Personal Narrative: Working With The Portland Police Department

I have been with the Portland Police Department for five years working on the night shift. It has been fortunate to work with my co - workers they all seem to have shown me get leadership skills and work ethics. Even during our busy work schedule we seem to associate even when off duty as well.

One evening we received a call of a man yelling and screaming in the intersection of A Street and Main. Upon arrival my partner Officer Gay and I approached the subject whom we recognize as Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson is known in the neighborhood whom is generally reasonable when sober and not high. However, tonight Mr. Wilson is under the influence of something powerful. Mr. Wilson becomes belligerent and combative and starts punching myself, my partner and other officers. Ultimately we handcuffed Mr. Wilson during the tussle and while placing Mr. Wilson inside my patrol vehicle Mr. Wilson bites me on my forearm causing my skin to break and bleed. Mr. Wilson laughs out loud and yells “I have AIDS and now so do you.”

Once we arrived at the police station Mr. Wilson was still belligerent and combative when escorting him to the booking area and the jail cell. During this time Mr. Wilson made threatening comments “watch your back and your family, I am coming after
you” (in much more vulgar terms). As I seek medical treatment for the bite wound I was told it would take several weeks for the results. As I was preparing the arrest, incident forms for the processing and booking, I heard Mr. Wilson screaming. As I looked into the TV monitor at the jails closed – circuit I witnessed my Sergeant and other officers laughing as they sprayed Mr. Wilson with pepper spray. Mr. Wilson started screaming and saying he can’t breath and started to bang his head on the cell door which caused lacerations from his head, mouth and eye areas of his body. When paramedics arrived at the station and found Mr. Wilson with numerous lacerations and bruises, my Sergeant explained to the paramedics that he fell after he was jumping around in the cell.

A week after the incident, it came to my attention that Mr.
Wilson filed a formal complaint against the department and I was served noticed to speak with Internal Affairs about the incident. During such time I decided to do the following: meet with the Sergeant and other shift members (whom were present during that time) and convince them not to let things get out of hand. Also, tried to convince them that they should admit their wrongdoing and plead for a suspension rather than taking the risk of losing their jobs. However, in the end my co-workers and Sergeant decided to take their chances. This put me in a place in which I decided to let the Internal Affairs Unit investigate the incident in discovering the
truth.
When Mr. Wilson was initially placed in handcuffs officers are aware that they are taking the care and welfare of his rights and we were supposed to look out for him and his well being (Delattre, 2016). When my co –workers decided to take matters into their own hands, I requested for a change the very next day (opted for a different shift). I knew I couldn’t work with co – workers that didn’t understand my importance of explicit expectations between us officers (page 198). The misconduct of my co – workers were wrong and dangerous to myself and others, actions such as these can grow worse and is a betrayal of the community. It does not contribute to reliable partnership, dependable friendship or good work ethics.

Working with different types of people who have different work ethics and morals than you can be quite difficult. Which is why it is highly suggested to learn beforehand everything you both will and will not tolerate. Partners should have that much of an understanding between each other from very beginning.