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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.
A Lawyer here explained this to me, many times that prosecutors are in a bind when it comes to charging cops with crimes, especially crimes committed on duty. They need the cops in order to get convictions, and when a cop gets indicted his buddies often retaliate by sabotaging the efforts of prosecutors. They "forget" court dates. They botch arrest reports. They louse up their testimony. There are a hundred things cops can do to make a prosecutor's job more difficult. They always deny doing it.
These cops make no secret of the fact that they will not tolerate charges against their own for using excessive force against people they see as political adversaries. These bad boys should be fired for, if nothing else, conduct putting the department in a negative light.
Point worth making: This was a volunteer squad with no extra pay. They signed up because they enjoy doing battle.