dagblog - Comments for "100 Days of Protest: A Chasm Grows Between Portland and The Rest of Oregon"

Still stupid shit. There is

PeraclesPlease — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 08:58:00 +0000

Still stupid shit. There is no "driving" the spread - there's aggregated stupid and non-stupid unfortunate behavior in different realms. Looking for a big mitt glove to point at this group or that isn't going to find the magic explanation. But certainly unmasked packs in the street for hours contributed to Covid spread.

The Oregonian's reporting on

artappraiser — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 08:32:15 +0000

In reply to professional local polling

The Oregonian's reporting on the above poll: Oregon voters disapprove of Portland protests, feel police aren’t using enough force, poll finds, Updated Sep 10, 2020; Posted Sep 10, 2020

professional local polling

artappraiser — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 01:53:34 +0000

In reply to 100 Days of Protest: A Chasm Grows Between Portland and The Rest of Oregon

professional local polling Sept. 3-8 before fires suggests there's less of a chasm than the NYTimes article purports:

Oregon Voters Disapprove of the Ongoing Protests, DHM Survey Results
September 10, 2020

From September 3 to 8, 2020, DHM Research conducted a survey of Oregon voters. The purpose of the survey was to assess values and beliefs related to the presidential election, ongoing protests across the country and in Portland, and COVID-19.

This is the first of three planned data releases that focuses on Oregon voters’ opinions about the protests that have been ongoing since the death of George Floyd in May [....]

Portland Police Dept. Press

artappraiser — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 09:43:57 +0000

In reply to 100 Days of Protest: A Chasm Grows Between Portland and The Rest of Oregon

Portland Police Dept. Press Release September 10, 2020 16:34. Obviously to counter the logic of Mayor Wheeler's directive to them to end use of CS gas.

Portland Police Bureau needs tools to protect community and themselves during riots that endanger life safety

Since May 29, 2020, Portland Police and partner agencies have been subjected to repeated violence by a group of motivated and well-organized individuals. These individuals have stated they intend to kill or injure officers and destroy occupied buildings and dwellings. Threats to commit acts of violence have been scrawled on police facilities and other property. Crowds have chanted slogans about burning down buildings on their way to attempt to do that.

Rioters lit County offices on fire in a building which houses hundreds of inmates and public employees, as well as the Portland Police Central Precinct. Rioters barricaded doors shut at North Precinct and East Precinct and attempted to light the building on fire with employees and civilians inside. Officers have been attacked with rocks, glass bottles, frozen water bottles, lasers capable of causing permanent eye damage, ball bearings and sharp objects launched from slingshots, paint balloons (to render their face shields useless) as well as fire bombs, large fireworks, and other items.

Police officers have not been the only ones whose safety has been threatened during civil unrest in the city. Numerous community members have been assaulted, one person has been murdered, firearms have been discharged, and neighborhoods such as Kenton have been endangered by fires set in the streets and at the Portland Police Association office. Neighbors have been threatened and intimidated by people engaged in the nightly violence. Businesses have suffered losses from arson, vandalism and mass theft.

CS gas is a tool which has been used sparingly in the last 104 nights. We want to clear up a misconception that it is being used as crowd control. It is not. It is being used to disperse crowds only when there is a life safety event. Most recently, it was used to disperse a crowd from which a Molotov cocktail was thrown at officers and ended up injuring a community member who was on fire. We understand that this gas seeped into nearby homes and that is not something we desire. However, the community should be asking the rioters why they are committing violence that threatens the very lives of others nearby. When people gather lawfully, peacefully, there is no need for intervention by police, much less the use of CS gas. That is evident from several nights, even within the last 104 days, when people gathered and police had no need to interact to prevent crime or restore order. In fact, that happens all the time in Portland.

There are those who suggest police do not even respond to these crowd events. Many times, we do try not to. In the past, crowds have come to our precincts, vandalized cars, gates, security cameras, etc. and police do not confront the crowd. When this occurs, the crowd escalates and does something such as light a building on fire so police will have to engage them.

Banning the lawful use of CS will make it very difficult to address this kind of violence without resorting to much higher levels of physical force, with a correspondingly elevated risk of serious injury to members of the public and officers. CS, while effective, is a significantly lower level of force than impact weapons, which would very likely be necessary to disperse riotous groups with its prohibition. We do not want to use gas. We do not want to use any force.

There remains an expectation that police will make arrests for crimes committed in civil disturbance events. The inability to use CS means this task will require higher levels of force to accomplish.

This is at odds with Portland Police Bureau Directive 1010.00, which states in relevant part:

The community expects and the Portland Police Bureau requires that members use only the objectively reasonable force necessary to perform their duties and overcome the threat or resistance of the subject under the totality of the circumstances.

To make an arrest in the middle of a crowd intent on destruction and injuring people, it takes considerable resources--large numbers of officers that we do not have. Not only do we not have enough PPB officers to respond in this manner, our area partners have stated they will not come to our aid, given the climate in Portland.

Police need all kinds of tools and resources to effectively respond to violence perpetrated by groups of people. Lately, it seems more tools have been taken away than added. There has been mention of research into alternative methods that may prevent the need for greater force. The Police Bureau is in favor of research, but research takes time. Removing tools without well vetted alternatives, with policies and training in place prior to their use, places police and community members at risk. No one has presented a solution of how officers can stop a rioting group who are threatening the lives of those present, especially given that in most of these cases, officers are clearly outnumbered, sometimes by hundreds.

Arson, vandalism, and violence are not going to drive change in this community. A Police Bureau without the necessary tools to protect its own members, or the community it serves, will not successfully help create the space for real change agents to do the hard work they hope to accomplish.

###PPB###

*************

Media Relations:
PPBPIO@portlandoregon.gov
Phone: 503-823-0830
1111 SW 2nd Ave
Portland, OR 97204

History of militant activism

artappraiser — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 08:20:51 +0000

In reply to 100 Days of Protest: A Chasm Grows Between Portland and The Rest of Oregon

History of militant activism keeps Portland protests alive - Los Angeles Times https://t.co/GD1DtohGCP
— Frederick Fiddmont (@fkfidd) September 9, 2020

From the Harvard study

rmrd0000 — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 03:52:24 +0000

In reply to cmon get outta here, what

From the Harvard study

Anticipating critics who suggest that the lack of an increase could be due to a lag between actual infection and symptoms that wasn’t picked up in the study’s timeframe, Lazer said: “These protests began over two months ago. If the protests were driving the spread, this would be more than enough time to observe the spread well beyond just the protesters to the broader communities.”

Its fucking unbelievable that

artappraiser — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 03:31:39 +0000

In reply to cmon get outta here, what

Its fucking unbelievable that you seem to want to defend these brats who think they own the streets of a black neighborhood where they don't live!

cmon get outta here, what

artappraiser — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 03:29:33 +0000

In reply to (CNN)Despite warnings from

cmon get outta here, what nonsense to even bring that up, those still out there protesting night after night Portland club kid anarchists from other nabes,who SURELY haven't had contact tracing done on them, in that particular video have about as much to do with caring about black lives as Trump. That study was done long ago and used the big peaceful protests where everyone wore masks. As the videos show, they don't even give a shit about the black lives in that neighborhood, if they did they wouldnt be harassing them about trying to go about their lives instead of hanging around on the street all night.

If they wanted to do some good they should all be wearing masks and asking the ladies why they weren't wearing theirs, and give them one. If they really respected black lives instead of bored yuppie lives.

(CNN)Despite warnings from

rmrd0000 — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 03:21:00 +0000

In reply to Meanwhile half ot the people

(CNN)Despite warnings from public health officials, new research suggests Black Lives Matterprotests across the country have not led to a jump in coronavirus cases.

A new study, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, used data on protests from more than 300 of the largest US cities, and found no evidence that coronavirus cases grew in the weeks following the beginning of the protests.

In fact, researchers determined that social distancing behaviors actually went up after the protests -- as people tried to avoid the protests altogether. But obviously, these demonstrations caused a decrease in social distancing among actual protesters.

"Our findings suggest that any direct decrease in social distancing among the subset of the population participating in the protests is more than offset by increasing social distancing behavior among others who may choose to shelter-at-home and circumvent public places while the protests are underway," the report reads.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/24/us/coronavirus-cases-protests-black-lives-matter-trnd/index.html

Edit to add:

Subsequent study

The racial justice protests earlier this summer were not the driving force behind a spike in U.S. COVID-19 infections that some public health officials feared they would be, perhaps because the marches were outdoors where it is harder for the virus to spread, according to one of the first studies to examine a possible link.

David Lazer is university distinguished professor of political science and computer and information sciences with joint appointments in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

A new survey by researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern, and Rutgers universities covered nearly 40,000 people who participated in national demonstrations against police brutality and white supremacy. Protesters were disproportionately younger individuals whose lives were profoundly disrupted by the pandemic in fundamental ways, such as lost work or reduced wages.

https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/08/11/racial-justice-protests-were-not-a-major-cause-of-covid-19-infection-surges-new-national-study-finds/

Meanwhile half ot the people

artappraiser — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 02:31:56 +0000

In reply to Some inside Portland, too:

Meanwhile half ot the people in the videos are screaming without masks on, several of them up close and personal, spittle flying at each other's faces, and even I didn't think of that until now. Shame on me but much more shame on them. Not wearing a mask is like "no lives matter," all of it reeks of idiocy. Accomplishing far less than zero.

At least people who catch it while singing in church are trying to do something positive.