Portland aims to fight crime with unarmed park rangers

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The city’s decision to hire unarmed park rangers instead of more police is being widely criticized by those in law enforcement. Several rangers said they are not trained or equipped to intervene during armed conflicts. Jim Ferraris, president of the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police, served as a longtime officer in Portland and as a chief in a suburban police department. He says the Portland Police Bureau is one of the most understaffed department’s in the country and hiring park rangers won’t reduce gun violence.

“Park rangers aren’t really going to have an impact,” said Ferraris. “That’s not what they’re trained for, that’s not what they’re hired for, that’s not what they signed up for. They don’t even have ballistic vests for protection.”

Park rangers are equipped only with pepper spray and a radio. On April 3, two rangers were patrolling Chapman Square Park in downtown Portland where a man on a bike had just been hit with a round fired from a paintball gun. The rangers were confronted by the suspect and chased out of the park. The man carried a machete and threatened to kill the rangers. Once they fled to safety, the rangers called police who came and arrested the suspect.

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