Oregon Public Broadcasting

Multnomah County's district attorney said Wednesday that he would ask a judge to release a complete transcript of the grand jury proceedings in the case of Aaron Campbell, who was shot by Portland police last month.

As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, it's a precedent setting request. 

Aaron Campbell was shot outside the Sandy Terrace Apartments in Portland. He was unarmed. But officers were there after a report of an armed, suicidal man.

Campbell's family says he was distraught over the death of his younger brother -- from heart failure earlier that day.

When Campbell first came out of his girlfriend’s apartment, Officer Ryan Lewton fired six bean-bag rounds -- because Campbell didn't follow orders to put his hands in the air.

People give different accounts of what happened next, but Campbell died after Officer Ronald Frashour shot him in the back with a rifle. 

In a statement last week, the police bureau said Frashour was concerned about the safety of residents, of fellow officers and of himself. 

Tuesday night, a Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by Frashour. But they did identify some troublesome issues. Wednesday, the grand jury worked on a letter outlining those issues for the Portland Police Bureau.

But police commissioner Dan Saltzman wants the whole grand jury testimony to be made public. 

Dan Saltzman: "I'm doing this because this is a tragic death. I promised the family that I would try and get the most full and transparent investigation of the facts out. And that's what I'm trying to do."

Similar calls have been made in several high-profile police shooting cases over the years, but they weren’t successful.

Former State Senator Avel Gordly tried to pass a bill in 2007 requiring grand jury testimony to be made public. It failed.

But Wednesday, in a first for the  Portland Police Bureau and possibly the state, Multnomah County District Attorney, Mike Schrunk, said he would ask a judge to release the testimony.

Mike Schrunk: "My perception is that the grand jurors always give it their best effort and do the right thing, But there's always a wonder of, did they hear all of the evidence, what did they hear, what happened. And this would be a way of put to rest all those questions."

Still, Schrunk knows he's putting his reputation on the line. 

Mike Schrunk: "I suppose I could get knocked down and run over and people would say what a damn fool he is and maybe it wouldn't work."

The shooting has caused an outcry in Portland's black community. The Albina Ministerial Alliance plans to picket the Police Justice Center and the County Courthouse Thursday.

The group wants a public inquest and police reforms.

Meanwhile, the police union is troubled.

Portland Police Association president, Scott Westerman, says Chief Rosie Sizer ought to be explaining the difference between how  police are trained and how the public perceives that training.

Scott Westerman: "People are under this impression that we shot an unarmed black man for no reason in the back. And as long as that perception is continuing to be out there. We will continue to have this gap. Chief Sizer needs to be out there explaining what our training is and why the officers did what they did."

He says people think officers have to wait for a gun to be visible before shooting. But, he says, the training stresses that if you wait to see a gun it's often too late and somebody might get killed.  Westerman says there's another reason why grand jury testimony ought to remain secret.

Scott Westerman: "If you can imagine that you're going to testify now against a gang member and so now you're now intimidated to do so. Because you know that's going to be released and then all of his friends are going to come after you. Whereas if the person gets indicted, they may plead guilty, it may never go to court and your comments are secure.  And you get real wholesome, honest communications from there."

The Portland Police Bureau will conduct an internal investigation to see if policies and training were followed in this case.

If the judge decides to release a transcript of the grand jury proceedings, it may not be available until next week.