Portland’s police union chief blasted city officials last weekend, arguing that were “encouraging and enabling some of the violence” that had occurred in the city for over 150 nights last year, and explaining that the recent resignation of the entire riot squad affiliated with the Portland police was about much more than just one of their fellow officers being handed an indictment.
The police union chief was asked point-blank during an interview on Fox News last Sunday if he thought that “city officials in Portland have your back?” and he responded, “No, I do not.”
Portland Police Association Executive Director Daryl Turner told Fox News last week that when the entire 50-member Rapid Response Team resigned from their voluntary posts last week, it wasn’t “due to our officer being indicted.” According to Turner, that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.
He also noted that the police union had sent a letter to the city in October that relayed some of the tremendous issues and concerns they had in regards to the handling of what Turner has described as “unprecedented sustained violence in Portland.” However, it appeared to Turner that the city had taken any of their concerns seriously.
Meanwhile, “we had a dedicated rapid response team that came out every night and they held the line, despite the fact that they had all kinds of things thrown at them, including Molotov cocktails, feces, urine, bottles, and rocks, all kinds of things,” he recalled.
“There were multiple assaults during these riots and we had several instances of assaults against police officers during this same time,” he continued. “However, Portland District Attorney Mike Schmidt declined 80% of the crimes committed during these riots.”
Turner also told Fox News that the elected leaders did not work with police to try to quell the riots. Instead, they “actually encouraged and enabled a lot of the violence that was going on during those 150-plus nights.”
“The residents and the business owners of the city of Portland have a lot of hopeless feelings right now what has gone on,” he continued, adding that the Portland Police Bureau has “been defunded” and is “woefully understaffed.” He gave another interview with NBC Nightly News where he said that the Portland police morale “is as bad as it’s ever been.”
“We’re dealing with rioting at a level, and a sustained violence, that we’ve never seen before. We’re looking at violence in our city, gun violence in our city, like we’ve never seen before. We’re looking at the most catastrophic staffing levels we’ve ever seen before. We’re looking at budget cuts to defund us like we’ve never seen before,” Turner said.
“All those things come into play regarding the morale of a police officer. They are coming to work every day, trying to do their job the right way with all of these roadblocks in the way,” he added.
What do you think about the dystopian atmosphere that is occurring right now in Portland?