No Surprise- Police Justified in the Killing of James Chasse, Jr.

The Multnomah County, Orgeon grand jury decided that the officers involved in the death of James Chasse, Jr., the man police thought was urinating in the street and was on drugs, was an accident. Chasse died on September 17, the result was blunty force trauma.

This doesn't surprise me one bit. They close down the mental health hospitals- via budget cuts, etc- then what happens next is that police are too ignorant (or worse, too dispassionate) to help. In other words, shoot- or beat- 'em first, ask questions later.

Now whether the jury made the right decision or no, that's for us to judge. Only, I can say that perhaps the police would've been better taking out the taser and zapping Mr. Chasse in lieu of playing romper stomper on him. Over 30 people say that the police were smashing Mr. Chasse's ribs- 16 of them were broken- and that they overreacted. No, sounds to me that the cops took joy in smashing the man to oblivion.

I feel for the family- the father, James Chasse, Jr., I personally know. Likely, the Chasses will proceed with their lawsuit against the city. I wish them luck on that.

Actions by the police, and the grand juries that exonerate those officers, cause many to lose respect for law enforcement. Until we hold those officers involved accountable, police abuse will continue. And we all lose in the end.