Behind the scenes of PPB's Rapid Response Team training ahead of election

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Portland Police Bureau is training its Rapid Response Team in anticipation of large crowds during election time.

KOIN 6 News got an inside look at the training, which involves some new equipment.

"We've been building slowly, building through the trainings to get them to this point," said PPB Acting Assistant Chief Craig Dobson.

While the entire team is comprised of paid PPB officers, those who sign up to be part of the unit do so voluntarily, rather than being obligated. However, the 50 volunteers that make up the new team had been requested specifically by PPB leadership, officials said.

Back in June, City of Portland leaders — including Mayor Ted Wheeler and Police Chief Bob Day — announced the reformation of the Rapid Response Team. That is a specialized unit within PPB that responds to riots and other public order events.

The announcement comes after the former Rapid Response Team was disbanded in 2021 after the indictment of a fellow officer for the use of excessive force against a photojournalist during a protest.

The newly reformed unit is made up of some new faces and others who rejoined after being part of the previous iteration, such as Sergeant Sarah Kerwin, a team member since 2010.

"You know, I joined because I firmly believe in the mission of the team, and protecting everybody," Kerwin said.

When KOIN 6 observed some of the training on Friday at the police training center on Northeast Airport Way, it started in the classroom, where team members went over formations for crowd management. They were also introduced to brand new public order shields, a piece of equipment completely new to PPB.

"We are looking at integrating public order shields into this team's capabilities as an additional way to de-escalate the way we encounter conflict with folks out there who want to engage in conflict during disorder," said Commander Franz Schoening. "Shields are hopefully going to be one more tool to de-escalate that conflict."

In the months leading up to and after the last presidential election cycle, Portland streets saw a lot of protests happen. That included 100 consecutive nights of protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. But even after the 2020 election happened and into 2021, occasional demonstrations took place.

During many of those demonstrations, PPB's Rapid Response Team was a regular presence, especially when they became destructive.

The question remains: Could there be a similar level of unrest during the presidential election this year?

"There's still, I think, some residual trauma from 2020 and people don't want to see 2020 repeated, and so that's why we're preparing the way we are, so that we can ensure that we don't have another 2020," Dobson said.