No charges against Portland parole supervisor who stole marijuana

The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office has decided not to charge a parole and probation supervisor who stole an offender's marijuana and then smoked it in front of his co-workers. Shadman Afzal, 43, ...

[John Sanders]

For crying-out-loud, let's just decriminalize this stuff and get it off our crime books.. let's make this a money product like liquor.. I mean tobacco is a killer drug and yet it's legal. This one is harmless. I am ONLY talking about pot.. I am NOT talking about any OTHER drug... so don't start lecturing about what it leads to.. which is totally inaccurate.. This law about this herb has created more problems than solved any. It takes up room in our jails for nonviolent crimes. It's just a hassle. We need to focus on the meth and the drugs that only promote more violence. This drug does the total opposite and has so many positive effects. Let's get out of the dark ages already. Remember alcohol way back when?? This is similar only weed is less harmful than alcohol as well... No lectures from religious fanatics please. Just do some ACCURATE research and you will see the stats. The only thing that is wrong with this herb is that is't illegal.

[LAYLA]

A Portland Police Officers that worked in Portland Public Schools has been accused of molesting a child 3-6 years of age. He has her name tattooed on his shoulder. He was around KIDS in a position of trust and power. If anybody remembers the 5 minutes of news he received from that...do they see the irony of the "coverage" a PO with a medical condition, smoking weed (his co-workers report he stole) has received ? PLEASE, doesn't one of the stories seem much more of a heinous abuse of power. I wonder how many of the "shocked" Po's that ran to “tell on him” would have clean UA's if they were given them. Sounds like yet another Multnomah County Witch Hunt. Maybe they should clean their "own closets" before cleaning others. THAT would be news worthy!

[len]

I love Portland; best city on the US westcoast.

Vanamsterdam ranks #1 in Canada.

Peace

[trike]

goose and gander.
apply the law evenly you do the crime you do the time just like the kid in the street.

[simone]

I think we all are reality oriented enough to see the disparity in the judicial system and how the same crime doesn't mean serving the same time. Unless we really bury our heads in the sand of denial... even the least informed and less educated citizens can understand the latitude that is afforded to some and not others. Does anybody care about children? I imagine that hurting a child for selfish sexual needs from a sick adult working in a position of authorty with other kids, is pretty much along the same line of a PO smoking pot at a party. Please!

[Shervin]

To previous commentators:

There is a difference between us humans and fish. Fish sees only in black and white and us humans can differentiate between colors. Please do some research before you post something, then you might be bale to post your comments without prejudice.

Correct that the act was wrong and there is no justification for it but please note the persons spotless record and the debilitating desease "Parkinsons" that this PO has suffered from for more that two years.

All of his coworkers can only characterize this act as an out of character act. How would you have acted, god forbid, if you have been notified all of the sudden that your days of sport and activities are up at the early age of 40?

[trike]

Screw him and his illness; if an old woman was to get cought with some amount of pot she would get screwed (as has happened already) this yahoo gets away with it. he lies and steals; tokes up, works in a drug free work place and you would let him off.

you do the crime you do the time; your extenuating circumstances are bull shit. the law is black and white for most every one unless they have money.

god you folks make me freeking sick; I fought to keep this shit going. I am so ashamed of my self.

[michael]

You should be...Maybe a little anger management or sensitivity training would allow you a more humane view of people. Why the anger if you are not agreed with??

[trike]

michael wrote:

You should be...Maybe a little anger management or sensitivity training would allow you a more humane view of people. Why the anger if you are not agreed with??

You want humain how about you look at a prision sometime and see the punk kids that are in doing time on drug charges who get raped daily. or how about the rich guy who got community service cause he was addicted to oxyconten and got off. if you must know he was shooting it up.
some old scumbag from the police department who has probley turned on his charges many times and sent them back to jail due to drug use gets off. For fucks sake why the hell should i feel like he deserves me to be humaine?

burn his ass and put him in general pop; let him taste what the folks who reported to him tasted every day.

[trike]

think about this if he was on a ship and got cought doing drugs on watch; I would have to keep the crew from killing him; if he was lucky an I cought him. if the crew cought him 3 hours later someone would call man overboard.

this guy was responcible for peoples lives; he deserves no mercy.
just as i would deserve no mercy if i did drugs while in charge of a ship.

[michael]

If you read the comments that have been written you would see that the point is one person (A PO) gets condemned for smoking pot. A Police Officer gets,....mmmm....only minor media and is out on bail for child abuse allegations. A Parole Officer means nothing in the food chain next to the PPD. A Police Officer has much more power, carries a gun and can destroy many lives. A Parole Officer is only as powerful as their system lets them. I understand corruption. Neither should get a free ride but why is smoking marijuana a seemingly "worse crime" than child molestation? Would you have to keep the crew from killing him if he molested your daughter???

[trike]

yep I would; he is responcible for the childs life as an adult. And i am pretty sure the crew would be keeping the skipper close at hand as well.

he has the duty to his people and his actions influance the lives of folks. in that position he is not allowed misteaks or mercy; he is an officer. full stop. if anothers life and liberty is in your hands you dont get to be human and you dont get second chances; because the people you serve depend on you.

[nickie]

Are you talking about Jesus Christ? I thought we were all flawed....I haven't ever met a perfect human being yet. Have You??

[trike]

when you are in charge of peoples lives on the JOB, you dont get to make the misteaks.

Lieing, stealing, being stoned at work in a zero tolerance work place. reguardless of your personal problems is wrong and if the penalty for every one else is jail then you cannot be an exception.

it is our making exceptions that leads us to Oh its ok if officer so and so kicked the crazy guy in the ribs while he was helpless. its the crazy guys fault because he resisted arrest; its not the officers fault he died.

the little exceptions are what make it easy to make the big exceptions.

Anyway its over and another scumbag is on the streets scot free.

[Parole supervisor]

Thank you Trike . You finally said three words that made a little sense. It's over. Just remember that scumbags are all scot free. From all the leaders in Washington that have defrauded you and me to everyone that has committed and continues to commit genocide and murder. I will not mention any names but for god sakes direct your anger towards much more important issues. You will hopefully never understand the feelings and the fears of your body failing you and the uncertainty of the future and whether you will be able to support your family. But you do not get to make judgment about my character. I served this community for 16 years. I worked my butt off to keep your streets safe and so you can be free to make your comments. Do I get credit for that? You need to look at the big picture and see the bigger societal problems. With all that has been written about me lately ( I think I got more coverage that Anna Nicole Smith :))you could judge me by a mistake or you could ask around and find out how I sacrificed myself in the last 16 years. Thank you for listening.

[trike]

Amazing and you think it gives you the right to forget your oath and office. other folks have life ending shit as well and they dont comprimise their word, or values, or morals.
16 years is not good enugh to excuse you for violating a trust. the big picture is; it is folks like you are rampent in government and you make your little exceptions. you had the chance to make the right decision; and you took the easy way out. become a man and deal with it; you aint the only guy on earth who sacrificed for this community or this country. take a look at the VA and take a guess at who's looking back at you. you might get pity someplace but i dont think its going to be from those who have made a sacrifice as well.

[Parole supervisor]

I did not ask for pity. I was a man and called my boss the next day and told him everything. I don't in any way justify my actions. I took full responsibility and paid the price. I just wanted to say that what I did is ultimately between me and the only one that we will all answer to. I would be glad to have an intelligent conversation with anyone. I am just asking that all these people who are judging me and quick to judge others would approach a subject and consider all factors. I cannot explain why I did what I did. I can only tell you that it was very out of character. Like you said it's over. I like your passion about your belief. Let me know if you would like to talk over coffee. Thank you.

[Dionne]

This is just another example of hypocrisy within our police and probation departments, not to mention our government also.
If anyone who didn't work in corrections did this, they'd be sitting in jail right now.There's a double standard where drugs and the police are concerned.

I don't care about your sacrifices, it means nothing when you openly break the law but suffer no consequences. Integrity is what you do when no one is watching, we all know how much integrity you must have.

Marijuana should be legal, and we should stop locking up pot smokers but until then you should have to abide by the same inane laws the rest of us have to.

You are proof that what I believe is true: the only difference between the cops and the criminals is who wears the badge.

[Parole supervisor]

There are a lot of arguments for and against legalizing Marijuana. I don't necessarily support legalizing it. As to the first part of your comment, the current best practices in corrections is to look at all the factors in an individuals life that cause the behavior. We look at a variety of issues from their family history to medical and mental health issues, associates and so on. By examining the factors and addressing them first, you will have an affect in their behavior. We don't necessarily put people in jail for a single incident if we can look at the factors leading to the behavior and dealing with them. What the district attorney did on this subject was to look at other factors surrounding the incident understanding that I have had a long and good career up to this point. They do the same thing with all the cases that crosses their desks. Thanks again

[not in denial]

How naive do you (PO) think people are? Nothing is equal in the Judicial System, especially in the area of Parole and Probation. You know that! What the DOJ calls "best Practices" is simply the departments attempts to "convince" people that after the many cover-ups, negligent supervisors (Ladon Stephens case) are NOW learning from their "mistakes". Those "mistakes" are only a problem when the department "gets caught" in one of the many cover-ups they have in their history of CYA. They have not changed anything except getting rid of any "leaks" from the few that have a consciounce. This is a horrendous distortion of truth. Please...

It isn't

Parole supervisor wrote:

There are a lot of arguments for and against legalizing Marijuana. I don't necessarily support legalizing it. As to the first part of your comment, the current best practices in corrections is to look at all the factors in an individuals life that cause the behavior. We look at a variety of issues from their family history to medical and mental health issues, associates and so on. By examining the factors and addressing them first, you will have an affect in their behavior. We don't necessarily put people in jail for a single incident if we can look at the factors leading to the behavior and dealing with them. What the district attorney did on this subject was to look at other factors surrounding the incident understanding that I have had a long and good career up to this point. They do the same thing with all the cases that crosses their desks. Thanks again