Pas« 14 Portland Obaarvar. September n , IM I
Officers blame administrative problems for 'possum
The Observer w ill p u b lish ex
cerpts fro m the arbitration hearing
in the case "Portland Police Associ
ation and C ity o f Portland. " which
heard testimony on the "possum in
cident. "
The firs t installment will include
O fficer Ward's and G allaw ay’s ex
p lanatio n s o f the in cid en t and
events leading up to it.
Tha City's Casa
’ Section 8 .3 6 .0 1 0 o f the C ity
Code provides for six months impri
sonment and $500 for similar activi
ty o f littering the carcasses o f dead
animals in a public or common area.
Thus the charges were sustained.**
A disciplinary hearing was held
before C hief Bruce Baker. The testi
mony given in that hearing was dis
cussed with Commissioner Charles
Jordan. Jordan decided to term in
ate the two officers and Baker con
curred.
Morthland charged that the Port
land Police A ssociation injected
politics into the decision by holding
a march, taking a “ no confidence**
vote on Baker and Jordan, and call
ing for the removal o f Jordan as po
lice com m issioner. H e concluded
that, "Police are not above the law.
They must be above suspicion.**
D avid W . M o rth la n d , attorney
representing the C ity o f P ortland,
gave the C ity ’s summary o f the ac
tion for which Officers Craig W ard
and Jim Galloway were terminated.
“ On M arch 12th, 1981, C raig
W ard, about three and a half years
with the Bureau, and Jim Gallaway,
about seven years with the Bureau,
while wearing their badge, while in
u n ifo rm , using the Bureau police
Tha Union'« Reply
car and while on duty in the North
Precinct, deliberately and intention
W ill Aitchison, attorney for the
ally ran over two possums and bru
union, explained that oppossum
tally clubbed three other possums to
killing was common in N o rth Pre
death w ith th e ir police car. T h ey
cinct; that “ Burger Barn’ * refers to
used the floor o f the back seat area
the area o f U nion and Shaver, one
because their own personal gear and
o f the two most “ lawless” corners
other police gear was in the trunk.
in Portland. There had been prob
" A t about ,0:20 p.m. they deliber
lems between the o ffic ers o f the
ately and intentionally called eight
shift; supervision in North Precinct
other officers on duty to the Burger
was poor, and the decision to relieve
Barn Restaurant. This represented
tension by dropping the opposums
over one-half o f all officers on shift
at that site was “ s p u r-o f-th e-m o -
that night in the North Precinct.
m ent” and not intended to harass
“ Upon arrival at that parking lot
anyone. Aitchison argued that the
they pulled fo u r o f the carcasses
discharges were p o litic a lly m o ti
from their car, displayed them on
vated, that discipline in the Police
the trunk lid o f their car to those
Bureau has been uneven and unfair;
they had called from duty, and then
that the discharges violate the tenet
in ten tio n a lly and d elib e ra te ly , in
o f progressive discipline; that prior
witness o f their fellow officers and
work records were not considered;
in witness o f public citizens, p ro
that the Bureau did not consider
ceeded to pitch the bloody carcasses
true motivations or m itigating cir
o f these animals onto a public side
cumstances; that the investigation
walk on Union Avenue in front o f
was incom plete; that the punish
the Burger Barn.
ment does not fit the crim e; that
"They did this to harass, whether it
there were procedural irregularities;
be considered racial or not, people
that the reasons given fo r the dis
who frequent the area o f the Burger
charges have been changed; that the
Barn who they considered lawless
incident was caused, in large part,
troublemakers.
by lack o f supervision; that lack o f
“ Prior to these incidents, these of
training in minority culture was par
ficers received no other disciplinary
tially responsible for the incident.
actions and th e ir record could be
Craig Ward'« testimony
considered as good.
“ An investigation ensued. They
C raig W ard testified that he has
were charged with violation o f Rule
been a Portland Police officer since
310.10 o f the Rules and Regulations
1975 and has been in North Precinct
o f the Bureau. T h at rule provides
since 1976. H e is c u rren tly being
that every m em ber o f the Bureau
sued fo r harassment or b ru ta lity .
police will constantly strive to attain
W ard said he had no training in mi
the highest professional standard o f
nority culture and that he had not
conduct. Em ployees, w hether on
been aware that a racial harassment
duty or o ff duty, shall be governed
b ill was being considered in the
by the O rd in a ry and Reasonable
Legislature.
Rules o f Good Conduct and Beha
W ard testified that he ran over
vior and shall not commit any act
and killed the first oppossum in an
tending to bring reproach o r dis
alley and placed it in the back seat
credit upon the Bureau o f the C ity
o f the car. H e then ran over a
o f Portland.
second one, then struck it w ith his
“ They will conduct themselves in
night stick. G a lla w a y k ille d the
the discharge o f th e ir duties and
other three with his night stick. How
their relations with the public and
to kill oppossums? Q. Where do you
other members o f the Bureau in a
try and hit them? A . I ’ ve never
diplomatic and professional manner
really tried to aim at any particular
in accordance w ith the laws o f the
spot. Q . You just beat them until
United States, the State o f Oregon,
they are dead?X. Yes.
Ordinances o f the C ity o f Portland
The reason for killing oppossums:
and the m anual o f rules and p ro
" . . . There is a great deal o f frustra
cedures o f the Bureau.
tion encountered in dealings w ith
chosen as a dumping site for the op-
possums because, “ there is a great
deal o f narcotics transactions and
p ro stitu tion and fencing o f stolen
property” in that area. H e said in
his earlier hearing. “ W e chose that
particular area because it ’ s full o f
problems and everybody knows it.
1, s, you know, like the saying goes,
knowing it and proving it are two
different things.”
The prim ary reason for the inci
dent, W ard testified, was to allevi
ate tensions in the group o f officers.
W e were aware o f the very serious
problem s that were occurring
amongst the Avenue officers on the
Relief and we felt we were in a very
unique position to be able to try and
alleviate some o f the tensions that
existed out there. A n d we felt by
doing this, by getting the other o ffi
cers together and doing this, we
could have fun, make them laugh,
share in a prank, as it were. And by
doing th a t, dem onstrate that we
were all on the same side and it was
counter-productive to have the dis
harmony that was going o n .” The
idea o f getting back at the people
who frequent the Burger Barn was
“ periphery.”
Jim Gallaway's taatim ony
street level police work. W e’re sub
jected to a great deal o f abuse in
which we’ re not allowed to display
any sort o f em otion, certainly not
allowed to retaliate in any instance.
“ Sometimes in dealing with peo
ple they can become quite vituper
ative, quite vindictive and it can get
pretty bad. W e get spit on, kicked
and punched and on occasion
stabbed and shot at. And we have to
use a great deal o f restraint in re
sponding to that. A nd th a t’s con
trary to the human condition. And
that leads to a great deal o f frustra
tion.
“ In a d d itio n , we spend a great
deal o f time trying to make a partic
ular crim in al case against an
individual who we belfeve or know
to have committed some sort o f an
offense and we find that somewhere
else farther on in the justice system
the in d ivid u al is not dealt w ith in
what we feel is the a p p ro p ria te
manner. And so we see him again on
the streets.
"W e have to deal with certain in
dividuals time and time again and it
certain ly leads to a great deal o f
frustration.”
W a rd said the Burger Barn was
were going to be exactly the oppo-
sit >f what he’d said the night be
fore."
O fficer Rick Hegrenes added his
explanation o f problems at N o rth
Precinct. He explained that the d if
fic u lty over three-m an cars was
caused by the m anner in which it
was going to be implemented. Firs,
it was to be done through attrition,
then Sgt. B lair said he wanted it
done, then L t. Haven all o f a sud
den announced it would happen im
mediately.
Hegrenes was concerned about in
decision and the lieutenant’s habit of
making a decision and changing it
the next day. He had also talked to
Lt. Haver about Sgt. Blair:
“ There was a serious problem
with Sgt. Blair who was no, showing
up for w o rk . H e was n o t— n o ,—
showing up jus, a couple o f minutes
before roll call in his o ff-d uty uni
form. I told Lt. Haven that his off-
duty employment certainly affected
his performance on duty. Sgt. Blair
had a very bad attitude. In fact, he
had told some o f the officers that he
didn’t care who was in the car. A ll
he wanted was a warm body in the
car. D idn’t matter wha, district. He
wasn't concerned who was the best
officer for the area ...W h e n o ffi
cers would do something wrong on
the street, (the) Sergeant w ouldn't
say anything to h im .”
P antley's atory
Jim G a lla w a y has been a P o rt
land Police O fficer for seven years.
H e testified that he has been
charged with harassment, but that
the charges were not sustained by
Internal A ffairs. He also is named
in the pending lawsuit.
Gallaway said that upon arriving
at the Burger Barn p arking lot he
said “ something to the effect that
we were going to make a presenta
tio n ." He walked to the corner o f
the building and threw his oppos-
sum on the sidew alk; W a rd fo l
lowed. None o f the other eight o f
ficers present attempted to stop the
act.
G a llo w a y described o th e r in ci
O ffic e r P a n ,le y described the
dents when numerous officers were
controversy surrounding his work as
involved in “ non-duty-related pur
beginning when he and his partner
poses." One was a snowball fight
did no, oppose the three-man car
between prostitutes and several o ffi
concept. Other problems centered
cers.
around the fact that other officers
‘7 have talked with the lieutenant on prior occasions and
during the tumultuous times we were having out there, and got
absolutely no satisfaction from the lieutenant. ”
—Officer Harvey
Problems in North Precinct
Several o ffic e rs described the
problems and tensions at North Pre
cinct that W ard and G allaw ay say
precipitated the oppossum incident.
O fficer Aaron Harvey described
the problems tha, had developed at
North Portland over three more car
assignments. Previously two men
had been assigned to a car, taking
their days o ff at the same time when
substitutes w ould take over. The
three-man car would permanently
assign three men to each car, with
alternating days o ff.
“ I can look directly back to ap
proximately back to a year or short
ly before that when Lt. Haven came
to our shift as a lieutenant. Shortly
after he came to the shift there were
some reassignments as to the ser
geants and th e ir responsibilities.
There was also a change in policy.
'That these deliberate and intentional acts, both before and
since their discharge, have brought discredit and reproach on the
Police Bureau is beyond caveat. There have been at least fo u r
H arv e y said o th er o fficers had
reported possum incidents in the community to date. ”
com plained about the three-m an
—Atty. Morthland
cars. “ I th in k a fa ir statement
“ That these deliberate and inten
tional acts, both before and since
their discharge, have brought great
discredit and reproach on the Police
Bureau is beyond caveat. There has
been at leas, four reported possum
incidents in the community to date.
No, to mention the chastisement po
lice officers have received through
out the city on the street.
“ It is also beyond caveat that
these deliberate and intentional acts
were not only undiplomatic and un
professional but are also violation
o f Oregon C rim in a l Statutes and
City Ordinance.
‘O .R .S . 167.860 provides anyone
who cru elly beats o r m utilates or
kills an anim al may be fined up to
$500 and be im prisoned up to six
months.
"O .R .S . 167.785 provides anyone
who places a dead animal carcass on
any street, lo t, alley or com m on
area to the annoyance o f any c iti
zens may be fined up to $1,000 and
imprisoned for up to one year.
"Allowing the animal to remain in
that position over 24 hours is an ad
d itio n a l v io la tio n and i t ’ s an
a d d itio n a l v io la tio n fo r each 24
hours thereafter.
around because o f, perhaps, some
o f his work habits.**
**l had talked with the lieutenant
on prior occasions and during the
tum ultuous times we were having
out there, and got absolutely no sat
isfaction from the lieutenant. There
would be times when I would talk
with the lieutenant and he would tell
me one thing and I would only come
to work the next day to find out that
he had changed his mind and things
would be that some supervisors said
tha, it would be the way it was going
to be, whether it worked or not, and
o th er supervisors felt that it
wouldn’t work and we shouldn’t try
i t .” H e stated that when Sgt. Blair
was assigned to his detail, there was
a d ro p -o ff in supervision and that
he had complained. “ It was not un
common late in the shift to call for
Sgt. B la ir and not have him re
spond."
Harvey felt that every sergeant he
had worked for at North Portland,
and L t. Haven as well, were no, per
forming their functions. He and his
partner, Dick M orris, had repeated
ly complained that inform ation was
not being provided at roll call. “ I
had expressed complaints about this
to, like I said, numerous supervis
ors, and the problem had n ’ t been
deal, w ith ."
H arvey also explained the p rob
lems many o f the officers were hav
ing with Officers Bruce Pantley and
H a rm o n . H e had requested that
Pantley be moved from the Union
Avenue area but had been denied.
H e fell the pro b lem w ith O ffic e r
Pantley was deep-seated. “ I ’m not
sure he could work anyplace in the
C ity without having some problems
w ith the personnel that he works
thought he was spending too much
tim e on ro u tin e tra ffic stops and
was no, carrying his share o f radio
calls.
He discussed the incident that had
happened earlier the nigh, o f March
12th, although Ward and Gallaway
did not learn about that disagree
ment until after the “ possum inci
dent."
A vehicle that had been involved
in an incident at G l Joe’ s was lo
cated in a parking Io, on Union A v
enue. He said the car had been lo
cated by two police units almost si
multaneously. W hen the stop was
made there was a strong disagree
ment over which car should take
charge. A heated discussion took
place— "basically the shouting tran
spired between my partner, Officer
Harm on, and one o f the other o ffi
cers that was involved in the stop,
Officer Paul Bar.
“ F or this type o f outburst or
com m ent to be made at that tim e
and in that type o f situation, I think
it required there to be a good deal o f
fru s tra tio n on both parts. It was
something very unusual."
Gallaway said he was no, dissatis
fied with the three-man car, but was
concerned because many o f the men
were frustrated and angry. He spoke
w ith C ap t. M cC abe regarding his
concern about Sgt. B lair and L t.
Haven and asked him to speak to the
men at ro ll c a ll. M cC ab e said he
would but did not.
“ C a p ,. M cC ab e , when 1 le ft,
stated to me that he— it was his de
sire that I do no, relate anything o f
wha, we discussed to anyone which I
did not. Also when I left, Lt. Haven
was standing there and (thej C ap
tain sort o f w inked at me and
opened the door and said well, G al
laway, will try to ge, that school for
you like we’d been discussing anoth
er matter.”
Sgt.
Lanny
Bennett
ack
nowledged that there had been
trouble over Pantley. He though, it
best to move Pantley, but Lt. Haven
refused. He was told that Pantley
and H arm o n were “ more or less
jum ping the call and taking credit
for the a rre s t." Some officers had
been extremely depressed and later
Pantley met him and said he wanted
to get the officers together to discuss
these problems.
Bennett said problems in North
Precinct are unique and he probably
didn’t respond adequately to them.
He described Pantley as very intelli
gent, very articu late, very compe
ten t. H is w orking style conflicts
with other officers and much o f his
problem is personality. “ Pantley
has been on the Avenue about three
or four d ifferent times in the time
he’ s been at N o rth Precinct. And
each time he’ s worked the Avenue
he’s had problems."
Captain M cC abe’s reply
Captain Vern McCabe has been a
Portland police officer for 39 years
and is cu rren tly C ap tain o f the
N orth Precinct. He has been C ap
tain o f that precinct three different
tim es, fo r a period o f about one
year each.
McCabe testified that he had not
heard that police officers were kill
ing oppossums until he read about it
in the newspaper a fter the
oppossum incident.
Since the opposum incident he
was I guess you would call it, morale
was poor. And that’s when I got the
business that there was a problem
with the lieutenants, the lieutenants
and the sergeants, and some o f the
sergeants... that’s the background,
but I don’, recall it was mentioned
about (he supervision o f the o ff i
cers. M ore o f the friction between
(he two, but not necessarily on the
supervision----- There was friction
about the way the system was run,
and the personalities in volved ’
whether who was supporting who
and that sort o f thing from the lieu
tenants and sergeants."
Eventually the three-man car was
discontinued but M cC abe did not
see the controversy as a supervisory
problem but a management, com
munication problem.
Commlaaioner Jordan's raaponae
C om m issioner C harles Jordan
was questioned about supervision at
North Precinct.
“ Q (Aitchison)— W hat i f 1 were
to pose to you this h yp o th etical,
Commissioner, that you have had
"Oh, we didn ’t dwell on it that much. She ju st was petrified
and didn't like It. That was as fa r as the conversation went. ”
—Capt. McCabe
had heard about a live opposum be
ing placed in the wom en's locker
room at N o rth P recinct. “ I, was'
jus, scuttlebutt around the office. I
don’, know who (old m e.” Beverly
McSwain, a clerk, was so frightened
that she climbed on a sink and wait
ed for an hour to be rescued. As far
as her being upset, " O h , we didn’t
dw ell on that m uch. She just was
petrified and didn't like it. That was
as far as the conversation wen,” He
was told that the " C P K " ( “ C erti
fied Possum K ill" ) game had no,
been played for three years, but did
not know which o ffic e r (old him.
“ There was some comment about it,
and I jus, asked the question, and I
go, the answer and that was the end
o f it. There was no discussion o f
it ."
Although Gallaway had placed an
opposum in the w om en’ s locker
room , the one that frightened Ms.
M cS w ain was placed there be
Officer John Cordell.
McCabe testified that there could
have been a number o f similar inci
dents and “ I didn’t have the slight
est idea who did it."
L t. H aver and M cCabe decided
on three-man cars, to always have
one man who knew district, and to
provide consistency. They started to
do it through attrition, bu, didn’t do
it fast enough— "failed miserably."
"Partners were split up and morale
d iffic u ltie s w ith supervision at
N o rth Precinct fo r a substantial
amount o f time. Among those d iffi
culties were the d ifficu ltie s o f the
command level. Captain McCabe I
believe we’ ve understood to be at
the com m and level and in fact
hasn't C ap tain M cC ab e received
among the lowest ratings o f any o f
your com m anders in his evalu a
tions?
A .— I don*, know.
Q — You don’, know; that the in
termediate supervisor, L t. Haven,
had had some problems o f his own
and that the street, what you call,
supervisors, Sgt. Bennett and Sgt.
M ulvihill had been conspicuous on
ly by their absence from their pres
ence on the street, leaving the o ffi
cers out in North Precinct to essen
tially try to work things out among
themselves and that the situation
had been allowed to fester and to
grow and that O fficers W ard and
G a lla w a y in doing what they did
were responding to that situation.
-4-— Then i f that be the case,
we’ re in a sadder state than I
thought we were. I f I need a ser
geant to be with every patrolman on
the street, then policing will never be
the same.
N E X T W EEK: Was the "possum
In c id en t” ra cia l harassment? Why
was the Burger Barn picked? Were
the terminations political?
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