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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1998)
• •• **. / • • * * ' *« . á . ■* .• • <. > v< tf *ä» 1*> nV7j7> í • -*L »1 * r- • < . 71 »; *«< ?n/> r • ■*•?•• r>.< * .K ». Page A2 FEB. 4, (The P o rtla n d ^Misinranrr 1998 Senator Wydens Public Statement on the President’s State o f the Union address Portland Police Officers Shot 2612 SE 111th Avenue On Tuesday, January 27, 1998, at 1 1:54 A M , three Port land Police O ffice rs were shot w hile contacting the resident o f a house at 2612 SE I I Ith A v enue. One o ffic e r dies as the result o f her injuries, a second o ffic e r is in c ritic a l condition, and a th ird o ffic e r was shot in the hand. The suspect was later placed into custody and is re covering from wounds at a local hospital. O ffic e r Colleen A. W aibel, 44 years o f age, a 17 year mem ber o f the Portland Police B u reau, and a 6 year police o ffic e r died as the result o f gunshot wounds suffered during the in cident. O ffic e r W aibel was as signed to East Precinct. O ffic e r Kim M. Keist, 39 years o f age, a 15 year Portland P olice o ffic e r and form er St Helens Police o ffic e r is in c r iti cal condition at a local hospital. O ffic e r Keist is assigned to the Drug and Vice D ivision. Sergeant James Hudson, 42 years o f age, a 20 year Portland Police o ffic e r, was treated and released fo r a gunshot wound to the hand. Sergeant Hudson is as signed to the Drug and V ice D i vision. O fficers from the Drug and Vice D ivisio n , along w ith uni form officers contacted the home o f Steven Douglas Dons, white male, DOB May 17, I960. The o ffice rs were at the location as part o f an ongoing investigation in v o lv in g the house at 2612 SE I 1 I th Avenue. W hile at the loca tion, exigent circumstances d i rected officers to force entry into the house. Inside the location, Steven Dons fired several gun shot rounds at the three officers. Sergeant Hudson was able to return fire w hich allow ed cover officers to remove the fallen officers. Once officers were out side the location, a perimeter was set up and the SERT Team called. A t 2:24 PM, SERT members placed Dons into custody. Dons had exited the front of the location, but refused to comply further to offic ers’ directions and was shot with a less lethal round. An arrest team placed him into custody and he was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Dons is in police custody recovering from his injuries. Portland’s Marijuana Task Force (MTF), A Deadly Mistake O ffic e r Colleen W aibel has paid the ultim ate price for adult marijuana prohibition, she gave her life. F o lly becomes trag edy. But now it's tim e fo r o th ers to pay as w ell By our reckoning that buck stops at M ayor Vera Katz, Po lice C h ie f Charles Moose and M ultnom ah C ounty D is tric t Attorney M ichael Schrunk. A ll 3 big supporters o f the M T F ’ s infam ous ‘ knock and ta lk ' p o lic y w h ic h lead to last Tuesday’ s deadly shooting. As we’ ve been saying for years; scrap the M TF. “ This is outrageous conduct on behalf o f our so-called lead ers,” said League director Floyd Landrail) addressing a Wednes day night meeting o f local ac tivists and M TF victim s. “ How many more people w ill die in this fu tile ’ w ar’ over a harm less, even beneficial, plant? “ Suspect Steven Dons may have pulled the trigger, but only af ter prohibitionists like Katz and Moose loaded the gun,” Landrath said making an obvious refer ence to the M ayor's and M oose’ s blatant - albeit p o litic a lly cor rect - attempt to hide behind “ gun c o n tro l.” Blam ing the right to keep and bear arms for W aibel’ s death is m orally and in te lle ctu a lly bank rupt. Like her crocodile-tears, the M a yo r’ s words ring hollow and the C h ie fs grief, insincere. There arc unanswered ques tions about Tuesday's M T F f i asco. But in the end they are meaningless w ithout a more ba sic exam ination o f drug laws that sim ply do not work and make police work even more danger ous than it already is. So that O ffic e r W a ib e l’ s tragic death may not be in vain, let us hope and pray it w ill become a cata lyst fo r such an exam ination o f adult m arijuana/drug p ro h ib i tion in the firs t place. Let those who are w i l l f u l l y b lin d be thrown up the scrap heap o f his tory, again. On F riday, January 30, at 10a.m. representatives o f Port land N O R M L, Oregon Cannabis fax A ct and the League Held held a press conference at the Phantom G a lle ry , 3125 SE Belm ont Street in Portland and at which time several past ’ v ic tim s' of the M T F were also present. We are united w ith all who jo in w ith us in ca llin g for the immediate dissolution o f the Police Bureau’ s M arijuanaTask Force. Editors note: These are not the views o f the Portland O b server N ew spaper. Statement By Mayor Vera Katz Mayor Vera Katz released the fo llo w in g statement regarding the shooting o f three Portland Police o ffic e rs in Southeast Portland. “ This is a dark day for Port land.” “ We have lost a friend, a c o l league, a dedicated police o f ficer. I know I speak for the entire C ity C ouncil and each citizen o f this city when I o ffe r the fam ilies, colleagues, and friends of this o ffic e r my deep est sympathy and condolences.” "W e are all saddened w ith the knowledge that she w ill never return to her husband and two sons, or see her parents who live nearby in H illsboro. To honor the memory o f her life , and her long service to the citizens o f this comm unity, I have asked all Hags to be lowered to h a lf-sta ff until after the funeral service. I w ill also postpone my annual State ol the C ity Address, sched uled for Friday, January 30, 1998, in honor o f her duty and sacrifice to the c ity ." “ On behalf o f the C ity fa m ily, I also want to extend my best wishes and sympathies to the other officers who were wounded — one seriously, and one who suffered less severe injuries and stayed at the scene to help his co w orkers." “ I w ould also like to person a lly thank all the other members o f the bureau who, despite their feelings o f loss, stuck to their posts and showed us the true meaning of duty and courage.” Portland Police Association The Portland Police Associa lie v in g that a boost in their rat tion would like to express its ings was more im portant than the outrage at the actions o f the lives o f P ortland’ s Police O ffic news media in recent c ritic a l ers. incidents in v o lv in g Portland We share C h ie f Moose's an Police officers. ger at the irresponsible behavior Those actions have not only of the television stations. We exposed police officers to need believe that it is time that jour less danger, but have seriously nalists understand that their ac invaded the privacy o f police tions can expose police officers officers It is time for the media to danger, and that they could to begin acting responsibly in w ell be the cause o f a police the way it reports matters con o ffic e r’ s death. cerning the police. Just as irresponsible were the Tuesday, as the SERT team actions of a reporter who appar was surrounding the perim eter ently went through a phone book ol the house occupied by Steven ca llin g individuals w ith the same Dons, who had just allegedly last name as one o f the officers shot three police officers, h e li who had been shot. copters from local television This reporter eventually con sta tio n s hovered o verhead , tacted a relative o f one o f the sending live pictures o f the o ffice rs, who in turn called the scene to televisions throughout spouse o f the office r. the Portland area. U n til that moment, the spouse A ll the suspect had to do to had not heard that the o ffic e r had know where police officers were been shot. positioned would have been to So, in the interests o f live m in have turned on the television. utes o f fame hopefu lly produced The television stations re by some sort o f instant reaction, jected repeated requests from the privacy o f the o ffic e r’ s fam the Police Bureau to stop the ily was h o rrib ly invaded. T transmissions, apparently be he men and women o f the Port land Police Association urge the media to do some serious soul- searching. Even one addition al paper sold or one additional rating point is not w orth jeopardizing the lives o f P ortland’ s Police O fficers nor is it worth invad ing the privacy o f their homes. We hope you w ill reevaluate the tactics used to gather news footage. We know that you have a duty to keep the general public inform ed of local news events but we believe your viewers and the other citizens o f Portland would be w illin g to w ait for sound stories that do not jeop ardize the safety of the com m u nity. The men and women o f the P ortland P olice A ssociation also have a duty to protect this com m unity and the m edia’ s be havior lately is jeopardizing our a b ility to perform this sworn duty. Leo F. Painton President Portland Police Association " By focusing on Social Security' reform, educational quality, and health care reform, the President zeroed in on the key issues 1 heard Oregonians talking about in my twelve Town Meetings this month. ” Congressman Earl Blumenauer on the President Clinton’s State o f the Union Address: / was especially heartened by the President's strong commitment to education, which couldn t come at a better time fo r Oregon public schools. With more teachers in the classroom, smaller classes, and help with the cost o f school construction, Oregon schools will be in a much stronger position to guarantee quality public education fo r all our children. The President tonight helped pave the way, and my hope is that Congress can act quickly to bring these initiatives to life, ” Congress man Blumenauer said. Helping the family is first priority for Springfield Tom and M a rcy A d d is o f S pringfield feel that one o f the nicest things about w inning the $2.5 m illio n jackpot in the Jan I 7, Megabucks draw ing is being able to help others. Helping their fa m ily is the first p rio rity for Tom and M arcy, who claimed their prize at Lottery headquarters in Salem on Jan. 21. “ This is just w onderful,” said M arcy, “ it feels so good to know w e’ ll be able to help the kids.” The A d d is ’ s used the "Q uick P ick” method to select their num bers, and matched all six num bers drawn to w in the big prize. The A d d is’ s are the Oregon L o tte ry ’ s firs t Megabucks ja c k pot winners for the new year, and the games 149th m illio n a ire s since the first Megabucks tickets went on sale Nov. 20, 1985. Counting shared jackpots, there have been 183 Megabucks ja c k pot winners. Happy Birthday Jacquelyn N. Palmer From all your family & friends Best Wishes presents its 1998 A nnual L ecture featuring I he H onorable G lenda A . H atchett Georgia's First African American Chief Presiding State Court Judge discussing ’’T oday ’ s Y outh : T omorrow ’ s C apital ” The Emerging Majority T hursday , F ebruary 1 2 ,1 9 9 8 6:00 PM. - 7:30 P.M. N orthwest N atural G as B uilding 220 N.W. 2 nd A venue 4 th F loor H ospitality R oom P ortland , O regon P rice : $20.00 For advance tickets, please call (503) 641-4553, ext. 700 Tickets also available at the door. This event is made possible by the generous sponsorship o f M ontgom ery Watson Engineering Hon. Glenda A. Hatchett Judge Glenda Hatchett, a graduate o f Mount Holyoke College and Emory University School o f Law, is Georgia’s first African-American chief presiding judge o f a state court, and the department head o f one o f the largest juvenile court systems in the country, which includes Atlanta and nine other municipali ties. Prior to joining the bench on March 1, 1991, Judge Hatchett was a senior attorney and national and international spokesperson for Delta Air Lines She has been highlighted in Ebony Magazine as one o f the 100 Best and Brightest Women in Corporate America, and is a past recipient o f the Bronze Woman of the Year Award. Recognized nationally as a authority on juvenile and social issues, Judge Hatchett is a frequent speaker and lecturer throughout the country. She has appeared on Nightline, Good Morning America , MacNeil/Lehrer, CNN and numerous other television and radio programs. She has testified before both houses o f Congress, and has chaired the National Forum on Youth Violence for the US Departmen t o f Justice. 1
