Some community members 'don't have trust' in Portland's newly-minted riot cop team

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As the City of Portland approves the formation of a new crowd control unit within the Portland Police Bureau, some community members express worries about it.

This all comes after an independent assessor recommended PPB develop a new team to police public order events. 

The now-disbanded PPB unit known as the Rapid Response Team had responded to unrest during 2020 protests. However, Mayor Ted Wheeler said creating a new team is a “must-have” for Portland heading into election season. This new unit will be called the “Public Order Team.”

Though police officials argued laws and policies have changed since 2020, some community members still said they have a lack of trust and faith that another iteration of a team of riot cops is being formed. 

“This team has a lot of eyes looking at them. The public is watching, internally within the police bureau, we are watching," said PPB Deputy Chief Mike Frome.

Following unrest in 2020, PPB’s now-defunct Rapid Response Team and the city faced lawsuits, with some community members even receiving settlements after their homes were caught in clouds of tear gas. Other community members said this new agreement brings back officers who harmed protestors with a raise. 

"In the real world, these people wouldn't be getting a raise, they'd be getting a performance improvement plan," said Athul Acharya, executive director of Public Accountability and a Portland resident.

On Wednesday, the Portland City Council greenlit the agreement to fund the specialized team tasked with policing crowd control and free speech events. The agreement includes a 6% pay raise for team members, costing the city about $380,000 annually. 

"We need to get the best people that we can get in place, pay them according to the responsibility and specialty that we're going to expect of them, and move forward," said Deputy Chief Frome.

PPB also confirmed to KOIN 6 News that former members of the Rapid Response Team will be eligible to join the new Public Order Team.

 "I don't have trust and I'm looking for how has anything has changed," said Paul Frazier, who received a settlement from the city following 2020 riots. 

While police and city officials argued the additional pay is similar to other police specialty groups and is needed to cover the more than 40 hours of additional training, community members argued taxpayers are still footing the bill for settlements related to the former Rapid Response Team's handling of the 2020 protests.

"Night after night, the riot squad blanketed the city in tear gas, shot and beat innocent protesters and targeted journalists who were recording their misconduct," Acharya said.

"The landscape of crowd management has completely changed since 2020,” Deputy Chief Frome argued. “We have changes to Oregon law. We have a lot of changes to our policies."

The former Rapid Response Team disbanded in 2021 after a member-wide resignation following the indictment of Officer Corey Budworth. He was charged with assault following the incident in which he can be seen on video beating a photojournalist with a baton. After a formal apology from Budworth, the charges were dropped.

Police officials could not provide specifics on what the training will be for the expected 50-member team. However, they told KOIN 6 News the 40-hour state class is slated for May, with officers expected to train an additional 8 hours monthly until they reach the 96 hours required. 

Juan Chavez, of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, criticized city council's move to reform a riot squad within PPB. He released the following statement to KOIN 6 News:

Apart from them getting a raise, nothing has changed from the discredited Rapid Response Team whose members all resigned when one of them was held accountable for using excessive force at a protest. The trainings were part of the problem with the old RRT. Without new accountability measures or a ban on including abusive officers from the 2020 uprising in the new team, the creation of the crowd control unit is likely a major backwards step.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon was also critical of the formation of the Public Order Team. They released the following statement to KOIN 6 News:

The City's last attempt at a "public order" unit like this was a failed experiment, which culminated in a constitutional crisis marked by extreme violence used to silence protests that highlighted police violence and racism. We have little faith that this unit will be any different. Additionally, the Portland Police Association's claims of advancing transparency through increased training for the PPB's "public order team" are undercut by its simultaneous attempt to gut Portland's citizen-led Police Accountability Commission at the ballot. The citizen-led Police Accountability Commission was a significant step towards police transparency and accountability that Portlanders overwhelmingly supported - the oversight board was voted in by over 80% of Portland residents. Now, the PPA is quietly working to make the public's oversight commission powerless while drawing people's attention to their supposed work towards accountability through pay bumps for "public order" officers.