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Believe me sir, I HATE police abuse of power. I hate ANY government abuse of power. However, I honestly don't see all cops as bad eggs, and I certainly don't begrudge them employing less-lethal force options, when used correctly (which they normally are). I honestly don't believe that police abuse is nearly as rampant as the media would have us to believe. If we do some research, we see that there was approximately 14 million US arrests in 2008, with an generous average of 400 people per year killed by police for the past few years. These odds of survival aren't too bad, in my opinion.

You assume a lot, Tim. I am not a cop. I have never been a cop, and will never be a cop. They have to put up with way more BS than I have the capacity to handle. Since you're so quick to assume that I'm a cop, based on nothing more than my simple posted opinion, we can only assume that your perspective is be skewed.

As for TASER-user accountibilty and "badge cams", try googling TASER AFID, TASER Cam, and TASER AXON. Carry on soldier...

Tim King: I try to be straight with this stuff and deal with a lot of people. I appreciate that I suggested something in correct, thanks for clarifying.

No reason they couldn't have taken a different approach Tim? Like you said, you weren't there. So making a bold statement like that really doesn't carry much weight, does it? Yes she placed the gun on the ground and according to the report it was "momentarily." Followed by "instantaneously" picking the gun back up. Sounds like further aggressive action on her part which escalated the situation. You ask why they didn't move in, or back off when she put the gun down. Sure, move in so she can "instantaneously" pick the gun back up and shoot them. Wouldn't it make more sense to exercise caution and patience and get her to move away from the gun first before you "move in?" Point is she created the situation with her actions, and her actions alone. Like I said, I'm surprised they didn't shoot her because that's what they usually do in these situations. Remember the black kid (just to cite one example because there are many) who was gunned down recently which brought Jesse Jackson to town?

You say you "suspect" she had no intention of harming the cops. "Suspect" sounds like another word for "assume," and you know what they say about those who assume. Maybe she didn't have any intentions of harming the cops, but what about the water line guy she was threatening originally?

Summed up, this old lady was an ARMED suspect, and that completely changes the situation compared to an UNARMED suspect. I don't understand why you don't see the difference. There are plenty of unarmed suspects who have been gunned down or had to endure the taser justice. My simple suggestion was to draw from those examples rather than one of an armed suspect.

You say you could use the "what if it was your little girl" line a lot but choose not to. So? Are you implying I should follow your example? I'm not the "follower" type Tim. I'm not you, I'm me. My apologies if I offended you with a portion of my comment that you deemed a bit personal. I believe it was relevant. Apparently my perspective growing up as a cop's kid is different than your perspective from having a kid who is a cop. Not surprising really if you think about it. I don't establish separate rules for special people in law enforcement either Tim, and I wouldn't modify my thinking on LE practices if I were related to the cop as you suggest. I don't have to modify my thinking because I think the way I do with regard to all cops in the situations we are discussing here. I'll even give you an example. The following is a comment I made in the Portland Tribune a couple of years ago on the Chasse story. Let's get personal again shall we? What better to draw from than my own personal experience...
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I had a minor domestic three years ago. Ended up getting tazered by the two cops who responded to the call.

From the cop's perspective, they were responding to a call that is statistically one of the more dangerous calls for cops to deal with. They were also told the suspect was a large man around 6', 250lbs, and if they ran me discovered I was an ex-con.  They never announced themselves as their report reflected, but hey, I knew who they were when they knocked on the front door and called out my name. I should've got up from my bed I was laying on and answered the door, but I didn't. I laid there hoping they would go away. Haha! Yeah right.

They made their way into the house through a back door and again called my name. I got up from the bed and met them in the living room. Both were noticeably smaller in stature and immediately bellowed for me to assume the position. Instead of doing as I was told, I questioned them with sarcasm in the tone of my voice, then complied with their request.

As the one cop reached up and over-aggressively pulled my one arm down to cuff me in order to search me for weapons for their own protection, I spontaneously pulled my arm back and said, "what the f**ck cowboy?"

Both cops stepped back and threatened to taze me if I continued to resist. I turned around to face them, put both of my hands behind my head, and said, "ok, ok, slow down, I'm cool." Next thing I knew I was being tazered.

I think the cops were a bit quick on the tazer button. I don't think it was necessary, however, in hindsight putting myself in their shoes, they might be thinking to heck with this guy and his sarcasm and resisting. (however minor the resisting was)  They simply don't pay me enough to mix it up with this large ex-con if he happens to go off. He should be in cuffs now without asking questions and being sarcastic.

And if they were thinking that, they were correct in that thinking. I should've complied from the get and kept my mouth shut.

Point I'm trying to make is even though I felt the cops used unnecessary excessive force...I caused it. I created that situation with my actions. We don't pay the cops enough money to take any BS or question their commands. When a cop tells you to do something, you do it. If it's wrong, question it later in a courtroom if need be.

I never filed a complaint with the PPD over this incident because of my feelings I just stated.

Chasse was mentally ill. Chasse didn't comply as he was told. Chasse didn't deserve what happened to him. Why didn't they just taze him? Darn thing got my attention, lemme tell you! I think they did taze him, but said it wasn't effective.  Bottom line...the cops were overly excessive based on Chasse's injuries, and Humphrey's went to far. Best evidence of that is the injuries and 78 reported incidents in Humphrey's record of excessive force.

C'mon, one, two...maybe five or ten? No, 78!! This fool shoulda been down the road at least after the 20th report. If my wife who works for the phone company gets five reports of bad behavior with a customer she would be fired.

Most of the time these incidents get out of hand due to suspects simply not complying like me, and like Chasse.

I got tazed. 6' 250lbs, and the thing got my attention. No harm, no foul. Funny when the cops say it's ineffective.

Chasse got beat to hell and died. Lotta harm, big foul!  Most of the cops in PDX do a good job, and we need to support them, just as they should support us in weeding out their department of the ones who are making them look bad, like Humphrey's.

Same goes for corrections officials, but oh hey, don't get me started there. LOL!

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So Tim, does that sound like I establish separate rules for special people in law enforcement or modify my thinking on LE practices if I were related to the cop? I surely wasn't related to these two cowboys. I hope you get my point. Yes, I'm all about injustice with the Free Frank Gable site. Are you questioning that because my unique perspective affords me the ability to offer an even-handed, fair, unbiased and honest account of LE practices even when it pertains to my own personal experience?

The old lady dieing after being tased was unfortunate. It wasn't injustice. Supporting your article with LE's handling of an

ARMED suspect had no place in a story about excessive force and LE's handling of an UNARMED suspect.

Good article Tim..altho, what you said about needing more regulations in the financial system is not quite accurate..If you will do a little research, the regulations are already in place, but they were not enforced. The SEC, among others, overlooked the violations. Its the same with police officers, they know they can get away with their brutality, so its open season. my point is: we have more than enough rules, laws and regulations, they simply are not being enforced. Oh, same with the gulf oil spill..the regulations are there, but BP can campaign donate their way out of having to abide by them. Seems as though cameras, and youtube are keeping police more in check, than anything else. A police officer could find himself on youtube!

Friends-All: Since few people have real experience with the cop-world and its few bad-'uns, let me chime in from some decades of intermittent contact with the same situations --ever since early/days in Maine newsoffice for two whole counties with my photographer the one-man Chief of Police in Presque Isle: His Dad had barbershiop with 24-hr. hot water, so that's where we put our darkroom !! Since then have had similar considerable experience in Boston, Chicago, and some 20 asst./size towns across the nation...and can verify just what Tim details here, via both new/model police-type guns and most recently Tasers in early versions. Further, look for cop-badges with built-in camera as in cars within next two years... happens old contact in large city reports test/model on trial there already... Brutality differs radically from accidental/usage,and the surrounding circumstance will show up bright and honest with badge/cam here none too soon. Taser-drive is dollar-driven "new thing" highly appealing to some police-system bosses as demonstration of devotion to "new technology", now much in disrepute per press reports of continuing abuse and losing early appeal due to truthful appraisal of fatal risks.

Tim, I'm on the same page with ya over the Oakland shooting, reckless use of tasers and excessive force by the cops in our country today, but c'mon...leave the 87 year old woman bit out of this story. She had a gun and was threatening to use it. She put it down briefly then picked it up again, which in my opinion made it even more likely she was going to use it. Actually I'm surprised she was tased and not shot given the history of Oregon cops in these situations the past few years. Heck, I'd have probably shot her. You just can't go waving guns around, and if you do then use the dang thing and be prepared for the consequences whether you do or not. Ok, so maybe she had mental issues or whatever. A mentally ill person is probably more likely to shoot the gun than someone who is not. You can be killed just as easy by an 87 year old mentally ill person as an EK skinhead.

I'm shocked you felt the cop's actions were unnecessary with personal ties to LE within your own family. There are plenty of stories to grab from that depict unnecessary excessive force much better. Would you want your own son to attempt to physically disarm a mentally unstable old lady waving a gun around?

Tim King:  Rob thanks for your comment, but there was no reason that they couldn't have taken a different approach.  I would never leave out a huge story that happened the very day I am writing.  She had placed the gun on the ground at one point, why didn't they move in, or back off, or whatever it takes?  Anything to avoid inflicting that violent deadly Taser justice.   But note that I didn't make it a focal point of the story.  In my view it is significant.  This was more 'Ma Kettle' than anything, and while I wasn't there, I suspect that she had no intention of harming any deputies. 

The last thing you said really grabs my curiosity.  I find it highly irrelevant and a bit personal.  I can do that "what if it was your little girl..." line in all kinds of situations but  do not.  I wouldn't want my son to have an old lady's unnecessary death on his hands, I can tell you that.  Besides, he is a decorated combat veteran and is keenly aware of the difference between a threat and a person who is confused and in need of help.  She had no bulletproof vests, they did.  You are the son of a law enforcement officer; you should know that I am dead set against the improper cowboy like use of tasers and other forms of deadly force.  I am even more opposed to the 'take care of the boys in blue' thing you suggested.  I don't establish separate rules for special people in law enforcement.  Again, I am really unable to make sense of this.  You are all about injustice with the freefrankgable.com site, but you would modify your thinking on LE practices if you were related to the cop?  In my world it is only about truth Rob, unbridled, sometimes pain-inflicting truth.    

Tim, it's strange how you can focus on the negatives of TASER usage, without even touching on the positives of a device that has literally saved thousands of lives. Like Amnesty Int, you get your data from the already biased news media, which is so quick to report a sensational "TASER" death, while the hundreds of effective TASER deployments on a daily basis are ignored. By definition, any weapon has the potential to cause death, and TASER is no exception. There's been hundreds of deaths "proximal" to pepper spray over the years as well. If you'd do some research, you'd discover that in-custody death has been occurring for years, regardless of TASER availability.

Tim King: Right Mike, I completely find myself unable to gloat about the positives when it comes to Tasers.  How about this; we don't criticize the positive and proper uses, cool?  I don't have a problem with police using them, but every use has to be investigated just as if the officer had fired their weapon.  It would establish accountability and I believe the only people against it would be rogue cops who want to maintain their ability to hurt people with them.  The video accompanying this shows what I am talking about.  There shouldn't be a single incident like that on tape and on YouTube but they are endless, literally hundreds of examples.  You guys are losing it with the public; people are growing tired and weary and police are often more of a threat than anything else in this day and age.  That is why people aren't reporting things, they are establishing networks to encourage others to stop involving the police in their lives, even as crime victims.  There are plenty of good cops in this world, but far far too many bad examples every damned day.  The same lack of regulation that ruined this country's financial market also invaded law enforcement.  You guys need to be better regulated, and the day is coming when every cop will have a 'badge cam' that will record their entire work shift, leaving no more questions about how these cops act once out of sight of their superiors.   

Recent taser news: Taser's appeal of Braidwood Inquiry is a comical, disingenuous farce. New documentary film on the way. Killing Them Safely. See the blogs. Truth not Tasers and Excited-Delirium.com (with the dash!).

This woman was still wearing a hospital bracelet, where was her care provider? She had been hospitalized for mental and cardiac problems. And why couldn't two big men overpower her if they were close enough to taser her? Of course tasers are horrid legalized torture and the continuing deaths from them are not only elderly and frail but also wheelchair bound, strong and healthy men, young and vigorous people. This is as barbaric as the stoning in Iran. Torture is torture. Our allies the Israelis tasered the flotilla peacemakers. Go figure,it is a sick world. Thanks for this article Tim.

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