Report: Springfield police could’ve avoided protest conflict

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A new report by an expert on police use of force finds Springfield police could have adjusted their response during a July protest to avoid the conflict that happened between marchers, counterprotesters and officers. The Register-Guard reports this week Rick Braziel provided city officials with a report looking into a Black Unity protest in Thurston. His report also said many officers “were not adequately trained or equipped for this type of event” and some gave preferential treatment to counterprotesters. He made 38 recommendations, among them making changes to incident command structure and developing better strategies to separate protesters and counterprotesters. Mayor Sean VanGordon says the city is “committed to learning and improving from this experience.”