Thursday’s Oregonian attempted to answer the “how much is #Occupy costing us, anyway?” question for Portland taxpayers, focusing on Police Bureau overtime. I’m sure we’ll see Parks Department estimates on repair and reseeding and replanting the park campgrounds very shortly as well. For now, though, the paper provides some numbers about sworn officer presence on Mayor Sam Adams’ “Outta the Park!” wee hours street-fair and compares last year’s under-budget overtime expenditure with this half-years’ slightly high usage:

The city budgeted $7.77 million for police overtime in the 2011-12 fiscal year. As of the bureau’s last pay period ending Nov. 9 it has spent more than $3.5 million, Del Gizzi said.

But that figure doesn’t include the full $1.29 million in estimated overtime costs for policing the Occupy Portland movement, covering the bureau’s early planning days Oct. 1 through Monday.

Of course, those overtime expenses were necessary given the scary and unpredictable #Occupation the Portland Police Bureau was faced with, right? For an objective viewpoint, the reporter seeks out Mayoral ex-candidate, Police Chief Mike Reese, to justify his force’s huge overtime presence:

On the following Monday, Police Chief Mike Reese defended the police deployment. “In terms of keeping the peace, it was appropriate, and I don’t know how you put a dollar amount on that,” he said.

Next, though, we learn that a demonstration and march with no police presence turned out to require none after all (my bold):

The high costs stand in stark contrast to last weekend, when the bureau didn’t incur overtime as it changed course and decided not to provide police coverage for Occupy Portland’s march for universal health care, which remained peaceful.

So, the dollar amount Chief Reese can put on police overtime required to keep the peace when #Occupiers peaceably assemble to petition our government for redress of legitimate health care grievances is… ZERO. That makes #OccupyPortland’s point about Mayor Sam’s Deadline Countdown Party without really trying:

Occupy Portland protesters have said the massive police presence was unnecessary and a result of poor police management.

This round, like so many in Portland’s #Occupy debate, goes to the #Occupiers. The police presence, with its skyrocketing “associated overtime” costs, appears to be an entirely self-inflicted wound to the city’s coffers.

When there’s no police presence, marches are peaceful. And city payroll costs can be contained. There’s a lesson here; will Portland civic leaders learn it?

Apparently, using a false rape response delay tale to blame the #Occupiers for your police force’s inability to answer actual emergencies is enough to abort your nascent campaign for mayor.

Portland police Chief Mike Reese announced by press release this afternoon that he’s not going to run for mayor – less than two days after he issued an apology for blaming Occupy Portland on live TV last week for a police delay to a rape victim’s call.

Let’s summarize the errors so far: rush onto television just as his militarized troops pepper-sprayed a five-foot-tall woman being pushed into the street by mounted horses — but folds his budding mayoral campaign via press release. Shows up at the Urban League in his Police Chief’s uniform and then stands when all political candidates for public office are asked to — despite the clear law against campaigning in uniform. Numerous errors and missteps handling #Occupy and NC17 protesters, including the iconic photo of police pepper-spray brutality, until it was eclipsed by Lt. Pike’s video debut at UCDavis. Then, Reese ends his campaign via press release.

Clearly, Reese isn’t ready to be Mayor.

The real question now, though, isn’t whether Chief Mike Reese should be Mayor. The question Portlanders need to ask after these missteps following his overall mishandling of the #Occupy and NC17 events is this : Should Mike Reese continue as Chief?

Yesterday, just as The Oregonian photographer captured the now-iconic photo of a Portland riot police officer directing a forceful spray of mace directly in the face of an #OccupyPortland demonstrator, Portland Police Bureau Chief and likely mayoral candidate Mike Reese claimed, during an interview with a reporter, that #OccupyPortland was interfering in police response for Portland citizens, citing a rape report that couldn’t be attended to for three hours. Shocking, and horrifying, if true:

Reese, speaking live to a KGW reporter Thursday afternoon while Occupy Portland’s march on downtown banks continued to unfold, was asked how the Occupy events were distracting police from other crimes in the area.

Reese responded: “You know that’s a great question. I appreciate you asking because we are reducing our patrol response. Many days, like today, we’re taking emergency calls only for service. For example, we had a rape victim stand by for 3 hours until we could get an officer to take a report, and that makes all of us very sad.”

KGW: For three hours?

Reese: Three hours

KGW: And that’s directly related because there wasn’t enough staff, because they’ve been doing other things with Occupy Portland?’

Reese: Correct

The Police Bureau is now “clarifying” that, in fact, there was no rape ongoing, the call came in on November 6th (not a demonstration day) and that the victim was reporting a crime committed two days previously. Read the rest of this entry →

The very beginning of our Portland Occupation, showing a bit of the size of the crowd, some more creative signage from fellow Occupiers, and the protective cordon Public Works installed to protect Portland’s just-grown-in Waterfront lawns.

(Please also see Cocktailhag’s great diary here. On any photo, click to embiggen)

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Portland Police announced, via local news media, that midnight-camping regulations have been suspended, and no one will be arrested for overnight camping in downtown Portland parks tonight. This is how our police bureau rewards good behavior, which everyone was on today for #OccupyPortland.

More scenes and signs from today’s march, below. News media continue to talk about 4,000 to 5,000 but it seemed like lots more people to me.

(Please also see Cocktailhag’s great diary here.)

And this was the most poignant sign of the entire bunch today, so I edited the photo to show it better:

News media in Portland report 4,000 to 5,000 people marched from the waterfront, through Old Town, up Burnside to Broadway, to Pioneer Courthouse Square and thence to Chapman Square in the heart of Portland’s financial district. Some Occupiers are still in place there; others are returning to the waterfront for a long occupation. Portland police bureau spokespersons are quoted on the local news saying they “won’t draw any lines in the sand” with regard to no-camping regulations that begin at midnight.

No arrests.

No property damage.

No confrontations with police.

Some crowd shots and pictures of creative signs….

(Please also see Cocktailhag’s great diary here.)

Read the rest of this entry →