Lars Larson: Cops let felon lose (as to not hurt him)

By Lars Larson
NW and national radio host,

I’ll bet you thought it was the job of cops to arrest dangerous people when they show up in your neighborhood.

Yeah, me too.

But that’s not what happened Monday in Northwest Portland.

Officers showed up in one of the Rose City’s toniest shopping and restaurant districts to arrest a guy wanted on three felony charges.

Only the guy didn’t like that idea, so he threatened officers with a knife and assaulted them with pepper spray.

Old-fashioned folks like me might think that would GUARANTEE his arrest.

But no…not in woke Portland, where de-escalation is the order of the day.

After a long standoff, cops backed off. They left a guy dangerous enough that he would threaten officers, loose in the neighborhood.

They announced to reporters that they’ll come back later.

One police commander, Brian Hughes, says they choose to make the arrest when the felon is less likely to suffer injury.

Call me a Neanderthal, but I care less about injuries to criminal suspects than I do about the dangers it poses to the law-abiding citizens of a neighborhood…who pay their taxes to fund police protection they’re not getting.

Maybe police should worry more about the damage it does to the already bruised reputation of local law enforcement.

That’s the Rose City Rap. Join me at noon on KXL for 4 hours of Honestly provocative talk.