Portland Police to No Longer Carry Knives on Outer Vests

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Portland police have banned officers from carrying open knives in their outside ballistic vests, noting that they are “easily accessible by suspects.”

The new rule comes after an officer on Jan. 6 fatally shot Andre Gladen, a 36-year-old legally blind man with schizophrenia who ran inside a stranger’s home.

Several law enforcement sources told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Gladen was found holding a dagger-type knife that he had grabbed from the vest of the officer who killed him.

The Portland Police Bureau has not said whether the knife Gladen dropped after he was shot belonged to Officer Consider Vosu.

Police Chief Danielle Outlaw signed the rule last week, saying it was created after proactively identifying a shortcoming in policy.

A Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by Vosu in the shooting.

The grand jury transcripts are expected to be made public in coming weeks.

Here is a statement from Chief Outlaw to KXL:

“It was created after proactively identifying a shortcoming in policy. We have not yet received all of the details of the OIS, as we are still awaiting the grand jury transcripts and the administrative investigation has not yet concluded.”
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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com