Crime in Portland

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by sopdx

You're 100% correct.
A stronger police presence there would be a good idea

Ironically, I'm pretty sure there was recently a police officer involved shooting at that Plaid Pantry.

We do need a stronger police presence there though, but what we really need is to solve the problem rather than have the police serve as babysitters. There should be consequences for businesses that don't deal with the crime that comes with their clientele. I'm sure there's a nicer way to phrase that.

[NOPO]

I’ll say it again. We need social workers and mental health workers, not more cops. The cops barely do anything and show up after the fact the majority of the time and they have major discrimination issues in their force (to put it lightly).

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by NOPO

I’ll say it again. We need social workers and mental health workers, not more cops. The cops barely do anything and show up after the fact the majority of the time and they have major discrimination issues in their force (to put it lightly).

Yes, we absolutely need more social workers and mental health professionals. But to say we don't need more police is completely ignorant. There aren't even enough police currently to solve a massive backlog of crimes in Portland. They flat-out do not have the resources. It is a known fact that the cuts to the PPB in 2020 directly resulted in a rise a crime. If criminals know they will get away with a crime, they are more likely to commit it.

[NOPO]

With more social workers and mental health workers, you’d see crime decrease. Cops are not the solution. They don’t even stop crime like you claim and they do tons of harm in communities of color. We’re just going to disagree on this.

[downtownpdx]

Look at the debacle that was 4th and Washington. Until the police arrived in force that was an open drug haven with 3 recent overdose deaths in a week and a black eye in the middle of the city. Of course, ultimately these people need to actually want help in order for social workers to have an effect. But in the meantime, a civilized society has to enforce laws and decent behavior.

If you're addicted, buying and selling drugs as a lifestyle (I'm just using drugs as an example since it's behind much of the vandalism and violence), and you don't want help, then jail is your next option. The rest of us don't deserve to put up with the chaos and constant state of fear.

Yes, social workers, addiction specialists, etc are definitely part of the solution but it's dangerous to just slash law enforcement and hope all the criminals have an epiphany and go seek out help. Measure 110 (which I voted for) seems to be a perfect example of this mentality of too many carrots, not enough sticks, as drug overdoses and deaths have skyrocketed while the police can do nothing. * 1% *of drug users under this measure have sought out help when stopped by cops, the rest just pay the measly $100. They'll get that back the same night on their next smash and grab. Nearly 80% of Portland restaurants report being victims of vandalism/ theft in the last year..Enough is enough, we need to rewrite that measure, with enforced treatment or jail as the alternative, as part of a return to some common sense and basic livability here.

[NOPO]

Measure 110 only suggests treatment, it doesn’t actively connect people with services like it should have been written. But I disagree people should be forced into treatment; it should be a choice.

The debacle you describe downtown could have been helped tremendously with the Portland Street Response team. Instead they sent in armed cops. They didn’t even attempt to see if a more humane option would have worked; I wholeheartedly believe it would have.

[NOPO]

I will also say the intent should be working with camps to get people housed, not indiscriminate sweeps.

[downtownpdx]

I agree, PSR would have been a great part of that response. But this wasn't just a small group hanging on the sidewalk, they were breaking into, vandalizing and inhabiting private property to operate a lethal drug market. So the cops had to be part of this equation.

[NOPO]

A couple of cops? Sure. But not a battalion. It should have been majority PSR. And not as a sweep either.

[downtownpdx]

I'm no expert on this issue but they may not have known what to expect in the caverns of this building - weapons, etc. - so they beefed up their presence. No complaints from me, I'm not worried about scaring some pathetic drug dealers who take over a building to prey on and kill vulnerable people. But I do agree PSR should have been part of the approach, otherwise this problem is just being pushed into some other area.

[NOPO]

Their idea of appropriate back up and my idea of the same are different. I guess I’ll just leave that there. If there were drug dealers, I agree with processing them in the system. But I’m pretty certain a lot of the people there are just in dire circumstances in their lives and not some drug kingpin.

[PhillyPDX]

Are we seriously Monday morning quarterbacking a sweep of a drug haven backed by violent drug cartels, connected to to which there have been significant number of ODs, drugs deaths, and homicides in the last year?

Holy crap this is a hot take.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

Yes, we absolutely need more social workers and mental health professionals. But to say we don't need more police is completely ignorant. There aren't even enough police currently to solve a massive backlog of crimes in Portland. They flat-out do not have the resources. It is a known fact that the cuts to the PPB in 2020 directly resulted in a rise a crime. If criminals know they will get away with a crime, they are more likely to commit it.

I don't know if I would go that far, the cuts in 2020 was about $20million, leaving them with over $200million budget. There is plenty of money for the amount of officers they need, but a number of officers have left (especially after the whole issue with cracking down on their abuse of overtime pay, and having to be accountable with their transparency.)

Another problem that the state faces that has affected the city is the fact that Oregon has one police academy that does the training for all the cities in Oregon, and can only produce so many police at a time. There probably should be a new police academy just for the Portland metro that specializes in the needs of Oregon's big city and largest metro.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

Are we seriously Monday morning quarterbacking a sweep of a drug haven backed by violent drug cartels, connected to to which there have been significant number of ODs, drugs deaths, and homicides in the last year?

Holy crap this is a hot take.

My only issue with this sweep is that it took the news to make the city and police look bad for them to actually do something about this, especially since the police have known about this drug haven for a while. Hell, I could have told the police this has been going on in this building for over the past year when I was working downtown because it was obvious. You could literally stand outside and watch drugs be trafficked around the downtown in broad daylight.

To describe how upset I am with how inept the Portland Police are, I was once working downtown and the parking garage across the street had someone screaming and cussing in it while making loud banging noises. The first thought was someone who was high was probably destroying people's personal cars, so the police we called.

The police show up surprisingly quickly since usually when called they would rarely show up. Once there, they closed down the street and began to position around the exits of the garage. At that time, some crazy dude came out of the elevator with a giant metal stand that he was in the process of stealing from the garage. I noticed the man and signaled to the police that I found who they are looking for.

The police confront the man with the stolen giant metal stand, and as I can overhear him talking to the police, he goes on to tell them "oh yeah, there was some black dude with a beard that was screaming in the garage. I don't know what that was all about." Then the cops ran off and into the garage to find this fictional black man as the crazy dude then continued to drag the giant metal stand down 3rd Ave.

At that point I realized, maybe we should require at least a community college degree to be a cop....

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

My only issue with this sweep is that it took the news to make the city and police look bad for them to actually do something about this, especially since the police have known about this drug haven for a while.

THIS.

We have absolutely no leadership in this city these days.

A weak-mayor system is especially weak when the mayor is a weak person. I'm sure Ted's a nice guy, but he has less backbone than a bowl of jello. That makes him poorly suited to serve as police commissioner too... but the situation is what it is.

Portland desperately needs leadership.

[PhillyPDX]

I agree with this part. My office building has been putting out notifications for 6 months to avoid the area around that building given the condition, and the related homicides nearby connected to gang dealing. Clearly the news of all the ODs and deaths the other week were the final straw, but it getting to that point was no surprise to anyone who saw what the area had become.

[2oh1]

REI to close only Portland store, citing break-ins, theft

The outdoor retail giant REI Co-op announced Monday that it plans to close its store in Portland’s Pearl District early next year, citing an increase in crime and thefts.

In in email to its members Monday, REI said its store in Portland “had its highest number of break-ins and thefts in two decades, despite actions to provide extra security.”

...continues at the Oregonian

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

REI to close only Portland store, citing break-ins, theft



...continues at the Oregonian

I just interviewed someone this morning for HR Director at my company who has been working in Downtown for a very prominant company. Their reason for leaving... windshield has been smashed 3 times in the last year and car broken into even more. This culture that DT has breed and is spreading has got to change or Portland will be the next Detroit.

[CorbinWarrick]

Yikes. So let me guess this is really happening because REI wanted to leave anyways and “crime” was just an excuse?

Couple posters here have actually used excuses like that for other business closures before lol

[PhillyPDX]

They just didn’t make money, crime is just an excuse. Rinse, repeat.