of The Road g»r < n fn n » n tio n . related programs, and to purchase books: DILLPICKLECLUB.COM Office Cat Rooty wants to personally thank all the great men and women who came through on our paper towel drive! I t’s a tremendous help and keeps our vendor’s hands clean. Thank you!
