Police declare riot in Portland after unrest during ‘Capitalism is Scary’ march

Portland City Commissioners, Jo Ann Hardesty and Chloe Eudaly are proposing slashing the Portland Police Bureau’s budget by another $18 million dollars.  Their plans are to utilize that money and funnel it into housing and food assistance in the city. 

Tomorrow Portland City Council will be voting on Hardesty’s proposed cuts to the police budget totaling 18 million.

She has Eudaly on board, Wheeler and Fritz are resistant, leaving Dan Ryan as the potential deciding vote.

Call and email to tell him to vote VOTE yes pic.twitter.com/cURYNPbpq3

— Care Not Cops (@carenotcops) October 27, 2020

Hardesty produced a memo to city council outlining what she proposes are cuts to the police department, and therefore the budget. Hardesty wants to eliminate the funding for the Rapid Response team and the Special Emergency Reaction Team. The Rapid Response team is tasked with crowd control and the Special Emergency Reaction Team is their version of a SWAT team.

I’m so pleased to stand with my colleague Jo Ann Hardesty (@joann4portland) in calling for cuts to the Portland Police Bureau budget to support much-needed relief in this time of such great need. https://t.co/37cEFrTq8g

— Re-elect Chloe Eudaly for Portland City Council (@Chloe4PDX) October 27, 2020

So, in essence, if her budget cuts get approved, the Portland Police Bureau would no longer have these two specialty teams.  This means that in times of crisis, they would be forced to call another law enforcement agency that would have to be willing, and able to provide mutual aid to handle the situation. Unless of course they are able to come up with the funding elsewhere to keep these units intact.

Hardesty said:

“It has become clear to me through research and seeing tactics used during the 100+ days of protesting, that the Police Bureau utilizes antiquated methods of protest policing.”

Hardesty also wants off duty employment to end, to further cut back on overtime expenses, and to reduce or eliminate funding for what she terms as “military-like supplies and ammunitions.”

In addition to her budget plans, she wants the one time 5.6% cut that Wheeler’s office had mandated for all of the city to offset losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, to be permanent for the police department. She also wants the 42 full time positions which were left vacant with a wave of retirements in August, to be eliminated from the budget all together. 

All of Hardesty’s proposals would cut the Portland Police budget by over $18 million dollars beyond the already authorized cuts. Hardesty hopes that the money that was supposed to be going to ensure public safety, would instead by reinvested in minority communities. 

She said:

“We need a budget that reflects the reality many Portlanders face, and one that reflects the demands of the moment.  The amendments I’m proposing are people-centered.  They offer a chance for us to make sure people are sheltered and have food in their stomachs during this economic downturn and invest in the community and community safety as demanded by our constituents.”

We need a budget that reflects the reality many Portlanders face, and one that reflects the demands of the moment. The amendments I’m proposing tomorrow are people-centered. https://t.co/kPnIJg91wU

— Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty (@JoAnnPDX) October 27, 2020

Democratic Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler proposed his own thoughts on the upcoming budget process. His proposal would focus on what he termed as a “community-led process empowering black Portlanders.” 

Wheeler’s proposal would see $1.5 million dollars removed from the police department’s budget, combined with $1.9 million dollars in tax revenues from marijuana, to go towards investments in the black Portlander’s program.  Hardesty felt that Wheeler’s proposal was nothing more than an insult. 

She tweeted:

“A budget is a moral document and we have big decisions to make next week to ensure we are building a more equitable and resilient Portland.  That means listening to the demands of the #BlackLivesMatter movement by reinvesting a bloated police budget into our community.”

A budget is a moral document and we have big decisions to make next week to ensure we are building a more equitable and resilient Portland. That means listening to the demands of the #BlackLivesMatter movement by reinvesting a bloated police budget into our community. pic.twitter.com/u1uXK3eCqn

— Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty (@JoAnnPDX) October 21, 2020

What Hardesty’s plan, or any other leader in the city fails to take into account, is the increase in violent crime that has been occurring in Portland since May of this year. Lieutenant Greg Pashley, of the Portland Police Bureau noted that the number of homicides alone has increase dramatically from last year. 

Pashley told NTD that the number of homicides that have been reported in Portland this year are somewhere close to 50. Most of those have been reported since the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In contrast, there were only 26 reported cases in 2018 and 45 in 2019. 

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the number of homicides and violent crime in Portland will only increase as the police agency gets defunded further. What will remain to be seen is if the city leaders will continue on their path of degrading public safety over the demands of groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa, or if they will side with their citizens that live in fear.