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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| Kelly Caldwell, left, and Katie Braun water plant starts in the Oregon Food Bank Greenhouse. They became friends through community garden projects. Braun, who was allegedly assaulted by her ex-boyfriend said she got the brush-off from police when she went to them for help. COURTESY KATIE BRAUN |
He gives a different account.
It's the sort of “he said, she said” story all too common in our society, but that's not our story here. What concerns us here is what happened when Braun approached East Precinct for help.
Braun later learned that her ex-boyfriend visited the precinct before visiting his former house. What he said to the officers there is unknown, but it may help to explain their subsequent conduct.
According to Braun, she went to East Precinct, distraught and crying, seeking help. Instead, she says, she was told to leave and threatened with arrest if she did not.
She later visited the Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services and, she says, received far better treatment and help from them. She also notes that East Precinct officers did not bother to tell her this resource existed three blocks from her home. Through GCDVS, she obtained a restraining order against her ex. She also filed an official complaint with the police.
Her ex later contested the restraining order and had it quashed, in part because Braun tried to represent herself without legal assistance. He then sought to recover $8,000 in legal fees from her. This was later reduced to just $27 in miscellaneous expenses, but Braun racked up $700 in legal fees of her own.
Along the way, Braun sought aid and comfort from an old friend, Kelley Caldwell.
On Braun's behalf, Caldwell called East Precinct to inquire about the complaint. A female officer answered the call. In a courteous manner she told Caldwell the complaint did not yet have a case number. Caldwell was put on hold for about three minutes; when the officer came back on line, the courteous tone was gone. “'I've been told to tell you the case is being handled, and tell Katie not to call here anymore,” Caldwell says. “I said, 'What?' She said, 'You heard me, don't call here anymore.' I said, 'Did you just tell me not to call East Precinct? What's your name?' Then she hung up.” According to both women, this happened several times, and they were hung up on when they asked for the name of the officer they were talking to.
During a recess at one of the court sessions, Caldwell decided to walk the two blocks from Multnomah County Courthouse to City Hall, and file an official complaint with the Police Independent Review Committee. The person she talked to “was very brusque with me,” she says.
To be fair, it should be noted that although the two women are not identical in appearance, they are similar in superficial characteristics such as height, hair and eye color. They speculate that this may have convinced the police that they were dealing with a single woman using two names.
After Caldwell's Independent Review interview, her phone rang and a man asked, “Is this Katie? Is this Kelley?” Caldwell answered, “Who is this?” The voice replied, “Katie, why are you pretending to be a professional advocate?” “I asked him to identify himself and he hung up,” Caldwell said.
Both women later appeared at the Independent Review office together. This time they were treated much more respectfully. In late April, they both testified before City Council, taking advantage of a custom of letting any citizen testify on any subject for three minutes at the start of a session. After they spoke, Chad Stover of Mayor Charlie Hales' office talked to both outside Council Chambers. “He was very nice,” Caldwell said, but, so far, there has been no response from the Mayor's office or the Independent Review office.
Stover told the Memo that he could make no comment for the record, but indicated he had been waiting for Braun or Caldwell to contact him. Representatives of the Independent Review office claim they can say nothing about the case, even after reaching a conclusion about it.
East Precinct commander Mike Lee, who retired last month after 34 years in law enforcement, 24 of them with the Portland Police Bureau, told the Memo he was unfamiliar with the Braun-Caldwell case. However, when asked if police officers are required to identify themselves when asked, he said, “Absolutely. Our officers have nothing to hide. They are expected to behave in a professional manner at all times.” He was less definite about officers hanging up on callers, saying it might be appropriate if the caller's conduct made further discussion pointless.
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