Letter on Behalf of the Family of Robert Delgado

April 23, 2021  

Governor Kate Brown  

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, ODOJ  

Fay Stetz-Waters, Civil Rights Director ODOJ  

Via email  

RE: An Independent Investigation and Prosecution of the Death of Robert Delgado Governor Kate Brown, Attorney General Rosenblum, and Director Stetz-Waters,  

On the morning of April 16th, 2021 Portland Police Officer Zachary DeLong shot and killed  Robert Delgado in Lents Park, Portland, OR. Reports from multiple witnesses indicate that Mr. Delgado was likely experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of his death.  

While little is publicly known about the incident at this point, what we do know is that public  trust of the Portland Police Bureau’s handling of mental health crises is perhaps more damaged  than it has ever been. Of note:  

• Of the forty people killed by the Portland Police Bureau since 2003, at least twenty lived with mental illness. Not a single one of those cases resulted in criminal charges or even officer discipline. 

• The United States Department of Justice recently issued its first-ever formal letter of noncompliance to the Portland Police Bureau for its failure to comply with its 2014 use-of-force settlement. The Bureau’s failings include massive, 

undocumented use of force against protesters, and a lack of understanding in both the Bureau and its oversight mechanisms of the basic legal and constitutional standards for use of force. 

The justice system relies on public trust to function, and at this time when that trust is hanging by  a thread, it is more important than ever that the investigation into this most recent killing be fair  and impartial. 

For this reason, we are asking for your respective offices to intervene in the investigation and  prosecution of this matter. A grand jury needs to hear from independent use of force experts,  investigators, and prosecutors who are not tied to the Portland Police Bureau or who do not have  an institutional interest in maintaining those ties. We ask the Oregon Department of Justice to  conduct this prosecutorial inquiry or for Governor Kate Brown to appoint a special prosecutor  and independent police practices investigation team to present the facts of this case to a grand  jury, pursuant to ORS 131.805. The recent successful prosecution of Derek Chauvin in  Minneapolis by a special prosecutor appointed by the Minnesota Attorney General, further  supports the need for this action. 

There is value in our public institutions successfully fighting these injustices. Our communities  have suffered long enough because of inaction on these issues. We call on you to take immediate  and concrete action to continue our State on path towards justice.  

Signed,  

Delgado Family  

J. Ashlee Albies and Jesse Merrithew, Counsels for the Delgado Family 

Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform 

Mental Health Alliance 

Don’t Shoot Portland 

American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon 

Oregon Justice Resource Center 

Disability Rights Oregon