Written by Will Hekman
Following the indictment of a Portland officer, around 50 Portland officers, sergeants, and detectives resigned from the Portland Police Bureau Protest Response Unit Wednesday in an unprecedented and surprising move.
The Protest Response Unit is responsible for providing, “public safety at crowd events when there was a threat of harm to the community,” and was composed of around 50 volunteer employees in addition to their regular duties as officers of Portland’s police. After nearly a year of violent protests in the city of Portland and an attempted autonomous zone much like the one in Seattle, members of the Protest Response Unit simply refuse to volunteer.
Back in October, Former President of the Police Officer Union Daryl Turner stated, “members do not volunteer to have Molotov cocktails, fireworks, explosives, rocks, bottles, urine, feces and other dangerous objects thrown at them.” He also stated that the members of the unit are voluntary and receive no special pay or benefits, they merely do it to protect their communities. Turner also stated, “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.”
The resignations come following the indictment of Officer Corey Budworth who allegedly struck a woman in the head and was charged with assault. The union claims that it was an accident and the prosecution is politically motivated.
The Portland Police Association also released a statement criticizing the district attorney for not prosecuting the rioters and vandals and going after officers, “the real criminals who are perpetrating vandalism, arson, gun violence, and other violent crimes in [the] community,’ and not go after officers attempting to do their jobs with little support.”
Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler has acknowledged the difficulty that officers have faced over the last year but many officers are not convinced by the mayor. Wheeler has faced criticism from both sides of the political aisle. The right believes that he has allowed the rioters to run unchecked for too long and the left believes that he has protected police officers too much.
The city of Portland continues to face violent riots and a rise in violent crime even after many of the other protests around the country have seemingly died down.
