10/18/2006

Associated Press

The mayor apologized and the police chief called it a tragedy after a grand jury cleared police in the death of a mentally ill man who died in police custody when his ribs were broken, likely in a fall during his arrest.

At separate press conferences Tuesday, Mayor Tom Potter and police Chief Rosie Sizer both called for improved training and more funding for mental health care to avoid situations that led to the death of James Chasse Jr., 42, who died Sept. 17.

"I personally feel the need to apologize," Potter said, opening his news conference at City Hall,

"I know the community wants answers about what happened, and I want some answers," the mayor said.

He said the city auditor's office would begin a review of data on arrests to look for patterns and better ways to manage encounters with the mentally ill — and to strengthen programs to reduce those encounters.

"It's not acceptable when anybody suffering from mental illness should be left to wander the streets," the mayor said.

Potter also said he would create a human relations commission devoted to "protecting rights, fostering diversity and investigating bias."

Sizer, at her news conference at the Portland Police Bureau headquarters, said police make about 38,000 arrests ever year, and a substantial number are mentally ill.

The death of Chasse was blamed on broken ribs that punctured a lung. Paramedics initially cleared police to take him to jail, where a nurse advised officers to take him to a hospital.

"Honestly, I see it as a tragedy," Sizer said.

Sgt. George Burke of the detective division provided a timeline of the entire encounter, from a police sergeant spotting Chasse apparently urinating in public in an upscale neighborhood, to efforts to revive him by officers transporting him from the jail to a hospital.

Burke said the fact that one of the officers making the arrest outweighed Chasse by 100 pounds and accidentally fell on top of him during a foot chase and initial arrest probably accounted for the broken ribs.

Witnesses said officers knocked Chasse to the pavement. They also said officers kicked him and placed a Taser gun to his torso.

Burke said Chasse was trying to bite the officers, and they were trying to fend him off.

An autopsy showed he had 26 breaks in 16 ribs, some of which punctured his left lung and caused massive internal bleeding. He also had multiple bruises and cuts on his head, chest and abdomen.

A seven-member Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing in a unanimous ruling on Tuesday, following five days of testimony by 30 witnesses.