Street Blues: Friends on the force are the hardest to leave behind I’m with Portland Copwatch. Why are you harassing this man?” I looked up in disbelief from Mr. Jarmer, an elderly, homeless regular of SE Hawthorne whom I’d gotten to know during my summe ...
23 Jun 2011 - Street Roots
Street Blues: Defense principle protects against a moment too late Nine years ago, I attended my first defensive tactics class at the basic police academy. Defensive tactics are the techniques officers use to keep themselves safe. These include control h ...
25 Mar 2011 - Street Roots
Street Blues: Separating Hollywood’s myths from reality on the street I recently watched a TV remake of a famous police show that takes place in Hawaii. In one scene the heroes used a helicopter to block the fleeing kidnappers’ car. The kidnappers jumped ...
1 Mar 2011 - Street Roots
The answer awaits for a familiar question on the street Where am I supposed to go?” I’ve heard this question before, at similar volume, from many people over the years. It usually signals a homeless citizen pushed to the end of their rope by multiple poli ...
2 Feb 2011 - Street Roots
Street Blues: Show me your hands, and we’ll get along just fine My friends sometime ask me if I notice things now that I didn’t before I was an officer. I always mention hands. Hands manipulate the weapons, the weapons hurt people. After a number of years ...
10 Nov 2010 - Street Roots
New police column in SR — Street Blues: Black and white to gray Editor’s note: Street Roots welcomes Officer Robert Pickett to our line of diverse columnists. Picket offers a fresh perspective from the view of a police officer working directly with our st ...
13 Oct 2010 - Street Roots