Portland police give public safety update after meeting with Kristi Noem

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After Portland police and other Oregon law enforcement agencies met with visiting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday, Chief Bob Day is issuing a public safety update about the circumstances surrounding Noem’s visit.

The visit comes amid ongoing protests outside the Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and a court-challenged directive from the Trump administration to send National Guard troops into the Rose City.

Noem also visited with Oregon Governor Tina Kotek on Tuesday before going into the ICE facility itself, briefly appearing on the roof of the South Portland building.

During the press conference held just after 5 p.m., Day thanked Secretary Noem for meeting with him and other law enforcement officials, saying, “Communication is the first step to resolving our differences.”

“We anticipate there may be some more public order events throughout the course of the day,” Day said.

Watch the entire press conference in the video player below:

By 10 p.m., the streets surrounding the ICE facility were still blocked off. No protesters were in front of the building. However, a couple of blocks east of the facility, behind the caution tape on South Bancroft Street, a small group of protesters was seen gathered on the street, some of them in inflatable animal costumes.

In addition, Portland police confirmed that just after 10:15 p.m., officers were looking for a possible assault suspect who was in the crowd, then ran away, and jumped into the Willamette River and tried to swim across it. They are currently investigating and pursuing the suspect, a police spokesperson told KOIN 6 News. Earlier in the day, two other arrests were made in the South Portland area, police said.

Just before 11 p.m., KOIN 6 News crews also observed a considerable presence of Oregon State Police troopers near the crowd of people on South Bancroft Street.

During the media briefing earlier Tuesday evening, Day thanked other law enforcement agencies that are assisting from the surrounding tri-county Portland metro area.

When asked what the tone of the meeting with Noem was like, Day said there were clearly some differences of opinion between her and local law enforcement. However, they remained professional and discussed different ways of reducing conflict and dissonance near the Portland ICE facility for the sake of public safety.

“The reality is, there’s a great deal of responsibility that comes with this position, and I do not feel defeated. I’m actually encouraged by the continued opportunity we have as a city to step forward and create a different narrative,” Day said.

Police have the surrounding streets cordoned off near the ICE facility, which Day said is standard practice for visiting dignitaries. However, he could not say how long the area would remain sectioned off.

Chief Day acknowledged there had been crimes taking place, including property destruction and assaults, outside the ICE facility during protests, particularly during the month of June. Day said police responded by making a number of arrests, nearly 40 since June, and continue to remain actively engaged. However, he said the unrest and crime had declined significantly in the past few months. Only in the past 10 days has the “energy level” gone up, once again, during protests, Day said.

Chief Day also acknowledged what he saw as the need for more police officers to address the public safety needs of Portland, city-wide.

Noem also met with Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, who later released a statement saying in part he found federal agents’ tactics at the ICE facility were “troubling and likely unconstitutional” and asking that federal agents be held accountable “to the same high standards we require of the Portland Police Bureau.”

Secretary Noem also spoke out about her visit to Portland, saying:

“This Mayor is going to wait until somebody gets violently hurt or killed. He’s going to have blood on his hands because he sat around and thought too long, because he’s too scared of the political ramifications of making a big decision to keep his city safe,” Noem said, as quoted in a Department of Homeland Security post on X.

This all comes after President Donald Trump directed National Guard troops into Oregon, which has been twice challenged in federal court. The back-to-back federal decisions granted the State of Oregon a temporary restraining order to stop National Guard troops from starting a mission in Portland.

Gov. Kotek also asked the U.S. Northern Command to enforce the restraining order by demobilizing National Guard members from both Oregon and California, who are staging in respective camps in Oregon, and send them back home.

The Trump administration is appealing the restraining order decision, which will be heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday.

Mayor Wilson’s full statement on Secretary Noem’s visit is below:

“Like Governor Kotek and Chief Day, I met with Secretary Noem today to pursue community priorities about federal actions and public safety in Portland.

“We continue to ask the federal government for engineers for roads and bridges, funding for schools, and resources for our healthcare system. What Secretary Noem saw today in Portland matches our reports: Portland continues to manage public safety professionally and responsibly, irrespective of the claims of out-of-state social media influencers.

“I continue to maintain that the tactics used by federal agents at the ICE facility are troubling and likely unconstitutional. In terms of recent rhetoric, we still do not know what ‘Full Force’ against Portland means, or how the administration plans to use our city as a military ‘training ground.’ Because of these deeply concerning situational unknowns, I intend to explore options to protect our community and our right to free expression.

“In the meantime, I will continue to demand that Federal officers operating in our city adhere to the same high standards we require of the Portland Police Bureau. We believe a constitutional federal government must be accountable to the community in terms of clear limits on use of force, officer identification, limits on chemical munitions, and body-worn cameras. The Federal Protective Service lists its core values as service, integrity, honor, and vigilance. It is time for the Federal Protective Service to return to those values.

“As Mayor, it is my responsibility to protect our community from the federal government’s increasingly unpredictable and escalating actions that we continue to face. Portland will continue the hard work of protecting our community, keeping our streets safe, and defending the right to peaceful protest. I welcome federal partnership that is transparent, accountable, and aligned with Portland’s standards.”