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The Cops' Crooked Snitch
George Taylor is a crook, no question ["Rat Tale," WW, Sept. 2, 2015]. But what was the point of arresting and rearresting small-bore drug dealers with his help?
One guy Taylor rolled over on had 47 priors and got 19 months in jail? What a waste of court time, DA time, police manpower, etc. Senior deputy district attorney John Copic was right to dump all the cases Taylor touched.
But that's small-town law enforcement. Just like it says in the article, most of the crime world is impenetrable unless informants are used. And informants are always dirty to some extent.
I would have rather the Portland police left Taylor alone, used him to rat out the Russians, and let him continue to operate with the FBI or Homeland Security.
They needed to put him on a tighter leash, and forget the PDX drug crimes.
—"Crymia Ryver"
I'm left wanting to know more about the 88 active informants and dozens of others the Portland Police Bureau have hired. These informants probably are not too different from Taylor.
How many Aryan Brotherhood-tattooed convicted offenders could the police find under Capt. Mark Kruger's supervision? I bet there is more than one.
—"Retro Girl"
Is the whole damn system corrupt? From Mayor Charlie Hales, who is "monitoring," to Central Precinct Cmdr. Sara Westbrook, who signed off on Taylor's informant contract, what the hell is going on?
Heads should [but] will not roll on this. It's just another day in the gang of cops.
—Joseph Walsh
Maybe if cops just walked a beat in Chinatown and downtown, they wouldn't need snitches in the first place. A little bit of old-school policing wouldn't hurt anybody.
—Tom Mcroy
School's Treatment of a Gay Employee
While I acknowledge this was a very painful process for Lauren Brown, she was able to bring about change at a Catholic institution that has been operating in Portland for 150 years ["Proud Mary," WW, Sept. 2, 2015].
She should be very proud of that accomplishment. And St. Mary's Academy should be proud it didn't hide behind its fear of possible consequences from the Archdiocese of Portland.
St. Mary's faced it head-on in a very open manner.
—"Elizabeth"
Correction
Last week's story on LGBT hiring practices at St. Mary's Academy ("Proud Mary," WW, Sept. 2, 2015) incorrectly identified a statue in front of the school. It is not St. Mary, but Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, the nun who founded the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. WW regrets the error.
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WWeek 2015