An outside report looking at the Portland Police Bureau’s response to 2020 protests said the agency has enacted significant changes but still has a ways to go in preparing for future unrest.
The Nov. 7 report, from Independent Monitor LLC, is the second in a series stemming from the city’s 2014 settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over the bureau’s excessive use of force. The federal department required the reports after it found the city out of compliance with the agreement in 2021.
Here are four takeaways from the report:
The Police Bureau’s adoption of liaison officers is showing early success
The investigators wrote that Portland police sent officers to Columbus, Ohio, to learn how its police department has set up a team of officers to communicate with organizers and crowds during demonstrations with the goal of de-escalating any tensions.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, the Ohio city’s “dialogue team” is one of the largest in the country and the only unit of its kind in the state. The news outlet wrote the Columbus department’s team gained significant national interest after presenting at a 2023 police conference.
During the week of Election Day, Portland police used those lessons and stationed friendlier looking “liaison officers” on major city blocks. Few people showed up, and police made no arrests.
Rapid Response team name carries ‘significant baggage’
The Police Bureau reestablished its crowd control unit in June, a recommendation that the outside investigators made last year. They credited police for doing so, but questioned why leaders gave the team the same name as before.
The Rapid Response Team, currently composed of 42 officers, eight sergeants and two lieutenants, dissolved in 2021 when all members resigned after one officer was accused of fourth-degree assault stemming from the social justice protests.
The investigators wrote the name has “significant baggage” with the public, adding that choosing the same name may suggest the team will function the same as in 2020.
Body-worn cameras may help avoid ‘video blackout’
State law prohibits police from filming political protests “unless such information directly relates to an investigation of criminal activities.”
In their report last year, investigators wrote that this “video blackout” hindered investigations into police use of force and allegations of rioting by protesters.
In their latest report, though, investigators wrote that they believe that the Police Bureau’s adoption of body-worn cameras will address their complaint.
In addition, the investigators said it’s important for police to fully train a team of specialized plainclothes officers who infiltrate crowds to provide leaders with real-time information. Police have dubbed this team the “Echo Squad.”
Police still lack buy-in from other agencies in protest response
The Police Bureau still has not rebuilt relationships with neighboring police agencies that could help them respond to future protests, the investigators wrote.
In 2020, several law enforcement agencies rebuffed a request from the governor to staff ongoing protests in Portland. They cited hostility in the city and a lack of public support for law enforcement.
Since then, Portland police have obtained commitments from some jurisdictions to share SWAT teams, according to the investigators. They also wrote the city is in the process of negotiating an agreement with three neighboring agencies to combine personnel during major incidents such as natural disasters or events that could cause injury, death or “substantial property damage.” Agencies still may be able to support Portland, however, by responding to the city’s police 911 calls, investigators wrote.
This model risks failing in the event that several days of large-scale protests occur, according to the new report.
That’s important, they said, as Portland may face additional protests when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated in January.
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