Not the Onion: Top Portland cop gets ethics award

I see the FBI gave the Portland police chief, Chuck Lovell, a plaque yesterday. For ethics, of all things. The Portland police – ethics? That's a good one.

Did I miss something, or isn't the FBI part of the federal Justice Department that's called the Portland cops out in federal court, time and again, for being unethical and out of compliance with the court's orders? A recent bill of particulars can be found here. Those of us who have lived here a long time can tell you lots of even worse, hair-curling stories, too.

The problems with the PoPo are not all Lovell's fault, at least not directly. But for the feds to be patting on the back the chief of one of the most ineffective and tone-deaf police forces in the country is bizarre. Then again, it's Portland, where nothing succeeds like failure, and so it's par for the course.