The Portland Police Department has exceeded its overtime payment for officers by $5.3 million, and it’s coming out of taxpayers’ pockets.
Police have been heavily involved in the arrests, terrorization, and management of protests across the nation. But in Portland, Oregon, in particular, police have overdrawn their overtime pay by $5,351,383 from May 25 through July 22, according to KPTV-FOX 12. In addition, officers have garnered a collective compensation time that costs roughly $1.2 million, which is on top of the officers’ regular salaries, Fox News reports. July 22 was the last day of the department’s most recent pay cycle.
The outlet reports that on Thursday, Oregon State Police switched assignment areas with federal agents who were overseeing Portland’s downtown area. The federal agents were watching over the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Federal Courthouse and the Justice Center despite the city and elected officials encouraging them not to. Portland has been in civil unrest for 60 straight nights as people have taken to the streets in support of #BlackLivesMatter following the murder of #GeorgeFloyd.
Federal agents have caused havoc by igniting fights, kidnapping protesters and shooting demonstrators with “less than lethal” munition. Peaceful protests have also been infiltrated by masked people wearing all black that have incited violence and destruction across the city. Fox News reports that Thursday’s protest wasn’t as violent, saying some infiltrators “lit small fires along sidewalks on surrounding blocks and attempted to light fires inside the fence at the federal courthouse,” according to police.
Two people were arrested Wednesday night into the early morning of Thursday. The protest started with several hundred people gathering along Southwest 3rd Avenue by the federal courthouse. Traffic was reportedly blocked and backed up for hours.
