Before he joined the Portland Police Bureau in 1999, Officer Christopher Humphreys spent three years with the sheriff’s department in Wheeler County, where he was well-liked and popular, but criticized for his “been there-done that” attitude, according to personnel files obtained by the Mercury this week.
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Dr.Ernie Ogard at the cops’ training academy in Monmouth gave Humphreys a glowing report in 1996, a decade before he would be involved in the unexplained death of James Chasse as a police officer in Portland.
“He is bright, articulate, and (most importantly) very well adjusted emotionally,” wrote Ogard. “He is affable and friendly, yet firm when necessary, and always displayed a professional demeanor.”
“Deputy Humphreys fits in well with his coworkers, and is well-liked by the D.A’s staff, judges, and the public at large,” Ogard continued. “He has handled the inevitable disgruntled tax-payer with polite but firm diplomacy.”
Ogard balanced his praise by saying “no one is perfect,” and mentioned “a slight tendency on Chris’s part to project the attitude that he has little left to learn; that he has already ‘been there—done that’ and knows it all.”
Ogard said others had mentioned this to him, but that he had also noticed the tendency himself. Although he said “in any event it could best be characterized as self-assuredness as opposed to cockiness,” adding that Humphreys had “the clear capacity to rise to the very top.”
Humphreys’ old personnel file also contains more insights into his character as a young man. In a job application letter written to the then Wheeler County sheriff, Craig Ward, Humphreys talked about his qualifications for a job as sheriff’s deputy.
“I command a strong vocabulary and very refined communication skills—both written and verbal,” wrote the young applicant. “I am well-versed in the field of computers and most aspects of modern networking with an emphasis on the Internet. I have belt rankings in three separate martial arts, Shito-Ryu Karate being my main style.”
Humphreys listed his hobbies as including “reading, writing, and in-depth discussions regarding guns, the law, or history. My motto is ‘everyone is a teacher, learn what you can.’”
He also confessed to a Minor In Possession charge “as a result of being the Vice-President of a fraternity back in 1992,” which he was at the time seeking to have expunged by the municipal courts in McMinnville. Humphreys said he wanted to have a “clean slate between employer and employee.”
Lastly, Humphreys said he had been “very impressed” with meeting Sheriff Ward, “and as many from Spray would tell you, I am picky when it comes to choosing my teachers.” He added that “without sounding too overconfident, I can assure you that you have chosen your student well.”
Before joining the sheriff’s office, Humphreys spent a year working for a defense investigator, according to his resume. He also spent six months in the summer of 1995 working as the head floor manager of a night club.
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