PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Five years after Brian Spaulding's parents found him fatally shot in the home he shared with roommates, his slaying remains a mystery that seems increasingly unlikely to be solved as Portland, Oregon, police confront a spike in killings and more than 100 officer vacancies.
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George Spaulding shows his tattoo of one of the favorite phrases of his son, Brian, in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
Brian Spaulding's parents found his body in a home he shared with roommates after he didn't show up for work and didn't answer his phone. His fatal shooting remains a mystery: Spaulding, a chiropractic assistant and massage therapist whose interests ranged from home-brewed beer to jiu jitsu, didn't do drugs, wasn't in a gang and lived close to the house where he was born. Spaulding's parents, now both in their 70s, are haunted by his death. But getting closure on the 2017 slaying seems increasingly unlikely as police in Portland, Oregon, confront a spike in shootings and murders at the same time the department struggles to fill more than 100 officer vacancies. The detective originally assigned to investigate Brian's death left in 2020 in a wave of retirements and the detective assigned to it now is swamped with fresh cases from a homicide rate that's increased 207% since 2019. "It's unsolved. And because of the huge increase of homicides here in Portland, the detectives are just strapped," said George Spaulding, who has his son's signature tattooed on his arm with Brian's trademark saying, "Prove it." In cities across the U.S., an increase in violent crime is colliding with fewer police officers. From Philadelphia to Portland to Los Angeles, officers worn out by the pandemic and disillusioned over calls to divest from policing following George Floyd's murder by police are quitting or retiring early at the same time homicide rates and shootings are rising. Departments are scrambling to recruit in a tight labor market at the same time they rethink what services they can provide and what role police should play in communities. Many have shifted veteran officers to patrol, breaking up specialized teams built up over decades like those for traffic enforcement, narcotics, vice and canine units, in order to keep up with 911 calls.
Jeremiah King, who is transitioning out of homelessness, grimaces in pain as he shows the bandage on a gunshot wound as he sits on the street after his hospital release in Portland, Ore., on July 27, 2022.
A photo of Brian Spaulding sits on the porch of his parent's home Portland, Ore., Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
Gresham Police Sgt. Travis Garrison, left, and Officer Ryan Gomez look inside a vehicle during a traffic stop in Gresham, Ore., Thursday, July 21, 2022.
Gresham Police Sgt. Travis Garrison runs an ID and insurance check in Gresham, Ore., Thursday, July 21, 2022. Gresham, a Portland suburb, has seen an increase in fatal shootings and gun violence at the same time as it has a shortage of officers.
LA CAN outreach worker and human rights organizer, Steve Richardson, who goes by General Dogon, reaches out to homeless people in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles Friday, July 22, 2022. “Police should be nowhere around outreach. You can’t be the provider of services as well as the jailer,” said Pete White, the founder and executive director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network. “My hope ... is that those resources that go to the police department are actually pointed towards real solutions.”
A burned out car sits on the side of the road in Philadelphia, Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Kimberly Washington, executive director of the Frankford Community Development Corporation, and who has worked with community members to address abandoned cars, poses for a portrait on a street frequently used to discard cars in Philadelphia, Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Royal Harris, pushes his grandson, Carter, 2, on swings at Woodlawn Park in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Harris, who has lost friends and family to Portland's gang violence, says he supports diverting resources from cold case units to address spiking gun violence in the city.
A look at high-profile killings by US police
Breonna Taylor
Taylor, a Black 26-year-old Louisville emergency medical worker, was fatally shot in her apartment during a raid by plainclothes narcotics detectives in March 2020. A grand jury brought no charges against officers in her death and prosecutors said two officers who fired at her were justified because her boyfriend shot at them. However, one officer was indicted for shooting into a neighboring home.
George Floyd
In May 2020, the dying gasps of Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations. White former Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison. Three other officers — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng — are on trial in St. Paul on federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights, and face a state trial later this year.
Rayshard Brooks
Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, fell asleep in his car in an Atlanta restaurant drive-thru lane in June 2020. Two white officers told him he was too drunk to drive and tried to arrest him. Brooks grabbed one of their Tasers and fired it at Officer Garrett Rolfe. Rolfe fired his gun, hitting Brooks twice in the back. Rolfe is charged with murder. Officer Devin Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath.
Casey Goodson Jr.
A white Ohio sheriff's deputy shot Goodson, a Black 23-year-old, in the back five times in December 2020. Jason Meade pleaded not guilty to murder and reckless homicide. His attorneys argue that, as a member of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force, Meade was acting as a federal agent and want his case moved to federal court.
Andre Hill
Hill, a 47-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a white police officer in Columbus, Ohio, in December as he emerged from a garage holding a cellphone. Officer Adam Coy was fired and has pleaded not guilty to murder and reckless homicide. The police chief was forced out and the city agreed to pay a $10 million settlement to Hill’s family. Coy’s trial is scheduled for March 7.
Fanta Bility
Eight-year-old Fanta died Aug. 27 when three police officers fired into a crowd exiting a high school football game near Philadelphia. Investigators say the officers were responding to two teens exchanging gunfire. Devon Smith, Sean Dolan and Brian Devaney have been charged with manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
Ronald Greene
Greene, a 49-year-old Black motorist, died in Louisiana in May 2019 after what police initially described as a high-speed chase and crash. Long-withheld body-camera video obtained by The Associated Press in May 2021 shows white state troopers jolting Greene with stun guns, punching him in the face and dragging him by ankle shackles. No one has been charged in Greene's death.
Oscar Grant
The 22-year-old Grant, who was Black, was killed in 2009 by an officer responding to a fight in Oakland, California. Johannes Mehserle testified at trial that, fearing Grant had a weapon, he reached for his stun gun but mistakenly pulled his handgun instead. Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison. He served 11 months.
Eric Harris
Harris, a 44-year-old Black man, was being held down by officers in 2015 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when a white volunteer sheriff's deputy fatally shot him. The deputy, Robert Bates (pictured), said he had meant to use his stun gun. Bates was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison. He served about 16 months.
Daunte Wright
Former police officer Kim Potter was convicted in December of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 killing of Daunte Wright, a Black motorist. Wright was killed after Brooklyn Center officers pulled him over for having expired license tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. Evidence at Potter's trial showed officers learned he had an outstanding warrant for a weapons possession charge and they tried to arrest him when he pulled away. Video showed Potter shouted several times that she was going to use her Taser on Wright, but she had her gun in her hand and fired one shot into his chest.
