Portland police have required patrol officers to complete four extra hours of crowd control training and canceled days off Wednesday through the weekend to prepare for Inauguration Day protests.

The training is intended to better coordinate between the mobile patrol forces and the riot gear-clad rapid response officers who have extensive training in crowd management.

Police also hope the training improves officer logistics in the field, from how to pair with a partner to put on gas masks, clean and clear out masks if they're donned too late and how to best hand off arrests to detectives for preparation for court.

"I figured it would be prudent between the last protest events after the presidential election and this Friday to put the officers through some refresher training,'' Chief Mike Marshman said Tuesday.

"Even though they've had training in the past, a lot of folks, especially on patrol haven't really experienced such large crowds. This was to help them become more comfortable because fortunately, it's not a day-to-day occurrence.''

The bureau also will extend officers shifts, from 10 hours to 12 hours, to ensure plenty of them are available if needed, Marshman said. The bureau has about 900 patrol officers and 70 rapid response officers.

Thousands of people have indicated they plan to march through the streets of downtown Portland this week as Donald Trump formally takes office as the 45th president of the United States.

Several events are planned Friday so far, including a student walkout at Portland State University starting at noon and a "Rise up and Resist Facism" rally at Pioneer Courthouse Square at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, a "Women's March on Portland," affiliated with a national march in Washington, D.C., is expected to draw thousands of people.

"Whether it's 100 people or 10,000 people who want to protest, whatever their views are, I'm OK with that," Marshman said. "What I worry about is the fringe element, or whatever you want to call it, who wants to do destruction to the city.''

Portland drew international attention in November after a march turned into a riot on Nov. 10 when a small band of people infiltrated marchers demonstrating against the election outcome. The vandals smashed windows of Pearl Street businesses, set fires to newspaper boxes and broke windows of cars parked in a Toyota dealership lot. A man was shot during another night of protesting in an apparent argument over blocking a traffic on the Morrison Bridge.

The bureau largely has relied on its four 15- to 18-member Rapid Response Teams to block streets and entries to bridges and freeways. On several nights, officers fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse demonstrators and arrested at least 120 people in all.

The bureau is in the midst of seeking public input on its crowd control management policy. The review didn't stem from the recent protests but happened to fall at the same time, Marshman said.

As it stands now, the policy calls for upholding the constitutional rights of free speech and assembly "by applying the appropriate level of coordination, direction, guidance, and when necessary, control to protect life and property and to maintain public peace and order."

Rallies, marches, parades, leafleting are listed as protected by the First Amendment under the policy, while trespassing, destruction of property, disruption of transportation, assaults and "disturbances of the peace" aren't protected.

For marches or events that aren't sanctioned through a city permit, "The police response will be commensurate with the overall threat, if any, to public safety, life and property, and maintaining order," the policy says. That might mean redirecting demonstrators and traffic and using physical force, it says. "Decisive and appropriate actions during the initial stages of a disturbance may make the difference in effectively managing the event.''

Marshman said Mayor Ted Wheeler's chief of staff had spent several hours with him as police monitored one of the city protests after Election Night. He's talked to Wheeler and both agree on preventing protesters from blocking surrounding interstates.

A command center will be set up at the Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications, so police can coordinate and monitor the protests along with transit and transportation officials.

Critical incident commanders are assigned to work each day. Teams of officers from state police, as well as the Multnomah County, Washington County and Clackamas County sheriff's offices will pitch in. If it gets extremely busy, Gresham police will help take Portland emergency calls.

"We'll make it work,'' the chief said.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian