Portland police seek public’s help after ‘safe space’ officer loses track of assault suspect near ICE facility

Police are seeking the public’s help in finding a woman accused of assault near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland, Oregon, after one of its “dialogue liaison officers,” sworn officers tasked with “hold[ing] a safe space” for protesters, lost track of her.

Portland Police Bureau officials said that just before 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, a dialogue liaison officer (DLO) was monitoring a “gathering” outside the ICE building in the South Portland neighborhood, when he was flagged down by a person who said an assault had just taken place.

The DLO followed the woman, who was described as a White female with a large septum nose piercing wearing a black mask and carrying a backpack, trying to talk to her to “hear her side of the story,” according to a news release from Portland police.

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The woman would not stop, so the DLO told her she was being detained. She allegedly refused the lawful police order, and fled.

The DLO called in additional police resources, and just before 9 p.m., patrol officers met with the victim and began an investigation. 

DLOs are sworn police officers, though they act in the role of a liaison and “cannot get involved in enforcement action,” according to the release.

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Officials said the case has since been assigned to a detective in the Major Crimes Unit, though they did not release any information regarding the alleged assault.

“PPB members continue to conduct follow-up investigations into criminal activity and will forward cases to the Multnomah County District Attorney for prosecution when feasible,” according to the release. “Sometimes arrests are not made at the scene when tensions are high, and arrests are made at a later date.”

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According to the city’s website, DLOs were put in place to “build relationships with protesters” following the violent 2020 protests in Portland.

Officer Jessica Ruch, an exemplary DLO featured on the site, wrote in May 2025 that liaison officers are stationed at protests to “get an idea of what that group is going to need to create or hold a safe space,” according to the site. 

Ruch admits on the site that she “grew up going to protests,” calling them “a celebration of community and values.”

“We don’t have a riot squad anymore. That’s an antiquated model. That vocabulary implies that the entire group of protesters has a single mindset,” Ruch wrote. “We do have a rapid response team who are trained to respond to potentially hazardous situations like civil disturbances or natural disasters. They come in when they need to address something quickly, and then they get out of there. We don’t want to be the bad guys.”

After discussing where she was when George Floyd was murdered, Ruch said her biggest concern was someone driving a car into a gathering “deliberately targeting protesters.”

The Portland Police Bureau did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.