At least 100 self-proclaimed anarchists tore through Portland, setting dumpsters aflame, smashing windows and causing $500,000 in damage, but police stood idle because of a new state law that restricts how law enforcement can respond to riots.
Now police say a recently passed law ties their hands even further as it prohibits police from using crowd control techniques like pepper spray or tear gas.
'The reason that we did not intervene goes back to what we talked about last month with House Bill 2928 and the restrictions placed on us in a crowd control environment,' Portland Police Lt. Jake Jensen said in a Pearl District Neighborhood Association meeting, as reported by KOIN. 'That's the way the legislature said we need to operate in a crowd control environment so that's how we're going to act in a crowd control environment.
'The law clearly allows Portland Police to use effective tools necessary to control violent crowds,' House Minority Leader Christine Drazan told The Associated Press on Friday.
Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen told the Associated Press that officers have been made aware of the 'potential implications' of the legislation and that it´s being analyzed by the city attorney´s office.
There were stockpiles of weapons, Portland Police reported, and strategically placed piles of rocks around the interior and exterior for activists to use as weapons should police make an attempt at entry.
Since May, only four people have applied to 14 spots on the Portland Police Department's new Focused Intervention Team.The original Gun Violence Reduction Team was shut down after the Portland City Council voted to cut $15 million from the police budget and eliminate 84 sworn positions last June.In August, Lovell told KPTV that he's not sure how he's going to fill the remaining positions on the new anti-gun violence team.
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Portland hit by 100-person riot, police don't react because of law banning crowd control techniques
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