Blogtown, PDX

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

News Crowd Control Control

Posted by Matt Davis on Tue, May 1 at 11:08 AM

Portland Police should stop using pepper spray, rubber bullets and horses to control crowds at first amendment protests, according to a report issued today by the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center (NWCRC).

The center, which was founded in 2005 using part of the City’s $800,000 settlement related to excessive force complaints during the 2002-3 anti-Bush/anti-War protests, is also calling for the cops to stop photographing and videotaping protestors and placing plainclothes officers in crowds during protests.

You can download the report, which contains a chronology of police tactics in public protests over the last ten years, as a word document by clicking here.

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Comments

So Matt, are they advocating for no crowd control at all? Seems like they are opposed to all the less than lethal measures the cops can take.

Posted by Dave Lister | May 1, 2007 1:02 PM

I see where you're coming from Dave, but they're actually advocating against pepper spray, horses and non-lethal ammunition.

There's a difference. Give me a minute and I'll do another blog post to show you what I mean.

Posted by Matt Davis | May 1, 2007 1:30 PM

Technically, those things (pepper spray, tear gas, tazers, etc.) are called "less-lethal", because they can and do occasionally kill people.

Posted by no one in particular | May 1, 2007 2:04 PM

Why would any legal law-abiding protesters be worried about being photographed or videotaped by the police - protesters certainly don't mind the added attention of being photographed or taped by the news media (and the police can get there hands on that easily enough) - if you aren't doing anything illegal then whats the problem? Seems to me if the protesters are innocently gathering they would welcome having the proof...but I guess videotaping would seriously limit any peaceful protester's ability to get away with throwing bottles, breaking windows, and generally trashing the protest area.

I love the beautiful outdoors of Oregon - I grew up next to Milk Creek & Clear Creek in gorgeous Clackamas County - and I want it preserved the best it can be - but I certainly wish that there was videotape rolling everytime some hypocritcal tree-hugging 'environmentalist' fills our sky with toxic black smoke by burning log trucks in protest of logging.

I would think that protesters would welcome the attention and the chance to weed out the few idiotic individuals that thoughtlessly work hard to give protesting a bad name.

Joel - Orange County, Texas &
Clackamas County, Oregon

Posted by Joel | May 2, 2007 9:39 AM

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