BEND, OR -- A protest and a counter-protest took place in Portland Saturday, and Bend Police Department was on hand to help. Bend Police Chief, Jim Porter, says the agencies always try to help when they hear of a need. "When they requested assistance, we were able to provide 5 officers, a Sergeant, and a Lieutenant. their main function will be to act as a backup element to Portland's Emergency Services Team." He says Portland needed help from several agencies, because they have a very active populace. "People are willing to get out and protest, and march. And sometimes, it's a challenging environment to police in."

Porter says some complain about Bend's tax dollars going to help Portland, but Portland's tax dollars are spent here in Bend when they help with training. "We're a small state, we all have limited resources, limited equipment, and limited staffing, and the more we can share this expertise, and share the equipment, the more it actually saves tax dollars, and also it makes it a safer environment." He says, every police agency steps up whenever another calls for help, and in the end, that saves the taxpayers money. "We often share resources so we save tax dollars, we share equipment, saving tax dollars, and this is another one of those cases, where they needed extra assistance, so we were more than willing to go up there and help them with their needs."

The protests were well attended, and Porter says being part of keeping everyone safe is rather a thankless job in situations like that. "It's just the nature of the beast in what we do, and it's specifically amplified in the Portland Metro area, the negativeness that comes toward the law enforcement up there. No matter what Portland does, either they not going to act quick enough, or they're going to act too quickly, depending on which side of the street you're standing on."

Two people were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center, nine were criminally cited and released, and two juveniles were referred to the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice Juvenile Services Division. 

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