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PORTLAND OBSERVER
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Harrington under fire again over police actions
Harrington noted and responded to
those who regard the police as op
pressors.
"W e will always have the image of
being the oppressor because we are
the visible symbols of government.
However, we can make certain that
officers understand the people they
are policing," Harrington added.
Although she is a 21 -year veteran
to Latvia Duke
GRASSROOT NEWS, N W . —
Poke Chief Penny Harrington has liad
one turbulent breaking-in as her new
administration met crisis after crisis in
its first 90 days.
This latest tragedy involving the
death of a mentally impaired adult
and an innocent 86-year-old woman
illustrates the lack o f a police pro
cedures to deal effectively with men
tally ill adults who become violent.
But Harrington inherited a police
bureaucracy without these proced
ures. She is and wants to be held ac
countable for the actions or non
actions of her predecessors
" I accept a certain amount of re-
sponsibility as I try to find out what’s
wrong and correct it. Blaming the
prior administration does not accom
plish anything," she noted.
Harrington was hired by a mayor
whom the rank and file of the police
bureau did not endorse. And Mayor
Bud C lark’s citizenry approach to
government runs counter to the lead
ership style officers had become ac
customed to.
“ 1 have to do w hat’s right overall
for the City. Officers feel that I
should come down on the side that’s
of the bureau, Harrington said she
had not worked with a lot o f the rank
and file. Has she experienced any
sexism during these last few months?
“ I experienced some sexism from
some people. Some of them find it
very difficult to work for a w om an."
replied Harrington.
Beyond her sex, Harrington has
implemented personnel changes that
created resentment among some o ffi
cers when she transferred Vice and
Intelligence to detectives. "Those o f
ficers were unhappy because they
were put back out in u nifo rm ," said
Bud Clark and Panny Harrington addraaa City Hall m wtlng
oest for the bureau. I understand their
sentiments. But they have to under
stand their needs are second to the
needs of the City as a whole.” Har
nngton added.
She said she believes the resent
ment to (his new administrative atti
tude and leadership style will dissipate
People question police actions
(Photo: Kristina Altuchsr)
with time.
" In time they will see it’s good to
(wve citizens come in and help us. It
will create more support for them,”
G R A SSR O O T N E W S , N .W .
Mental Health Service delivery in
Multnomah County is "schizophren
ic” and mental health providers are
“ paranoid "
Tommy Graves, the mentally im
paired adult who snapped July 6,
causing the death of an innocent 86
year-old woman and himself, was one
of many mentally ill patients who fall
through the holes in the current men
tai health system.
Graves was going through a revolv
ing door of involuntary commitment
proceedings, the state mental hospital
and the community. His case high
lights what the community and the
patients have suffered in the state’s
rush to deinstitutionalize mental
G R A S S R O O T N E W S , N .W . -
More than 300 Portlanders attended
a Black United Front community
meeting July 10th. The meeting was
attended by Police Chief Penny H a r
rington and M ayor Bud Clark to
question and probe and advance
recommendations to avoid police
actions that result in the death of
Afro-Americans in tlic Afro-Amencan
community.
Questions sometimes were politely
combative while others were state
ments regarding attitudes of officers
who patrol Northeast Portland. The
Graves/Tate deaths occurred on the
heels of the Tony Stevenson tragedy.
hi which an officer applied a sleeper
hold resulting in his death. Graves
was a mentally impaired adult who
became violent. Tate was the innocent
hostage Both were shot by police
One participant stated, " I'm con
cerned about recent events. M y chil
dren no longer look at police as pro
tectors They are regarded as the
oppressor."
Harrington withstood the sharp
ness o f their questions and endured
boos only once when residents re
sponded to an answer regarding Mrs.
Tate, an 86-year-old woman
Ron Herndon addraaaM com
munity mooting.
(Photo: Kriatina Ahuchar)
Woman asks question at community masting.
(Photo: Kristina Ahuchar)
Harrington indicated that after the
officer shot her, thinking it was Graves
and violent.
Herndon also questioned the quali
fications o f one o f Graves’ negotia
tors. R. L. Anderson. When Harring
ton called him a "Reverend," a choir
o f chuckles arose from the audience.
It has been reported that Anderson
just walked upon the scene without
prior knowledge o f Graves or the
Tate family
Other recommendations advanced
by the audience were:
— More cultural training for officers.
— More respect o f the Black com
munity by police
— A change in police attitudes.
— M ore police accountability to the
community for their behavior while
on duty.
— Annual psychological tests on
officers.
— Involvement and input into the
budget advisory committee o f the
police bureau.
— More effective implementation
o f existing police procedures.
— A police block home in every
neighborhood
— More money for mental health
— Better training for officers.
Harrington received a standing
ovation and M ayor Bud Clark sat
quietly writing down comments from
participants.
[wired when they become threatening
retreating out the back door, he
thought he heard her moan
" I can't tell you what’s inside the
officer's head. I can only tell you
what he thought he saw And he
thought he saw Graves coming out
the back d oo r," responded Harnng
ton to a question regarding the physi
cal differences between an 86-year
old woman and a 37-yeai-old man
Other questions from the audience
related to differences in police re
sponse in the Black community. W hy
did officers not move in on Graves
earlier and why were back-up lights
not available?
Harrington said she was not in tlie
position nor did she have the infor
mation to compare police respouses.
She said officers on the scene thought
they could disarm and control Graves,
and any type o f lighting aggravated
Graves and made officers targets.
Ronnie Herndon, co-chair o f the
BUF,
gathered
recommendations
from the audience The B U F said the
Graves/Tate incident highlighted the
need for more Black officers. The
Front requested a national blue rib
bon panel to review Portland police
procedures and policies. They aLso
called for the city and the police to
meet and formulate procedures on
how to deal with the mentally im-
pie to make good decisions." she said
Among the initial puxedural changes
Harrington has implemented since the
Graves situation is to dispatch the
Special Emergency Response Team
(SER T) every time the hostage nego
tiation team is called. Also, Harnng
ton will bring back Night Com
manders.
She plans to get an outside, p ro
fessional opinion o f S E R T proce
durals after the Graves incident. " I
wonder why it took them (SER T) un
til 5 a m. to find Graves’ body. And
why they didn’t get Mrs. Tate's body
o ff the porch sooner," Harrington
added.
Among the recommendations ad
vanced by the community last Wed
nesday at a Black United Front com
munity meeting was one dealing with
establishing a Black home for o ffi
cers in each neighborhood. "T here’
will be people in the community that
they know. And the message will be
that Portland Police Officers arc dedi
cated professionals trying to help
people." Harrington concluded
Mental Health Service delivery crazy
by la m ia Duke
by Lam ia Duke
Harrington.
But this rank and file disapproval
o f her leadership is not perceived as
mutiny. “ The good thing about a
paramilitary organization is when you
give orders they are followed I don’t
like to give orders. I hope to get peo
pie to want to do things my way with
out being told. W e want to train peo
patients.
In 1962 Oregon passed community
mental health care legislation and in
1973 they passed legislation that en
couraged counties to have community
mental health programs. In 1981 the
legislature passed a Mental Health
Service Act which targeted the chron
ically mentally disabled population.
Multnomah County participated in
the Dam mash Bed Reduction (D B R )
project which reduced the population
at the state hospital. W hile all this
transition was occurring, the County
subcontracted all programs to private
non-profit agencies. There are four
core service agencies who provide
medication and case management,
crisis service and residential case man
agement. In Northeast Portland the
agency is North/Northeast Comm un
ity Mental Health, Inc.
But it’s the city and the community
who bore the brunt of the question
able effectiveness o f private com
munity mental health agencies. For
mer institutionalized patients walk
the street, live under bridges, eat out
o f garbage cans and engage in a va
riety o f irrational behavior in the
urban area
In and out, up and down
Graves recently was released from
Holiday P v k Hospital’s psychiatric
ward, but he’s a statistic when it
comes to the recidivism of mentally ill
adults who go through Oregon's com
mitment process
Most commitment proceedings are
initiated by police officers, as in
Graves’ case, and signed by a hospital
physician. The alleged mentally ill
person is detained until released or
taken to the hearing.
Multnomah County Judge W illiam
S. M clen n an has presided over com
mitment hearings for 12 years. He
conducts an average of 600 commit
ment hearings per year.
He said evidence constraints and
limitations in the system prevent him
from getting information to make an
informed decision
“ When these people come back
three or four times, I cannot look at
their file from past commitment hear
ings Because o f the patient/physician
privilege I can’t find out how the
person behaved while hospitalized. I
can’t get husband and wife to testify
And I don't think those rules should
apply in these hearings,” said M c
Lennan.
He also added that the District A t
torney is required by law to assist him
"But the D .A . refuses. I have no
way of finding out what's in these
cases until the hearing is conducted,"
McLennan said, and since the D .A
refuses to help, there is no way to
subpoena witnesses. “ The D A . said
these kinds o f cases are not impor
tan t," he added.
Deinstitutionalization was created
on the premise that mentally ill adults
would continue on their medication to
control their thoughts and behavior
"B ut the people feel better, so they
stop taking their medication. When
this happens they wind up here,”
Me fe n nan noted.
When clients refuse or discontinue
their medication, or when they mix
their medication with drugs or al
cohol, they "decompensate," or go
off.
InvarM relationships
Michael Benjamin, Executive D i
rector o f N o rth /N E. Community
Mental Health, said they are between
a rock and a hard place when it comes
to servicing clients whom they are
funded to serve.
The County required these mental
health providers to terminate clients
who do not meet new eligibility re
quirements So his agency services a
more severely disabled population
with limited funds and questionable
follow-up.
One observer, who asked not to be
identified, said N /N E docs not pro
vide leadership when it comes to serv
icing this population. " I f they liave a
good case manager, the patient gets
excellent care But if not, the patient
Is rarely seen or followed up. I t ’s a
40/40 proposition and the real losers
are the patients."
Sharon Slattery, director o f the
Mental Health Association, said there
Is little accountability when it comes
to these private agencies Her obser
vations were also echoed in an audit
of Mental and Emotional Disabilities
Residential services conducted by the
county auditor.
The auditor found a lack of clear
management objectives, fragmented
residential services and no long-term
strategy.
ALso, investigators from N /N E
are required to make a recommenda
tion regarding the mental state of
those involved in commitment hear
ings. But every time a patient goes
back to the state hospital, the agency
loses dollars.
"Rather than send them back, the
iwtient drops out until they become
dangerous and the police have them
commited. the incentive is to keep
them out of the hospital and it’s their
investigator who makes that decision
to commit or not to com m it,” Slat
tery added.
She called residential care facilities
a "lan d fill.”
’ T h e y take their money and food
stamps. There are no laws on upkeep,
or accountability. And there is very
little monitoring done So, we have
moved patients from a horrible hos
pital into a horrible com m unity,"
Continued on Page 2, Column 6)
Correction:
In the July 10th headline we said ‘ ‘8.1-year-old woman
murdered by police.” It should have read: ‘ ‘86-year-old
woman shot by police.”