Eugene weekly., July 29, 2021, Page 3, Image 3

letters
A HORRIFIC DEATH
The system of policing is inherently
based in dominance. We should create
alternative ways to care for people in our
community who are experiencing distress
and are not a threat to anyone. Further, we
need to look deeply at our impulse to pun-
ish and control, both as individuals and
society. I am deeply horrified by the death
of Landon Payne (“A Hidden Death,” EW
7/22). I hope that this spurs our community
into more meaningful action to reduce the
power of police and empower social work-
ers and unarmed emergency responders
trained in de-escalation and counseling
skills to respond to these situations.
I am further horrified at the cover up
and denial of this event. Accountability
and honesty are deeply needed for us to
look at the changes required to create a
society based in cooperation, trust, ac-
countability and consent. Let us take
this opportunity now to implement
some concrete changes to lead the way
in forming non-dominating, true com-
munity safety and care models.
One way to do this is to implement the
recommendations of the ad-hoc commit-
tee on police policy. Another concrete
action would be to fully fund CAHOOTS
for its entire ask, and empower them to
take more crisis calls and make more bot-
tom line decisions regarding their cases.
Also, we should invest in services that
would support the long term well being
of community members undergoing cri-
ses like this, such as housing, economic
justice and respectful, non-incarcerating
mental health care.
Heron Brae
Eugene
WHY AREN’T ADDICTS
BEING HELPED?
Self destructive behavior is rampant.
But sometimes people aren’t successful
in taking their own lives, so they get oth-
ers to do the dirty work. I’m reading an
article in Eugene Weekly titled “A Hid-
den Death” (7/22) about a hardcore meth
addict who eventually died after being
“knelt on” by police. “An Eventual Death”
could have been a more accurate title.
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M
Seems to me, getting into situation after
situation where lawlessness and mayhem
are involved is a cry for “help.” But maybe,
it’s a cry for “get it over with already!”
Police defined victim-precipitated ho-
micide as an incident in which individuals
bent on self-destruction, engage in life
threatening and criminal behavior to force
law enforcement officers to kill them.
Why aren’t addicts rescued from
the hell they live in — sooner? It isn’t
compassionate to let young people live
in tents high on heroin. It isn’t compas-
sionate to give parents who are addicts a
free pass instead of forcing sobriety for
the sake of the offspring they are emo-
tionally, often physically, abusing. Le-
gitimate authority is what all of us need
from day one. I don’t mind criticizing
corrupt figures of authority; but, if you
aren’t personally changing the dynamic,
then hold off on the judgment (of the po-
lice) and begin the healing instead.
Jo Anne Ryan
Eugene
METH CAUSED THE
DEATH, NOT POLICE
Ardeshir Tabrizian said (“A Hidden
Death,” EW 7/22) the Eugene police “set
into motion a chain of events” that led
to the death of Landon Payne in March
2020. Wrong. But for his use of meth,
he would not have died at the hands of
police. The doctrine of proximate cause
does not excuse police misconduct, if
any, but it examines what happened;
and what happened is that Landon
Payne chose to engage in a behavior
that resulted in his wife Angie Payne
calling the police. No meth, no police.
This is one of the major causes of
the very deep divisions we have in our
society today. The left has completely
abandoned the concept of personal re-
sponsibility for protected classes and
now not only demands that responsible
people pick up the pieces, but goes so
far as to blame them for the destructive
actions of others (racism, inequality).
The idea of blaming poverty on prob-
lems instead of the behavior that causes
poverty is backwards.
J U LY
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