Portland Police to Wear Helmets with 3-Digit Identification

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Portland Police Bureau will make it easier to identify officers during crowd control events like protests in response to public feedback.

KOIN reports the bureau said Friday it will assign each officer a three-digit number which will be displayed on their helmets during events. Officers currently wear lengthy personnel numbers instead of name tags, which can be difficult for people to see or remember.

Officers wear the personal identification numbers instead of name tags to prevent something known as doxxing.

"Doxxing involves publishing or making public personal information about an individual, such as addresses, phone numbers, and associates, for example," the PPB said in a statement.

"There have been concerns about the safety of officers and their families because of doxxing-related threats."

The PPB said it's also moved five officers off of crowd management duties while investigators look into reports made by community members. Such cases are handled by the Independent Police Review as well as the Professional Standards Division.

The agency did not report any new arrests early Saturday due to overnight activities.

Work on the three-digit number system for officer helmets is underway and the PPB said the project will be finished by Nov. 15.

The bureau said it will eventually embroider officers' last names on their uniforms in place of the small metal name tags they currently wear.

Officers will also be given a name badge for their uniforms with their new three-digit numbers to use in crowd management situations. These changes will happen as quickly as the police budget allows, according to the PPB.