At the height of the 2020 riots, major cities across America were being hammered by violence. Black Lives Matter and their allies Antifa were destroying homes, businesses, and entire communities. What made the problem worse was that the Democrats who ran many of those cities were on their side. They even embraced one of their major demands: the defunding of police departments.
Portland, Oregon might have seen the worst of it. While protestors set up a shantytown in Seattle, they were torching a federal courthouse in Portland. Antifa and other anti-police activists rioted for over 100 nights straight. The mayor pretended to be on their side, but they weren’t fooled. He even fled his home downtown, because they kept assaulting it.
Ted Wheeler continued to beat the “defund” drum, putting rioters and looters ahead of residents. Now, it appears he has seen the light.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, is asking the city council to inject more than $5 million in new investment into the city’s police force. The move comes about a year after “defund the police” protests led the city to slash its police budget.
Mayor Ted Wheeler made the announcement at a press conference Wednesday. “Many Portlanders no longer feel safe in their city,” Wheeler said. “Business owners have closed up shop for fear of doing business in high risk areas. Commuters fear for their safety, whether taking public transport or going by foot. Parents are scared to let their children play outside.” [Source: Daily Wire]
After embracing the insane defund the police movement, Ted Wheeler of Portland is asking his city to provide over $5 million to the police department. He claimed he was doing this for business owners who no longer feel safe in the city, as well as commuters and other residents who can’t even go about their daily lives.
Hmm… I wonder how many people had to be assaulted before Wheeler did this? It’s been over a year since the “defund” movement started. How many police reports of vandalism, robbery, and other violent crime had to overwhelm the city, before Wheeler finally made this announcement?
Or perhaps he did this, because of the fallout of Tuesday’s election?
With that additional money, Wheeler hopes police can procure much-needed equipment, like body cams. He also wants to add new cops to the force, after 200 officers left in 2020 alone.
And he’s not stopping there. Wheeler is willing to provide a $25,000 signing bonus for the first 50 officers who sign up. He also wants to bring back 25 officers who retired early.
That is a significant turnaround of policy. Perhaps the biggest we’ve seen yet. Many cities have tried to fix their horrible decisions to defund police, after crime exploded. But Wheeler is willing to spend big bucks to bring cops back, and reduce the crime rates of Portland. Just the homicide rate alone spiked last year, increasing by 83%.
Hopefully, more liberal cities will follow Wheeler’s lead.
Author: James Anderson
