Portland Police Bureau


The Portland Police Bureau, officially the Portland Bureau of Police, is the law enforcement agency of the city of Portland, the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. While oversight of Portland's bureaus shifts among the five City Commissioners, the mayor has historically been assigned to the Police Bureau as the police commissioner.

Services

The Portland Police Bureau is the largest city law enforcement agency in Oregon. The bureau has approximately 900 full-time officers, 50 cadets, and 300 civilian positions. The Portland Police Bureau provides numerous services to the citizens of Portland and the tri-county area, including:
;Patrol
Police Cruiser with post-2013 livery.
;Detectives
;Cadets
;Air Support Unit
;Child Abuse Team
;Crisis Intervention Team
;Crisis Response Team
CRT members provide support to victims of crime, sexual assault, and abuse.
;Hostage Negotiation Team
;Mounted Patrol Unit
;Rapid Response Team
;School Resource Officer
;Special Emergency Response Team
;Transit Police
;Traffic Division
The Portland Police Bureau divides Portland into three precincts, with each precinct divided into as many as 20 districts. The divisions are generally in accordance with neighborhood association boundaries, but also take into account the number of police calls generated in each district. The district serves as the basic unit of territory within the bureau, and most are assigned between one and two patrol officers. As such, busier districts are geographically smaller and slower districts are larger.
While the number of officers in each precinct is adjusted continually through transfers, new hires and attrition, the infrastructure of each precinct remains essentially the same. A 2007 attempt by Police Chief Sizer to address this by folding the smallest precinct, North Precinct, into its neighbor, Northeast Precinct, was met by a mobilized North Portland community. North Precinct remains, but has been greatly reduced in overall size. Some past attempts to redraw precinct lines have met similar opposition from neighborhood associations.
police vehicle in pre-2013 Livery

Ranks

Weapons

All Portland police officers are armed with a 9mm Glock handgun, either the Glock 17, the Glock 19, or the Glock 26. Most uniformed officers' handguns are equipped with SureFire or Streamlight tactical lights. Many uniformed officers also elect to carry a backup handgun; these are not issued by the bureau, but must conform to regulations regarding caliber and type. Besides firearms, all uniform officers carry several non-lethal weapons. Pepper spray, the ASP expandable baton and the Taser are all required pieces of equipment.
All Portland Police Bureau officers are authorized to carry a Remington 870 shotgun. After completion of bureau courses, officers are also authorized to carry Colt AR-15 rifles and FN 40mm single shot less-lethal launchers.
SERT officers are armed with a variety of additional weapons, including H&K MP5A3 submachine guns, and M4A1 rifles with EOTech holographic sights.
The.45 Glock 21 was once included in the list of handguns that could be used as a service pistol. However, after two incidents in which Glock 21s exploded in the hands of officers at a shooting range, the Bureau abandoned the Glock 21.
Portland Police Bureau has a LRAD "sound cannon".

Portland Police Association

Most of the bureau's rank-and-file employees are represented by the Portland Police Association union. The union also represents 911 dispatchers, who work for the Bureau of Emergency Communication. As of July 2020, Daryl Turner was president of the PPA.
On July 1, 2020, the city and the PPA renewed its annual contract, with an agreement to permit a newly formed Portland Street Response team, promoted by Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, for emergency situations that don't require firearms, and an agreement on the delay of cost-of-living adjustment due to city budget issues related to COVID-19. This contract was extended against a backdrop of continuing George Floyd protests, some of them at PPA headquarters.
The PPA, established in 1942, is the longest continuously operating police union in the United States.

History

19th century

From 1851 to 1870 Portland was policed by a marshal, sometimes elected and sometimes appointed, who usually served a two-year term. After 1861, the marshal was empowered to hire deputies, but they did not have permanent jobs until late in the 1860s. Thomas O'Connor, a deputy, became the first Portland officer to die while on duty in a shooting on August 21, 1867.
The bureau, originally named the Portland Metropolitan Police Force, was established in 1870 by the Portland City Council. The Council appointed James Lappeus as its first chief of police, in charge of a force with six patrolmen and one lieutenant, at a time when the population of Portland was less than 9,000.
The first member of the Metropolitan Police Force to die in the line of duty was Officer Charles F. Schoppe, who was shot to death in June 13, 1874 while trying to disarm a drunken saloon patron.

20th century

On April 1, 1908, the bureau became the first in the United States to hire a female police officer, Lola Baldwin, who became the Superintendent of its newly established Women's Protective Division. In 1915, the "Metropolitan Police Force" changed its name to the Bureau of Police. Four years later, the bureau became the first, in the United States, to use a police radio. Sybil Plumlee, also considered to be a pioneer in the field, served in the Women's Protective Division from 1947 to 1967. In 1985, Penny Harrington became Portland's first female chief of police, and the first to head a major U.S. police department.
The headquarters of the Portland Police Bureau was in the Portland Police Block until 1984. The 1912 building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Since 1992, there have been several cases of suspects having died while in custody at the Multnomah County Detention Center.

21st century

In several high-profile cases, including the James Chasse, Jr. and Kendra James incidents, the Portland Police Bureau has been accused of engaging in the abuse of force and then covering up the investigation. The accusations have prompted a Copwatch program in Portland. In neither the Chasse nor the James interactions, were the Portland Police Bureau, nor any sworn officer, found guilty of any criminal wrongdoing.
In an ongoing series of protests beginning in May 2020 following the slaying of George Floyd, the Portland Police Bureau has clashed with Portlanders demanding justice against police brutality. The PPB has been widely criticized for their violent tactics to dissolve the protests including the use of tear gas, flash bombs, impact munitions, and use of force without warning. The PPB has been supplemented with federal agents deployed by President Donald Trump who have reportedly forced protesters off the streets into unmarked vehicles for detainment without reading Miranda Rights, providing cause, or identifying themselves.

Police chiefs

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