We are heartened that DA Mike Schmidt, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, and their staffs will co-investigate the police shooting that killed Robert Douglas Delgado on April 16th in Lents Park. The Delgado family – and the Council, and all Portlanders – deserve an investigation that they can trust, and that provides a clear explanation, accounts for the role of mental health and houselessness in this tragedy, and offers the potential for accountability. We’re confident that DA Schmidt, AG Rosenblum, and their staffs can conduct such an investigation.
They can only conduct it, though, if the Portland Police Bureau completely cooperates and fulfills every evidentiary request the co-investigators might make. We understand this is an ongoing investigation, yet there is a compelling need to reestablish trust between the community and law enforcement. The selective dissemination of incomplete and edited information is counterproductive to building a public safety system that centers community. This process must be open and transparent.