Oregon Town May Disband Police Force After Shooting

ELGIN, Ore. (AP) - Richard "Dickie" Shafer was one of the first people to pop into City Hall, introduce himself to the new city administrator and offer to help out as needed. He was known for letting customers at his excavation business slide awhile if they couldn't pay the bill.

"The mildest guy in the world," friend Bruce Lauricella recalled.

Then tragedy struck this rural town that sits at a crossroads in wheat and cattle country. A police officer, responding to a 911 domestic disturbance call by Shafer's wife, shot and killed Shafer. Few people know exactly what happened early the morning of Aug. 1. Outside law enforcement agencies are investigating, and the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave.

But the incident has so angered residents that many are demanding the small police department be disbanded, even as other communities across the country struggle to maintain police forces amid budget cuts.

"It was murder," said John Thibodeau, 78, who retired to Elgin from Reno, Nev. 27 years ago. "I absolutely think they need to go."

Elgin sits at the base of the Blue Mountains in northeast Oregon. Modest homes line the streets. The downtown is a collection of restaurants and small businesses with posters in the windows advertising the "Annie Get Your Gun" production at the opera house in the old, brick City Hall, built in 1912.

Once a booming timber town, Elgin has one mill remaining. Many of the 1,700 residents work at the mill, in neighboring towns or in services that support a steady stream of tourists in RVs passing through each summer.

The police department has been a subject of controversy for months. Complaints include aggressive ordinance enforcement, response times and officer availability. Several residents also had voiced concerns about an officer who seemed nervous or uncomfortable and always had a hand on his gun.

Those concerns were heightened with the shooting involving Shafer and that officer, Eric Kilpatrick.

Dickie Shafer had been married several times before, but he and his wife, Gloria, were together more than a dozen years. They have an 11-year-old son who was home when the couple got into an argument.

Gloria Shafer called 911.

She told The Observer newspaper of nearby La Grande that her husband met Kilpatrick at the door, unarmed, and spoke to him for several minutes. He then asked to take his gun to his pickup. Kilpatrick agreed, she said, and watched as her husband emptied the magazine of his AR-15, an assault-style rifle.

Gloria Shafer contends the officer then "snapped," ordering Shafer to drop the gun, tasering him and then shooting him in the chest.

Police Chief Kevin Lynch counters that the evidence indicates Shafer was pointing his weapon at the officer, and he's confident his office will be cleared of wrongdoing.

Lynch said his department's only previous contact with Shafer involved a property line dispute with a neighbor.

More than 400 people turned out for Shafer's memorial service at the local rodeo grounds, the biggest turnout there in 20 years.

Mary Wise, Shafer's mother-in-law, declined to talk about what happened early that morning. Her daughter and grandson are now living with her while they grieve.

"The police force here believes it is above the law and it needs to go," she said.

Chief Lynch, who was on his honeymoon at the time of the shooting, took over the department five years ago and usually oversees a force of two full-time officers.

However, one recently resigned to work for the county and Kilpatrick is on leave following the shooting.

City officials have considered eliminating the force in the past to save money, but rejected the idea. This time, the issue is on hold pending an outside audit of the department.

"The shooting is a tragedy for everyone. It's every officer's worst nightmare," Lynch said, but added that the city needs its own officers that know the people.

"When you have your own dedicated force, they know the thieves, they know the drunks. They know the dopers," he said.

He also maintains that those speaking out loudest have had run-ins with police or are staunchly anti-government.

"They're suspicious of anything government. A lot of them want to get rid of government, but that includes police, and I don't think anyone really wants that," he said. "Because, in the end, the guy with the most guns wins."

Elgin is known for an independent streak: In 2008, the entire planning commission resigned rather than consent to new state ethics requirements for public officials.

Supporters of the police department argue that the city needs a force of its own, rather than contract with county sheriff's deputies who might not respond as quickly.

"Being a police officer is not a popularity contest," said Wendy Benjamin, a local resident who spoke up at a public meeting held after the shooting. "Common sense says the police force should remain in the community."

Others want the department to stay, but with significant changes.

Lauricella, Shafer's friend, took over the liquor, tobacco and gift shop his parents ran for 36 years and has had several attempted break-ins at the store. As a small business owner, he believes the city needs a police force, but one that is accountable and has appropriate oversight.

A survey mailed out to city residents after the shooting showed that many people merely want a return to simpler times - before big-city law enforcement strategies. Longtime locals bemoan what they consider a loss of Elgin's small-town sensibilities.

Arnie Krause, who was born and raised in Elgin, knew few of the people who spoke at public meetings about disbanding the police department.

"It's the same thing here as a lot of areas, I guess," he said, leaning on one crutch in front of Cooter's, the auto salvage and repair shop he bought in 1968. "People left big areas because they didn't like it. They came here and change it to what they didn't like."

Krause speaks fondly of Shafer, a talented welder and longtime friend who knew where every pipe and line in town was buried.

"The city is going to miss him the most," Krause said. "That's like shooting the goose that laid the golden egg."

http://pugetsoundanarchists.org/node/890