Despite the efforts by leftists and rioters in Portland, Oregon, to bash police, a new poll released Thursday found that a near-majority of Oregon voters think police should use more force in confronting protesters.
DHM Research conducted a poll between September 3 to 8, 2020. “Nearly half of the participants said they lived in either Multnomah, Clackamas or Washington counties. Another quarter of them live elsewhere in the Willamette Valley and the rest are from other parts of the state,” Oregon Live noted.
42% of respondents felt the police should use more force; another 18% felt the force currently used was fine with them.
66% of Oregonians disapproved of the protests. “Voters ages 18-29 are the only group to approve of the protests, with 62% saying that they approve compared to 33% who disapprove,” DHM Research pointed out.
Only 10% of respondents approved of Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown’s response to the protests, and even that was better than the 8% of respondents who approved of leftist Democrat Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s response. 46% of Oregon voters approved of the Portland police response to the ongoing protests and 45% disapproved.
DHM Research stated, “At the end of the survey, we asked voters what word is a more accurate description of the events in Portland: 55% said riot and 37% said protest.”
“This survey comes after a separate survey of 435 Portland voters published Tuesday showed Wheeler drew an unfavorable rating of 63%, around three-quarters of respondents said they supported the Black Lives Matter movement and close to 70% said they supported the Portland protests,” Oregon Live added.
In mid-July, Wheeler said DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf reached out to him about the unrest in Portland and asked how the federal agency could help.
“Today the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security asked to speak with me about demonstration activity in Portland. He expressed his concern about ongoing violence and asked how his agency can help,” Wheeler said.
The mayor then blamed the federal agency for the violence in Portland, tweeting, “I told the Acting Secretary that my biggest immediate concern is the violence federal officers brought to our streets in recent days, and the life-threatening tactics his agents use. We do not need or want their help.”
On Wednesday, the city of Portland — which has been decimated by rioters the last three months — banned the use of facial-recognition technology by local police.
“Its decision to prevent both local government and businesses from employing the technology appears to be the most sweeping ban yet by an individual city,” CNN reported, adding:
The new rule prevents “private entities in places of public accommodation” in Portland from using it, too, referring to businesses that serve the general public — a grocery store or a pizza place, for instance. It does not prevent individuals from setting up facial-recognition technology at home, such as a Google Nest camera that can spot familiar faces, or gadgets that use facial-recognition software for authenticating users, like Apple’s Face ID feature for unlocking an iPhone.
Wheeler stated, “Technology exists to make our lives easier, not for public and private entities to use as a weapon against the very citizens they serve and accommodate.”