News

Sheriffs to Gov Brown: Thanks but No Thanks

1 September 2020
KITDAFBS

Oregon governor Kate Brown

Oregon governor Kate Brown released a plan she thinks will help reduce the violence in Portland on Sunday. The plan includes the following:

  1. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute serious criminal offenses, including arson and physical violence.
  2. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office will work with system partners to hold individuals booked for violent behavior, and to ensure that there is adequate jail space to hold such individuals.
  3. As done previously, Oregon State Police will detail personnel and resources to Portland to free up the Portland Police Bureau’s investigative capabilities to arrest and charge those engaging in violent acts. OSP troopers will continue their standard practice of wearing body cameras to allow for the documentation of their activities.
  4. The Governor is asking Clackamas and Washington County Sheriff’s Offices and the City of Gresham Police Department to support the Portland Police Bureau with personnel and resources to keep the peace and protect free speech.
  5. Oregon State Police have offered over two dozen body cameras and associated evidence management to the Portland Police Bureau, and the Bureau will evaluate their use. The City of Portland has agreed to indemnify Clackamas and Washington Counties and the City of Gresham for law enforcement assistance. In addition, the Mayor will seek financial resources to reimburse these jurisdictions for their support.
  6. The United States Attorney and the Federal Bureau of Investigation will commit additional resources for investigation of criminal activity.

Sounds good right? Well, there are a few problems with that plan. First and foremost, the governor didn’t bother to contact the Sheriffs of Clackamas and Washington counties to ask about their participation.

Here’s Clackamas county Sheriff Craig Roberts’s full statement (emphasis mine):

Had Governor Brown discussed her plan with my office, I would have told her it’s about changing policy not adding resources. Increasing law enforcement resources in Portland will not solve the nightly violence and now, murder. The only way to make Portland safe again, is to support a policy that holds offenders accountable for their destruction and violence. That will require the DA to charge offenders appropriately and a decision by the Multnomah County Presiding Judge not to allow offenders released on their own recognizance, and instead require bail with conditions. The same offenders are arrested night after night, only to be released by the court and not charged with a crime by the DA’s Office. The next night they are back at it, endangering the lives of law enforcement and the community all over again.

For all of us in law enforcement, keeping our community safe is our first priority. Had Governor Brown asked me, I would have told her that no amount of human resources will stop the “cycle of violence” (her term) that is making Portland unsafe. For that to occur, the criminal justice system will need do its part and hold offenders accountable.

In a joint Statement the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police and Oregon State Sheriff’s Association weighed in as well, releasing this statement (emphasis mine):

Over the weekend, members of our associations were approached to assist with policing in the City of Portland. Unfortunately, due to the lack of support for public safety operations, the associated liability to agencies who would be assisting in Portland and the lack of accountability for those arrested committing criminal acts, we cannot dedicate our limited resources away from the communities we serve. We know there will already be an additional burden on local law enforcement agencies as Oregon State Police Troopers are re-assigned to assist in Portland.

We would propose the following as steps to bring an end to the criminal acts and violence in Portland beginning with a strong statement by elected leadership at all levels that criminal acts are not legitimate protest and that those who commit crimes will be held accountable. There must be support for Law Enforcement actions, through preventative detention and prosecution, when criminal violators are arrested. Finally, there must be publicly voiced support for Law Enforcement and its efforts to protect lawful protesters and hold criminal violators accountable in a very difficult environment.

Related: Portland, Oregon…where NOT to be

Seeing a common theme here? There have been more than 500 arrests in Portland since the riots started and most of those cases have been dropped by the Multnomah County DA. The rioters are virtually always “released quickly,” out and about to continue on with rioting. 

Kate Brown “agrees” that people should be charged if they have committed “serious criminal offenses.” “That’s why she’s been working today with the Multnomah County District Attorney, the Multnomah County Sheriff, and the Presiding Judge of Multnomah County to ensure this happens.”

I’m sorry, but if the worthless DA Mike Schmitt and the even more worthless Portland mayor Ted Wheeler had been doing what they were supposed to, little of this would have happened.