Police Review Board Report Reveals Information
on 10 Deadly Force Incidents from 2021-2023

Sadly, shortly after Portland Copwatch published our previous newsletter on August 21, the Portland Police Bureau began a string of using deadly force against community members. For the [Oregonian article, Oct 19]first time, these incidents were caught on body cameras worn by the cops. On August 24, they shot and wounded Robert Seeger, 52, a man with mental health issues, when he allegedly confronted them with a hammer and a gun. Just under five weeks later on September 26, they shot and wounded Jesse James West, 24, in what appeared to be a dramatic gunfight. Eight days after that (October 4, six weeks since they shot Seeger), they killed Nicholas Thorn, 28, in what the Oregonian described as “mid-negotiation” as a Crisis Intervention Team officer shouted an expletive when she heard another officer shoot Thorn (October 19). This is a dramatic [Mercury article, Oct 12]doubling of people shot by the PPB in nearly the entire first eight months of the year. In September, they released the first of two semi-annual Reports from the Police Review Board (PRB), which recommends findings and discipline on serious cases including shootings. The new Report contained memos from 21 cases heard by the PRB, including 10 deadly force incidents from 2021, 2022 and 2023 (also see article). In People’s Police Report #93 we noted the PPB had been responsible for 20% of law enforcement deadly force in the state. At this time, that has grown to over 21% (see article).