imported>Treybien2: /* Reports */

2022-09-28T05:39:06Z

Reports

New page

[[Image:Chassememorial4.jpg|thumb|200px|right|James Chasse from his memorial]]

'''James Philip Chasse, Jr.''' (May 7, 1964 – September 17, 2006) was an American from [[Portland, Oregon]]. In 2006 his death while in the custody of [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] law enforcement officers caused an outcry over civil rights and an examination of the lack of mental health crisis management training given to Portland police officers.<ref name="wweek">{{cite web|first=Ian|last=Demsky |date=November 1, 2006|url=http://wweek.com/editorial/3252/8148/|title=Why Did James Chasse Jr. Die?|newspaper=[[Willamette Week]]|accessdate=March 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512082546/http://wweek.com/editorial/3252/8148/|archive-date=May 12, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time of his death, he was living in an apartment in downtown Portland and had been diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]].<ref name="porttribune">{{cite news|first=Nick|last=Budnick|url=http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=122107099820588300|title=Why Did James Chasse die?|newspaper=[[Portland Tribune]]|date=September 11, 2008|accessdate=February 16, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607231628/http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=122107099820588300|archive-date=June 7, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Death==
[[Image:James Chasse beaten.jpg|thumb|right|James Chasse, surrounded by police and medical personnel. He later died of the injuries inflicted during his arrest.]]
Chasse died after a physical confrontation with two Portland Police officers and a [[Multnomah County, Oregon|Multnomah County]] deputy on September 17, 2006. Officers at the scene described Chasse as a homeless person and said that he ran away from them and fought with them.<ref name="wweek"/> He was beaten and a Taser was employed multiple times on him. After the incident, Chasse was cleared medically by fire and ambulance personnel. He was then restrained and driven to jail, where nursing staff refused to admit him because of his injuries. The officers were told by jail staff to drive him to a hospital across town. He died en route.<ref name="porttribune"/>

Chasse suffered fractures in 16 of his ribs and had a total of 26 broken bones, as well as a punctured lung, broken collar bone and torn spleen.<ref name="wweek"/> The Multnomah County [[Coroner|Medical Examiner]] ruled the cause of death to be both "accidental" and the result of "blunt force trauma".

Over 500 friends and family members remembered Chasse at a candlelight vigil and memorial on October 14, 2006.<ref>{{cite web|first=Mark|last=Friesen|title=Chasse family says police distorted facts |url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonianextra/2006/10/chasse_family_says_police_dist.html |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]]|accessdate=November 23, 2014|date=October 19, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Remarks From The Memorial Of James Chasse, Jr. |url=http://chuckcurrie.blogs.com/chuck_currie/2006/10/remarks_from_th.html |publisher=Chuck Currie |accessdate=2014-11-23}}</ref>

==Reports==

After three years and public pressure, the [[Portland Police Bureau]] released an internal investigation on the death of Chasse. The investigation included six items, a "detective notebook"<ref>{{cite web|title=Detective Notebook |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADetective_Notebook.pdf |publisher=Portland Police Bureau |accessdate=2014-11-23 |via=[[Wikimedia Commons]]}}</ref> with six photos by witness Jamie Marquez, two separate two page disciplinary letters<ref>{{cite web|title=Disciplinary |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Discipline_Letters.pdf |publisher=Portland Police Bureau |accessdate=2014-11-23 |via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref> to Portland Police officers Kyle Nice and Christopher Humphreys, suspending them for 80 hours without pay. Both were disciplined for unacceptable conduct and violation of the department's taser policy. After arbitration in July 2012 with the police union, both letters were revoked and Nice and Humphreys were repaid for time lost.<ref>{{cite web|first=Maxine|last=Bernstein|title=Arbitrator reverses discipline against Chris Humphreys, Sgt. Kyle Nice in the Chasse case |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/07/arbitrator_reverses_discipline.html |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]] |accessdate=November 23, 2014|date=July 12, 2012 }}</ref> "IAD" or "Internal Affairs Division"<ref>{{cite web|title=Internal Affairs Division |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Internal_Affairs_Division_-_James_Chasse_2006-B-0016.pdf |publisher=Portland Police Bureau |accessdate=2014-11-23|date=November 2006 |via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref> is a 389-page report including witness, expert and officer interviews, case chronology and exhibits. Detectives included Portland's training<ref>{{cite web|title=Mental Health Training Materials |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mental_Health_Training_Materials.pdf |publisher=Portland Police Bureau |accessdate=2014-11-23|date=November 2006 |via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref> manual about mental illness, and a 623-page narrative (archived here in three parts)<ref>{{cite web|title=Review of PPB Case 06-84962 James Chasse 1 of 3 |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Review_of_PPB_Case_06-84962_James_Chasse_1_of_3.pdf |publisher=Portland Police Bureau |accessdate=2014-11-23|date=October 2008 |via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Review of PPB Case 06-84962 James Chasse 2 of 3 |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Review_of_PPB_Case_06-84962_James_Chasse_2_of_3.pdf |publisher=Portland Police Bureau |accessdate=2014-11-23|date=October 2008 |via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Review of PPB Case 06-84962 James Chasse 3 of 3 |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Review_of_PPB_Case_06-84962_James_Chasse_3_of_3.pdf |publisher=Portland Police Bureau |accessdate=2014-11-23|date=October 2008 |via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref> review of Chasse's killing with redacted training materials.

The city's auditor commissioned an investigation<ref>{{cite web|title=Report to the City of Portland Concerning the In-Custody Death of James Chasse |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OIR_Group_Review_of_Chasse_Investigations.pdf |publisher=OIR Group |accessdate=2014-11-23}}</ref> on the investigation of the death of Chasse in July 2010.<ref>{{cite web|first=Maxine|last=Bernstein|title=Portland auditor launching review of investigation into Chasse death |date=2 October 2009 |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/city_auditor_will_hire_outside.html |newspaper=[[The Oregonian]] |accessdate=2014-11-23}}</ref>

==Public outcry==
Chasse's death produced an outcry in the Oregon media, with hundreds of news stories, editorials and front-page articles following the case, and from civil rights and mental health advocates. Although [[Multnomah County]] District Attorney [[Michael Schrunk]] failed to bring an indictment against the officers, he did release all testimony presented to the [[grand jury]]. Portland mayor [[Tom Potter]] apologized to the Chasse family, convened a Mental Health Task Force to review the city's policies, and implemented a [[crisis intervention training]] program to improve the way in which city and county police respond to situations involving mental illness, but failed to discipline the officers who beat Chasse: Kyle Nice, Christopher Humphreys and Bret Barton.

A documentary film about Chasse, ''[[Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse]]'', made by Oregon filmmaker [[Brian Lindstrom]], premiered on February 15, 2013, in Portland.<ref name="alienboy">[http://www.alienboy.org/ Alien Boy], Mental Health Association of Portland, Retrieved November 13, 2020</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chasse, James}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:Police brutality in the United States]]
[[Category:People from Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:Law enforcement in Oregon]]
[[Category:People with schizophrenia]]
[[Category:Deaths in police custody in the United States]]

James Chasse - Revision history

imported>Treybien2: /* Reports */