James Chasse
James Chasse died after a confrontation with Portland police.
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James Philip Chasse, Jr. (May 7, 1964 – September 17, 2006) was an American from Portland, Oregon. His death while in police custody sparked outcry over civil rights and highlighted a lack of mental health crisis management training for Portland law enforcement. At the time, Chasse had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Quick Facts
- Full name
- James Philip Chasse, Jr.
- Born
- May 7, 1964
- Died
- September 17, 2006
- Place of death
- Portland, Oregon
- Cause of death
- Blunt force trauma (ruled accidental)
- Number of broken bones
- 26
- Number of fractured ribs
- 16
Facts from the source article.
Death
Chasse died on September 17, 2006, after a physical confrontation with two Portland Police officers and a Multnomah County deputy. Officers described him as homeless and said he ran and fought. He was beaten and a Taser was used multiple times. After medical clearance by fire and ambulance personnel, he was restrained and taken to jail, where nursing staff refused admission due to his injuries.
Officers were told to drive him to a hospital across town; he died en route. An autopsy found fractures in 16 ribs, 26 total broken bones, a punctured lung, broken collarbone, and torn spleen. The medical examiner ruled the death accidental from blunt force trauma. Over 500 people attended a candlelight vigil and memorial on October 14, 2006.
Reports
The Portland Police Bureau, after three years of public pressure, released an internal investigation into James Chasse's death. It contained a detective's notebook with six photos from witness Jamie Marquez and two disciplinary letters suspending officers Kyle Nice and Christopher Humphreys for 80 hours without pay for unacceptable conduct and violating the department's Taser policy. Following July 2012 arbitration with the police union, both letters were withdrawn, and the officers were reimbursed for lost wages. In July 2010, the city auditor ordered an investigation into how the police investigated Chasse's death.
Public outcry
Chasse's death generated hundreds of news stories, editorials, and front-page articles in Oregon media, along with outcry from civil rights and mental health advocates. Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk did not bring an indictment but released all grand jury testimony.
Portland mayor Tom Potter apologized to the Chasse family, convened a Mental Health Task Force, and implemented crisis intervention training for police, but did not discipline officers Kyle Nice, Christopher Humphreys, and Bret Barton. A documentary film, Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse, directed by Brian Lindstrom, premiered on February 15, 2013, in Portland. Chasse's friendship with members of the punk band the Wipers inspired their song 'Alien Boy.'
More in Neurodivergent People Killed by Law Enforcement Officers
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: James Chasse (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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