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.
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Burnside; A Community assembles photographs of
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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!