Comments

1

A simple traffic stop always seems to get five or six officers. A minor demonstration in downtown, there are dozens of them milling around.

They don't need more police.

2

Lies. There is no justification for abusing Portlanders. None. None. No more police wanted, thanks.
Imagine if public school teachers, let alone the chief of them, had the same sh*tty attitude. "We're transforming the deficiencies in resources into direct abuse of students, because we can't be bothered. Giving up my evenings to plan lessons and grade papers is so demoralizing that I need to hurt others," said no teacher ever. Grow the f*ck up.

3

More police for what? WE already live in a police state, the city just chooses to use the police force to raise revenue instead of making our lives better. If there was no police in Portland they would not have time to harass motorists for seatbelt violations.

4

@flamegarden The key difference between cops and teachers, of course, is that the primary function of cops is to use force on behalf of the government while teachers are there to teach kids. So... a teacher using force would be wildly outside the bounds of the job while a cop using force is something they are hired to do, trained to do, and expected to do.

Is it that hard to understand that standing up to a bully by yourself might end in you fighting said bully while you and two of your friends standing up to the same bully ends up in the bully going away without a fight? It may be fun to be obtuse when kibitzing with comrades but it's kind of embarrassing in a public forum.

5

@bridger If you ever find me being bullied, please don't "help" me, okay?

Your vision of bullies and counter-bullies is toxic.

6

Cops never learn how to de-escalate situations.
They only know how to escalate and foment violence where there was none and more violence where there was some.
A wise mayor/commissioner would clean out the whole culture of macho cops commuting in from Vantucky and other suburbs and replace them with cops who have college degrees with large emphasis on liberal arts and psychology, which has shown to instill empathy and more humane decision-making and extensive training in de-escalation.
See how such security is managed at the Oregon Country Fair: https://www.eugeneweekly.com/2018/07/12/a-fair-shakedown-on-security/

8

How about more use of technology? Videocameras specifically. If there was high-resolution recording in real-time and everyone knew it, the overwhelming fear of being accountable would drive undesirable behavior down. More police wonโ€™t deter crime like the inarguability of HDTV.

9

"More cops = less violence" wont work when you have a chief of police who goes on rightwing shockjock radio shows and gleefully mocks protesters who suffer life-threatening injuries at the hands of her officers with the words, "we kicked their a--es!"


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