Entire Portland Police Crowd Control Unit Resigns After Officer Indicted On Protest Assault Charge
LAPPL News Watch
June 18, 2021
Members
of a specialized Portland, Oregon, police unit that deals with crowd
control have resigned from the assignment en masse a day after a fellow
officer was indicted on an assault charge stemming from alleged illegal
use of force during a protest last year.
The Portland Police Bureau's
Rapid Response Team, which is primarily responsible for providing public
safety at crowd events, consisted of approximately 50 officers, all of
whom resigned Wednesday, the bureau announced.
The assignment is
voluntary and the officers will remain on the force and continue their
regular assignments, the bureau said.
The mass resignation comes a day
after a grand jury indicted Portland Police Bureau Officer Corey
Budworth on one count of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, for what
prosecutors allege was an "excessive and unlawful use of force" during a
protest in August 2020. Budworth, who at the time was on the bureau's
Rapid Response Team, is accused of striking a woman in the head with a
baton during an Aug. 18, 2020, demonstration outside the Multnomah
Building.
The indictment marks the first time a Portland police officer
has faced prosecution for striking or firing at someone during a
protest, according to the Oregonian.
4 comments:
Screw that place. Come to some the suburban departments in Texas. They are growing and hiring.
So you illegally assalt someone, then decide you don't want the job when you get caught?
I can't say that I blame the cops. I'd like to think I would do the same thing in that situation. If your department won't back you, there is no reason for you to voluntarily put yourself in a high exposure job.
If your department won't back you for breaking the law? Doesn't seem like a reasonable statement.
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