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The Associated Press
GOLD HILL Confronted by a man who had jumped into a police car and was acting strangely, Police Chief Katie Holmboe concluded he was possessed and used prayer to drive the evil spirits out of him.
"Literally, his eyes turned like cat eyes, and he was foaming at the mouth," Holmboe told The Oregonian newspaper. "Being a former Bible student, I knew what I was up against."
About the same time in 1995, Holmboe called a 17-year-old girl facing an assault charge into her office with her parents. Shannon Baker said Holmboe wouldn't let her leave until she professed a belief in God.
Some people in the city of 1,000 think Holmboe, the town's only paid police officer, is dangerously blurring the distinction between the Bible and her badge. Complaints have prompted the City Council to investigate.
"There are some taxpayers who would take offense that a police department employee would take a religious action while executing their duties," said Councilman Robert Lowe, who thinks Holmboe has done a good job overall.
But Holmboe said she honors the constitutional separation of church and state while juggling the roles of counselor, confidant and chaplain in a turbulent town.
"There are a lot of people in town and out of town that have stopped me or come in, and said, `We're aware of the faith you have, and I've reached the end of my rope,"' Holmboe said.
William Funk, a professor at the Lewis & Clark College Northwestern School of Law, questioned Holmboe's methods.
Exorcism by police violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which requires separation of church and state, he said.
Holmboe said what she was doing was prayer, not exorcism.
Jerry Freshour, executive director of the Oregon police academy in Monmouth, said religion shouldn't be part of police work under most circumstances. But he declined to comment specifically on Holmboe.
Before moving to Southern Oregon in 1980, Holmboe attended Bible school in Southern California with her first husband. The couple handed out religious tracts in Hollywood, preached against homosexuality and opened their home to the downtrodden.
Formerly Gold Hill's town clerk, Holmboe, 49, became police chief in 1985 and is one of two female police chiefs in Oregon.
Reserve Officer Carrie Bitterling was on patrol when Sean P. Harper jumped in the car, grabbed the steering wheel, curled into a fetal position and pointed at his hands and feet.
Bitterling called Holmboe to the scene. The chief said Harper didn't appear to be drunk or on drugs. She was convinced he was possessed.
"I prayed, and I said, `I denounce you in the name of Jesus,"' Holmboe said. "It hit the floor. It looked up at me and sissed.''
Court records identified Harper, now 25, as suffering from mental problems while serving probation for a 1993 conviction for criminally negligent homicide. Harper had admitted cutting a tree that fell on a pickup truck, killing a state fisheries worker.
"I can't remember what was said," said Harper, who now cleans carpets for a living. "I was mentally unstable. I thought I was Jesus Christ."
Baker said she was led into Holmboe's office in handcuffs after being arrested on an assault charge after a fight with a neighbor. Her father, Roger Baker, recalled Holmboe told his daughter to "call the demon out." Baker said he felt it was wrong, but didn't want the town's only police officer mad at him.
Holmboe said the meeting focused only on the assault, and she never thought Baker was possessed. But she brought Baker and her mother to prayer meetings after work when the mother asked for help.
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