Portland police chief resigns amid George Floyd protests

SALEM, Ore. —  Portland’s police chief resigned Monday, just six months into her job, amid criticism of her department’s handling of protests in Oregon’s largest city. An African American lieutenant on the force replaced her.

The shakeup came as police have been sharply criticized for using what has been called inappropriate force against some protesters as huge demonstrations continue in Portland.

“To say this was unexpected would be an understatement,” new Police Chief Chuck Lovell said at a news conference. “I’m humbled. I’m going to listen. I’m going to care about the community, and I’m looking forward to this journey.”

He and community leaders of color credited Jami Resch, a white woman, for stepping down as George Floyd protests roiled the city.

Resch said at the news conference that Lovell is “the exact right person at the exact right moment” to lead the police department.

She had replaced Danielle Outlaw, who was Portland’s first African American female police chief and who became Philadelphia police commissioner in February.

Resch said she suggested the shakeup to Mayor Ted Wheeler, who said he supported Lovell’s leadership of the department as it undergoes needed reforms.

“We need Chief Lovell’s leadership,” Wheeler said at the news conference. “We must reimagine reform and rebuild what public safety looks like.”

Lovell served as Outlaw’s executive assistant. Under Resch, he led a new Community Services Division that included the Behavioral Health Unit, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The unit’s mission, according to its web page, is to aid people in crisis resulting from mental illness and/or drug and alcohol addiction.

Resch said she will stay with the department in a different role.

Demonstrators held two peaceful George Floyd protests in Portland but a third one that lasted until the early hours of Monday resulted in at least 20 arrests, with some demonstrators throwing objects at police, who fired tear gas and sponge-tipped projectiles.

Full beverage containers, glass bottles, hard-boiled eggs and rocks were thrown or lobbed at officers using slingshots, police said in a statement Monday. A medic who was working with the officers was hit in the stomach with a rock.

The protest turned violent at the Justice Center in downtown Portland.

The ACLU of Oregon has called on Portland police to end the use of tear gas, impact weapons and flash-bang devices.

“We join the protesters in calling for a new approach in our community, and demanding that we uphold the rights of people who have historically had their rights and humanity denied,” the rights group said Sunday.

Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who is African American, slammed the recent police response to some protests.

“I’m incredibly troubled by the excessive force used nightly by PDX police since the protests began,” she said. “The videos and painful firsthand accounts of community members getting tear-gassed and beaten by police for exercising their 1st Amendment rights should be concerning for us all.”

Lovell’s appointment does not require City Council approval, Wheeler’s spokeswoman Eileen Park said.

Police say they have encouraged peaceful protests, but violent groups often come out at night and engage in mayhem.