Portland's police union chief spoke out against the city officials during the past weekend, pointing out that they “encouraged and enabled” the riots that took over the city for more than 150 nights last year, as The Blaze reports.
He also pointed out that the recent resignation of the entire riot squad was about far more than a fellow officer being indicted.
What are the details?
Portland Police Association executive director Daryl Turner had an interview with Fox News on Sunday and the answers he gave certainly shed more light on what’s going on in the city.
When asked, “Do you think that city officials in Portland have your backs?” Turner didn’t take any time to reply that, “No, they do not.”
Turner shared with the news outlet that when the entire Rapid Response Team decided to resign last week, the 50 members did not take that step “just because of our officer being indicted.”
Apparently, this was simply the last thing that topped it all.
He revealed that the police union had penned a letter to the city in October focusing on the issues and concerns they had about the “unprecedented” incidents in Portland. However, the city never addressed those concerns.
In the meantime, “our rapid response team along with others from the police bureau came out every night and stood the line.”
“We had multiple assaults during the riots and multiple assaults of police officers during the same riots. The residents and the business owners of the city of Portland have a hopeless feeling right now,” he said noting that the Portland Police Bureau is “woefully understaffed” and has also been “defunded.”
Turner shared with Fox News that instead of teaming up with the police to help stop the riots, the elected leaders “actually encouraged and enabled what was going on during those 150-plus nights.”
“We're dealing with rioting at a level we've never seen before. We're looking at the most catastrophic staffing levels we've ever seen. We're looking at budget cuts to defund us like we've never seen before,” he emphasized.
In a different interview with NBC Nightly News, right after the riot squad’s mass resignations, Turner said that Portland police morale “is as bad as it's ever been.”