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How Portland police prepared for election night protests, potential violence

Local agencies are preparing in case violence breaks out election night or in the coming days.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has been preparing for potential violence and protests for months ahead of Tuesday night’s election, and they won’t be alone. Voters likely won’t know the results of many races until the next couple of days for final counts to be tallied.

While Portland business have been putting up boards over the last few days, bracing for any potential unrest following election night, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said a plan has been in the works for more than a year.

“We have been preparing for (this) since I came on board last September; I made this (a) priority immediately and added additional staff,” said Day.

His officers have been getting prepared, too, with Day making sure they are well trained.

“We’ve also done a tremendous amount of training just on the ground with our members around mobile field forces, which are patrol response, as well as the rapid response team,” added Day.

Local agencies have also been working with state agencies. At the Emergency Coordination Center in Salem, they are preparing to work with groups from all over state.

“We have four different elevation levels for the ECC activation: Level Four is our steady state operation level (and) Three is a preparedness level,” said Erin McMahon, the director of the Department of Emergency Management. McMahon said they’ll be operating at Level Three on election night.

McMahon said her team will be able to provide help right from its emergency coordination center. That help includes assistance from the Oregon State Fire Marshal and Oregon State Police, if needed.

Police said they are monitoring several "direct action" gatherings planned for Tuesday evening at Chapman Square.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee has activated some Washington National Guard members to be on standby just in case they need to help local law enforcement. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has that same authority to deploy the Oregon National Guard, but at this time, has not activated them.

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