PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland mayor Ted Wheeler has made his agenda clear this month that he wants to restaff the Portland Police Bureau, with promises of signing bonuses up to $25,000 for new PPB employees that could include officers or PS3 recruits.
KOIN 6 News spoke with the PPB sergeant in charge of recruiting about exactly what a “PS3” is.
That sergeant wanted to be really clear that these PS3 positions are not replacements for uniformed officers. Instead, they function more as a support staff.
According to PPB, a PS3 is unarmed and doesn’t respond to emergency calls where there is a suspect on the loose or active danger. They are there to take reports and get information.
The mayor says he wants to hire 100 PS3 recruits.
“I want to believe that there are a lot of people who want to come and serve. I think the nuance of being a PS3 is something we should really start to communicate to the public. You’re not an officer. we’re not asking you to put on a gun, we’re not asking you to put on a badge. we’re asking you to go out and help the community,” PPB sergeant Trevor Tyler said.
At a time when PPB is dealing with record crime, particularly violent crime, the idea is that this could free up officers to concentrate on those higher priority calls while still having someone there to take reports on lower priority crimes such as stolen items.