The city of Portland, Oregon has finally figured out that it needs police to fight violent crime.
As the murder rate in the city ticks up, they’ve decided to put together a special unit to combat the problem.
Unfortunately for them, there aren’t many police who want the job. Who can blame them?
The Washington Examiner reports:
Portland police struggling to fill patrol aimed at combating rising murder rate
The Portland, Oregon, police department is struggling to fill a patrol designed to combat the rising murder rate.
Only four police officers have applied to fill the 14 spots on the Focused Initiative Team, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Lt. Greg Pashley did not confirm an exact number of applicants but told the Washington Examiner that “not very many people applied.”
The team is a reincarnation of the Gun Violence Reduction Team, which was shut down last year amid the racial justice protests that included calls for police reform.
“The chief’s office is now working on choosing sergeants first, then working to assemble the rest of the team. There is no specific date for the team to be formed,” Pashley said, adding that nobody has been assigned to the team yet.
Some law enforcement leaders say anti-police sentiment is responsible for the reportedly low interest in the new patrol.
“They’re demonizing and vilifying you, and then they want to put you in a unit where you’re under an even bigger microscope,” Daryl Turner, head of the union that represents Portland’s officers, said.
Who would want this job?
Portland Cut Police Violence Unit After 2020 Riots. Resurrected As Murder Soars, No One Wants The Job. https://t.co/Hmr6CM5ntL pic.twitter.com/o1KQSK6xu9
— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 2, 2021
In response to BLM-Antifa rioting last year, Portland leaders abolished the police Gun Violence Reduction Team. The city is now on track to beat its all-time record for homicides. Efforts to reverse & re-establish the unit under a new name are failing. https://t.co/6VQxcdPNL0
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 2, 2021
Maybe Portland shouldn’t have spent the last year demonizing the police.
Cross posted from American Lookout.