The noise before defeat: Portland's response to the civil unrest associated with the murder of George Floyd
Sun Tzu is alleged to have said, ‘Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat’. Regardless of attribution, this was the position the Portland Police Bureau found itself in when addressing the unrest and civil disorder which occurred d...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2025
|
| In: |
Routledge international handbook of policing crises and emergencies
Year: 2025, Pages: 294-309 |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Summary: | Sun Tzu is alleged to have said, ‘Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat’. Regardless of attribution, this was the position the Portland Police Bureau found itself in when addressing the unrest and civil disorder which occurred during the summer of 2020. In the middle of a crisis, policing was being asked to somehow change itself to better align with current sensibilities in a politically divided nation which had not answered that question for itself, while solving societal issues around race, which have plagued the county since its inception, and to accomplish this while stemming disorder and violence occurring in the moment. Consistent with the national response, the city chose to respond with a series of tactical actions, relying on the police to solve issues which were far beyond their scope or capabilities. While the larger implications of this event are still unfolding, this chapter seeks to explore the response of the city of Portland and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) to this civil unrest. Recognising that the tactical response of the PPB had only a marginal impact on how events unfolded, this document will focus less on specific events and tactics and instead attempts to draw out larger, more universal implications regarding the city of Portland’s response both during and prior to the civil unrest. Addressing this challenge can be broken down into two phases: What can a city government do before unrest occurs? What can a city government do when unrest is occurring? This chapter uses the PPB and the city of Portland as a case study to explore these questions. A rough outline of what the answer to each question will be is included here: What can an agency do before unrest occurs? Work with community leaders to identify a desired end state(s) for protests, civil disturbances, and riots (these are three different phenomena). Develop the relationships necessary to bring in external stakeholders during the event to support tactics and strategies which will help achieve the desired end state. Develop policing capacity to manage these events without adding fuel to the fire. Develop an internal policing culture with sufficient agility to change behaviours which contribute to negative community-police relationships. Do not screw up (i.e. first, do no harm). Simply doing a better job of policing will minimise the number of incidents which cause community concern. What can a city government do when unrest is occurring? Work with protestors who are willing to cooperate with the government, with the goal of enabling them to engage in constitutionally protected free speech in a non-destructive manner. Employ tactics which support a strategy designed to bring about the end state identified in question number 1, while having an internal policing culture which can recognise the necessity of these tactics. Do not screw up (i.e. first, do no harm). Simply doing a better job of policing will minimise the number of incidents which cause community concern. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 306-309 |
| ISBN: | 9781032207872 |
