Over the objection of the city’s police chief and mayor, Portland, Oregon’s city council on Wednesday narrowly voted to stop cooperating with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), citing alleged surveillance of left-wing activists and arguing that the partnership between local officials and federal authorities was ultimately ineffective.
Law enforcement officials said a similar decision by San Francisco officials in 2017 had endangered the public, and that the New York City Police Department’s membership in the JTTF has directly helped foil numerous terrorists, including would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad.
Portland, a virulently left-wing city, has had a rocky relationship with the JTTF. The cityjoined the partnership in the 1990s, left shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and signed back up in 2015.
The latest split with the JTTF was a narrow one, with Mayor Ted Wheeler — who muttered late last year that he “can’t wait” to leave his job — and another commissioner voicing support for the law enforcement coalition. Portland’s ironically named police chief, Danielle Outlaw, said the partnership ultimately benefited both thet city and the FBI, and repeatedly sought to downplay fears that local officials would share immigration information with the JTTF.- READ MORE