Portland Police, In a Word: Compassionate

Central Precinct:

Last Friday was my first day of many, and First-Time Experience EVER, spending quality time with a pair of Portland, Oregon law enforcement professionals.
 
I’ll be honest with you, like many of us; we normally do not come into contact with our uniformed police officers very often in Portland unless we’ve done something “wrong” or you have a personal relationship with these folks. I’ll be the first to admit that when walking by or passing a uniformed police officer on the street, my heart rate increases… unwarranted, I know, it’s nothing other than my own anxiety and/or fear of the unknown… Why? Because I have not had the opportunity and I don’t know of or had any personal relationships with Portland, law enforcement officers.

Let’s Change That and Share It With Others

This is going to be a brief post because I have much to think about and digest from some of the conversations I had with Officers Richardson and Arnaut over a 6-7 hour time period. Some of the topics we raised were, of course, the importance of Community Policing and their Relationships with those in “their” Communities, but also some “advanced” “needle-moving” concepts like “Restorative Justice”, and “Who’s Going to want to Sacrifice”; how do we incentivize new appropriate talent to participate and join the Portland Police Bureau? How many of us are aware of the High-Level Education (Masters equivalent) and Training our officers receive? Are our Portland Communities aware of the Portland Police Bureau’s unique and friendly Culture in Portland; We Are Different Here! Take an Objective look around.

My Day with Officers Sgt. Richardson and Sgt. Arnaut

A quick visual recap of my Friday until I figure out how to share some of the fine points of my visit with Officers Richardson, Arnaut, and others, coming soon. So, in the meantime, here’s my pictorial of my Friday, November 11, 2016 …