The Hits Keep Coming in Portland

 

From the Oregonian:

Officers, sergeants resign en masse from Portland’s Rapid Response Team crowd control unit

The RRT is a voluntary unit of the Portland Police Bureau. Officers on the team do not receive extra pay and still work their regular assigned duties. They will return to doing their regular duties, but the RRT has been disbanded. There was an emergency meeting scheduled with the mayor to begin at 9 a.m. this morning with the Chief, and other officers, to include the PPB union rep.

The unprecedented move by officers and sergeants to disband their own team came a day after a team member, Officer Cody Budworth, was indicted, accused of fourth-degree assault stemming from a baton strike against a protester last summer. A year ago, about 70 members comprised the team.

A team lieutenant called Chief Chuck Lovell to inform him the members of the team, who serve voluntarily in the assignments, voted to resign due to perceived lack of support from City Hall and from the district attorney over the past year during more than 100 consecutive nights of protest coverage, according to the mayor’s office and officers.

The District Attorney, a Soros type prosecutor, is seen as an anti-police prosecutor:

The Rapid Response Team members also have been frustrated by the number of protest-related prosecutions that were rejected by the district attorney’s office. As of late January, the office had rejected almost three-quarters of 1,057 protest-related arrests referred by police.

The city is also finding it difficult reestablishing the Gun Violence Reduction Team.

Further, any urgency to create a new uniformed, proactive policing team to try to combat the city’s gun violence has not materialized, with less than a handful of officers volunteering to serve on a team that the police chief had anticipated would include two sergeants and 12 officers.

There have been more than 100 nights of violence in Portland.

The union president urged the mayor and City Hall to “stop using RRT members as political pawns,” and called the team’s members “exhausted and injured.” He wrote then that the “only glue holding their team together’’ was their “commitment to serve their city.”

“Our RRT members do not volunteer to have Molotov cocktails, fireworks, explosives, rocks, bottles, urine, feces and other dangerous objects thrown at them,” wrote Daryl Turner, then president of the union. He noted that the team members volunteer for the work without any specialty pay.

“Nor do they volunteer to have threats of rape, murder and assaults on their families hurled at them. They do not volunteer to suffer serious injuries, to be subjected to warrantless criticism and face allegations by elected officials, or to suffer through baseless complaints and lengthy investigations devoid of due process.”

“These officers find themselves in a no-win situation. They are told to stand down and only intervene when things have gotten so out of control that they have no other option than to use high levels of force to regain control of unlawful demonstrations,” Turner wrote. “They are criticized for their perceived inaction on the front end and are criticized for their inevitable use of force on the back end. They can’t win because of the position others have put them in.’’

There’s always happy talk from the media and city hall of a downtown Portland resurgence. That’s not going to happen with night after night of rioting. Portland will not get any help from Washington or Clackamas County. The Sheriff in each of these counties has already said they will not put their deputies at risk in an anti-police city, and at the mercy of a perceived anti-police prosecutor.

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There are 24 comments.

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  1. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Let. It. Burn.

    • #1
  2. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    Doug Watt: and city hall of a downtown Portland resurgence.

    Well, you didn’t define “resurgence.”  I reckon you’re going to see a resurgence, alright.

    • #2
  3. DonG (2+2=5. Say it!) Coolidge
    DonG (2+2=5. Say it!)
    @DonG

    Perhaps a squad of mental health volunteers can arranged.

    • #3
  4. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    The last paragraph in the OP says it all.

    It’s not going to get any better until some grown-ups are elected, and that time seems very far away. 

    • #4
  5. Misthiocracy got drunk and Member
    Misthiocracy got drunk and
    @Misthiocracy

    The dream of 1990s Detroit is alive in Portland!

    • #5
  6. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    The last paragraph in the OP says it all.

    It’s not going to get any better until some grown-ups are elected, and that time seems very far away.

    A lot of grown-ups don’t want to mess with it, we have better things to do with our time.

    • #6
  7. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    The union president’s comment is excellent, and I might use it for a future post.  Seattle is seeing the same attitude toward the police, by its city council and city attorney.  Also, yesterday I received in the mail a newsletter from the three DemocRats who represent my district in Olympia, and they boast about having passed “police reform”.  I plan to give them a piece of my mind about all their destructive legislation.

    • #7
  8. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Some are speculating that the pressure to get police to resign in cities throughout the US is due to a plan to get the cities to request federal help in the form of a federal the police force.  At this rate, it seems this is inevitable.

    • #8
  9. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Some are speculating that the pressure to get police to resign in cities throughout the US is due to a plan to get the cities to request federal help in the form of a federal the police force. At this rate, it seems this is inevitable.

    Yep, Candace Owens last night, talking to Tucker Carlson.

    • #9
  10. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Some are speculating that the pressure to get police to resign in cities throughout the US is due to a plan to get the cities to request federal help in the form of a federal the police force. At this rate, it seems this is inevitable.

    Yep, Candace Owens last night, talking to Tucker Carlson.

    And of course, a federal police force won’t be busting any heads, etc.

    • #10
  11. Chuck Coolidge
    Chuck
    @Chuckles

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):
    I plan to give them a piece of my mind about all their destructive legislation.

    Why bother?  Clear evidence is that almost any use to which you put it will be much better than anything those cretins could manage.

    • #11
  12. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    I don’t get what the lefty politicos in Portland see as the end game. It must be pretty clear by now that concessions simply embolden the thugs. Do they expect them to leave? To remain and blend?

    Where do the perpetual protestors live? Where do they get money? How do you hurt them, undo them? Has the FBI infiltrated them as thoroughly as the ultra dangerous radicals who want fair elections? Why have the police been deployed passively, as targets with no efforts to really counter the threat?

     

     

    • #12
  13. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Doug Watt: There’s always happy talk from the media and city hall of a downtown Portland resurgence. That’s not going to happen with night after night of rioting.

    The dog has returned to its vomit.

    • #13
  14. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    The last paragraph in the OP says it all.

    It’s not going to get any better until some grown-ups are elected, and that time seems very far away.

    That would require grown-up voters, who are few and far between in such cities.

    • #14
  15. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    The last paragraph in the OP says it all.

    It’s not going to get any better until some grown-ups are elected, and that time seems very far away.

    That would require grown-up voters, who are few and far between in such cities.

    They were probably always outnumbered, and once things start really going down hill, they get out if they can.

    • #15
  16. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    Doug Watt: There’s always happy talk from the media and city hall of a downtown Portland resurgence. That’s not going to happen with night after night of rioting.

    The dog has returned to its vomit.

    The sow returns to her mire,

    And the burnt fool’s bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the fire

     

    • #16
  17. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    From the horse’s mouth:

    • #17
  18. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    kedavis (View Comment):

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Some are speculating that the pressure to get police to resign in cities throughout the US is due to a plan to get the cities to request federal help in the form of a federal the police force. At this rate, it seems this is inevitable.

    Yep, Candace Owens last night, talking to Tucker Carlson.

    And of course, a federal police force won’t be busting any heads, etc.

    A federal police force will be just what the left needs to establish real permanent rule, unanswerable to the people ruled over.

    • #18
  19. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Kozak (View Comment):

    Let. It. Burn.

    This is where I am. The people of Portland deserve this. They have spent decades voting for the people and policies that led to this. They need to suffer. It is pity we cannot put up fences to force them to live there, instead of moving away to vote their fool policies in someplace else. 

    • #19
  20. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    Django (View Comment):

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    Doug Watt: There’s always happy talk from the media and city hall of a downtown Portland resurgence. That’s not going to happen with night after night of rioting.

    The dog has returned to its vomit.

    The sow returns to her mire,

    And the burnt fool’s bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the fire

    In a world run by the left, reading Kipling would be grounds for cancellation.

    • #20
  21. Al Sparks Coolidge
    Al Sparks
    @AlSparks

    Resign?  That’s not a resignation.  They just refused to volunteer for that special unit.

    Now maybe there is a financial hit, since serving in that unit was above and beyond their normal duties, and perhaps they’re losing overtime benefits or additional pay that came with serving in that unit.

    But if I were a Portland cop or in a similar jurisdiction, I would be looking for another job altogether for a locality where there’s respect for law enforcement.

    And to be fair, we know that’s happening given other reporting.

    • #21
  22. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Al Sparks (View Comment):

    Resign? That’s not a resignation. They just refused to volunteer for that special unit.

    Now maybe there is a financial hit, since serving in that unit was above and beyond their normal duties, and perhaps they’re losing overtime benefits or additional pay that came with serving in that unit.

    But if I were a Portland cop or in a similar jurisdiction, I would be looking for another job altogether for a locality where there’s respect for law enforcement.

    And to be fair, we know that’s happening given other reporting.

    No, it means that the job has to be taken on by somebody, and since they aren’t sending volunteers, they are sending people who for whatever reason didn’t. Will any of them resign? I guess it depends on why they didn’t volunteer to begin with, and how strongly they feel about it.

    • #22
  23. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Al Sparks (View Comment):

    Resign? That’s not a resignation. They just refused to volunteer for that special unit.

    Now maybe there is a financial hit, since serving in that unit was above and beyond their normal duties, and perhaps they’re losing overtime benefits or additional pay that came with serving in that unit.

    But if I were a Portland cop or in a similar jurisdiction, I would be looking for another job altogether for a locality where there’s respect for law enforcement.

    And to be fair, we know that’s happening given other reporting.

    There was no extra pay for being a member of the RRT.

    • #23
  24. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Doug Watt (View Comment):

    Al Sparks (View Comment):

    Resign? That’s not a resignation. They just refused to volunteer for that special unit.

    Now maybe there is a financial hit, since serving in that unit was above and beyond their normal duties, and perhaps they’re losing overtime benefits or additional pay that came with serving in that unit.

    But if I were a Portland cop or in a similar jurisdiction, I would be looking for another job altogether for a locality where there’s respect for law enforcement.

    And to be fair, we know that’s happening given other reporting.

    There was no extra pay for being a member of the RRT.

    Just service to one’s community, which now clearly hates them and does not want them to do it. I’d have quit too. 

    • #24
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