Portland Chief Bars Roll Calls and Classroom Training Over Coronavirus

Portland, OR, Police Chief Jami Resch this week suspended roll call meetings and halted police classroom training. She also stopped officers from using the bureau’s shooting ranges to maintain their firearms qualifications.

Portland patrol officers can check out 2-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer at the start of their shifts, as well as four sanitary wipes to clean off their car’s steering wheel, door handles and radio to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The bureau has also distributed new canisters for officers’ gas masks, the Oregonian reports.

But the one thing officers need most of all isn’t happening, said Daryl Turner, head of the rank-and-file police union. “We need to be tested,” Turner told the Oregonian .

With Portland’s protest season approaching, Resch was asked how the bureau would respond to any demonstrations.

Given the current coronavirus statewide restrictions, the chief said, “I would highly encourage no gatherings at this point.’’