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From March 1999 until New Year’s Day 2000, Hendricks took part in an extensive effort by the Portland Police Bureau to plan for the Millennium Party that took place in Pioneer Square, the largest planned event in the city’s history.
Police were concerned about potential acts of terrorism, technological malfunctions and crowd management during the event, combining to lead to what political and police leaders thought might be “the perfect storm,” Hendricks recalled.
Despite these concerns, the celebration went off without a hitch because of the extensive planning effort. Political and police leaders consulted the mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle a day before the event.
“We had 100,000 people downtown for the evening. There were only six arrests during the entire evening, no serious injuries and a lot of happy citizens,” Hendricks said. “Just three or four days before there was a terrorist captured attempting to cross the U.S./Canadian border with plans for bombing one or more locations in several cities on the West Coast.”
Hendricks’ role in the successful Millennium Party led to his promotion in January 2000 to the Chief’s Office under then-Chief Mark Kroeker.
Kroeker had spent a year conducting research in the early 1980s on how political leaders handled emergencies. It showed that leaders were often ill prepared for major emergencies such as natural disasters.
Hendricks then commanded the Portland Police Bureau Inspection and Control Unit. Unlike Internal Affairs, the unit rated the success of different units within the police bureau rather than the conduct of individual officers.
Six months before Sept. 11, Kroeker walked into Hendricks’ office and spoke with him about the research project, indicating he wanted to build a disaster simulation model in Portland.
After 9/11, Kroeker’s disaster simulation model became a nonprofit corporation called the Critical Decision Institute. Hendricks was named as its first executive director, a post that he occupied from March 2002 to June 30, 2004, when he left to become commander of East Precinct.
During his career in emergency services, Hendricks served as the co-chairman of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Mass Casualty Planning Committee, and delivered presentations in several states on mass casualty planning and response. Hendricks has also served as an instructor for the Western Community Policing Center, the Oregon Police Academy and the Portland Police Bureau Advanced Academy. Hendricks has served as director on several boards of directors, including the Portland Police Bureau Historical Society, Cascadia Behavioral Health Inc. and the Western Identification Network. Hendricks is an Eagle Scout and served as a Law Enforcement Post Advisor in the Boy Scouts of America Exploring Program.
His personal awards include two Portland Police Bureau Distinguished Service medals and the Oregon Peace Officer Association Community Service Award. He has also received national recognition for his innovative work in community policing by the National Association of Police Organizations.
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