Portland police chief shares safety plan for election amid 'heightened tensions'

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland Police Chief Bob Day is sharing a message about safety during this election season amid "heightened tensions."

At around noon on Tuesday, Day shared a video message talking about the Portland Police Bureau's plan during election time to enhance community safety.

"We are anticipating a robust election season. And we understand that there's heightened tensions around this time period," Day says in the video.

Day says it's important for PPB to strike a balance between protecting people's First Amendment rights and responding appropriately to demonstrations, including "crowd control."

"Our event liaison officers are engaging with numerous community groups and are available to assist with those wanting to exercise their First Amendment rights," Day says. "Internally, we are taking an all-hands-on-deck approach. We'll be canceling days off, sworn members will be working additional hours and our professional staff will be increasing their roles as support for this important time."

Day says PPB has been preparing alongside other law enforcement partners, including county, state and federal agencies.

Back in June, City of Portland leaders — including Mayor Ted Wheeler and Day — announced the reformation of the Rapid Response Team. That is a specialized unit within PPB that responds to riots and other public order events.

The announcement comes after the former Rapid Response Team was disbanded in 2021 after the indictment of a fellow officer for the use of excessive force against a photojournalist during a protest.

In the months leading up to and after the last presidential election cycle, Portland streets saw a lot of protests happen. That included 100 consecutive nights of protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. But even after the 2020 election happened and into 2021, occasional demonstrations took place.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Chief Day said when it comes to this year's presidential election and unrest that may follow, PPB is "obviously mindful of the events of 2020 and 2021."

"I see us in a really good place right now, and I just wanted the community to know that we're engaged and we intend to be sharing out tons of information over the course of the next four to five weeks, trying to answer questions, be available, be present to encourage folks for a really safe and equitable election," Day said.

Day said police are taking measures that include more officers on bikes throughout the downtown area in the coming weeks and refocusing efforts to fine-tune the way the Rapid Response Team operates, in general.

"We have learned from mistakes as well as success that occurred in that time period," Day said, in reference to police response during 2020-21. "We had the Independent Monitor, LLC come in and give us a complete review of all of our tactics and responses. So, we're building on a new program this year that, I think, makes us better suited to respond to demonstrations."

Chief Day also shared a message to business owners bracing for potential damage if destructive demonstrations do take place in the next few months.

"We have established a robust communication system, we're trying to communicate regularly with our business partners and our community leaders about what's happening and what to expect," Day said.

Concern about political violence during and after the November presidential election has been growing after two apparent assassination attempts on the Republican party's nominee, former President Donald Trump, happened over the summer. Worries also persist that post-election violence akin to the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol could happen again.