Portland police union president willing to accept fed help as he criticizes anti-cop rhetoric

PORTLAND, OREGON: The president of Portland’s police union, Sgt Aaron Schmautz, has said he is willing to accept help from federal authorities to assist the understaffed agency in dealing with recent surge in crime.

President Donald Trump has also suggested sending the National Guard units to the city to protect ICE facilities, which have come under attack by protesters.

Portland’s ICE office director's statement

Camilla Wamsley, director of Portland’s ICE office, earlier told Fox News that the agency's facility has faced violence for more than 100 straight nights, alleging that the local police were instructed not to intervene. 

She said that the nightly protests involve bottle rockets striking the facility barricades blocking vehicles, and lasers targeting officers' eyes.

Portland Police Association president expresses interest in working with the feds

Sgt Aaron Schmautz, president of the Portland Police Association, on Fox News Digital, expressed interest in working with the feds to identify an approach to solve the city’s surging crime. 

He said, "Let's present what resources we have to bring to bear to accomplish that task," Schmautz said. "And if it's not sufficient, then we need help. And so, you know, again, I don't want to be drawn into a hard yes or no."

"What I want is for us all to identify the problem and work together as a whole of government to solve the problem," he added.

The Portland Police Bureau is "horrifically understaffed," at a time when some local leaders aren't supporting police, he added. "There is a lot, I mean, of just open, very, very anti-police rhetoric in our city council meetings," he said.

"We are still working our way out of a significant, you know, burst, or an expansion in our crime profile. I mean, we have, you know, our homicides went up, times five from 2020 to 2023, and we're kind of slowly receding, although we've had nine last month," he said.

Sympathy for attacked federal officers

Expressing his sympathy about the fear faced by the feds after a series of attacks, Schmautz said, "I am extraordinarily sympathetic to how concerned and afraid federal officers – I mean, there was a shooting in Dallas at an ICE facility."

He added, "There are federal officers being hit by cars. And, you know, in a world where we have different perspectives about politics, it's one thing to have policy discussions and everything else. But no one should be OK with violence directed at anyone."