The Portland city commissioner who oversees police has recommended that two officers be disciplined in the custody death of a mentally ill man in 2006.

A recommendation released Wednesday by Commissioner Dan Saltzman goes beyond the discipline proposed by police Chief Rosie Sizer in September.

Saltzman agreed with Sizer that Sgt. Kyle Nice should be suspended for failing to require that James Chasse Jr. be taken to a hospital after he was stunned with a Taser and for not fully briefing ambulance paramedics.

But Saltzman also proposed discipline for Officer Christopher Humphreys for failing to require medical transport for the 42-year-old Chasse, who died after suffering multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung.

This story continues below
Advertisement

The officers would be suspended without pay for 80 hours under the proposal. Both Nice and Humphreys have a right to a mitigation hearing to challenge the proposed discipline.

Saltzman has been facing criticism for not taking a more forceful stance as police commissioner.

In a prepared statement, he said that he determined the two officers could have done more to ensure Chasse was properly treated after police struggled with him and took him into custody.

"It is not clear whether this would have avoided the tragic death of Mr. Chasse, but I expect our officers to make every effort to obtain appropriate medical care for people in their custody," Saltzman said.

Sgt. Scott Westerman, president of the Portland Police Association, the police union, said he told Saltzman he was "absolutely disgusted" by the proposal when he learned of it.

At a news conference Wednesday outside City Hall, Westerman said "These officers are being unfairly disciplined for purely political reasons."

Detective Mary Wheat, spokeswoman for Sizer, declined comment on the Saltzman proposal.

In September, Sizer released a statement saying she found that only Nice violated Portland Police Bureau policy for failing to insist Chasse be taken to a hospital after police stunned Chasse.

Had he received proper medical attention at the scene or been taken to a hospital right away, he probably would have lived, Dr. Karen Gunson, the state medical examiner, said in a deposition filed in federal court.

A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Chasse's family accuses Portland police officers of excessive force and denying Chasse appropriate medical attention. Paramedics are also named in the lawsuit. A trial is set for March 16.

---

Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com