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HOUSELESSNESS NEWS: PPB Seeks Liason, Activists Tweak Business District Homeless Community Liaison As noted in PPR #76, in December, the Portland Police Bureau announced a new non-sworn position of Homeless Community Liaison to "represent the Bureau on matters relating to the homeless community." As of March 17 this position has not been filled. The announcement for the position quotes the Chief calling it a "critical component" to respond to houseless persons, including networking with "social service and other governmental agencies so we are all on the same page." The Portland Mercury reported (Dec 17), "It's not clear if this liaison will be required to have a background in mental health care or substance abuse disorders-- two issues that are disproportionally represented in Portland's homeless community." Compassionate Change District The Central Eastside (South of I-84 to Powell, from the Willamette river to SE 12th) has a new "Business Improvement District" (BID) plan resulting from community involvement. The initial proposal made by the Central Eastside Industrial Council was countered by a coalition of at least 28 groups with a vision of a Compassionate Change District. The result is a plan which includes gains for houseless people: "a bigger voice for residents who are homeless, better training and protocols for security and a stated opposition to sweeps" (Street Roots, February 6). This training, which will come from houseless persons, should result in more discretion about what is considered "trash" and less harassment than by the downtown BID's "Clean and Safe." City Sanctioned Camping and Mental Illness Several spin-off committees of the "Safety Off the Streets" Workgroup of A Home for Everyone (which includes the City of Portland, Multnomah County and Home Forward) have been meeting since late last year to come up with a pilot sanctioned camping program in Portland. So far there is a lot of talk of what would be necessary to develop policy, but no action. Meanwhile, camp sweeps are happening all over Portland. A lot of money that could be used for solutions such as showers, weatherproof storage, bathrooms and dumpsters is being spent harassing and moving houseless people from one site to another. Data and Audit Expose Issues with "Crime" and Sweeps
In an audit released March 13, the City Auditor found that the system used to "clean up" houseless encampments is not working as it should, noting particularly that identification and credit cards are sometimes disposed of along with other "collected" personal property. |
May, 2019
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#77 Table of Contents
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Street Roots reported Portland's 911 center
received 133,000 "disorder" calls in 2018, of which 29,000 were about "unwanted
persons" (March 15). An Emergency dispatcher estimated that 9% of calls for police are
resolved by a police Sergeant (currently assigned to 911) explaining it is not illegal to sit on a
sidewalk.