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City Cooking Up Plans to Make Houseless People More Miserable

From 2022 to 2023, homelessness in the United States increased 12 percent. Oregon was reported as having the third highest rate of homeless families in the country (Oregonian, December 24). In the last People's Police Report, we indicated that an Ordinance prohibiting people from camping between 8 AM and 8 PM with penalties of $100 or jail time was placed on hold after the Oregon Law Center filed suit. Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Rima Ghandour issued a temporary injunction. The City's attempt to appeal that decision to the Oregon Supreme Court was rejected in March (KOIN-6TV, March 8). Mayor Ted Wheeler then stated he would be introducing a new Ordinance rather than using this reset as an opportunity to exercise more humanity for those suffering in poverty. Wheeler claimed the new ordinance would pass "Constitutional Muster." He also was concerned that he was "not given any guidance" regarding the issue (Oregonian, March 13). Perhaps he should have sought guidance from the 5700 people either living outside or in vehicles whose lives will be impacted. Instead, Wheeler unveiled the new plans on April 5, creating a list of unacceptable behaviors on the sidewalk and allowing police to arrest houseless people who are offered shelter but refuse it. There are no provisions for a person to explain why they won't go to a shelter (health, family, pets, etc.).

Meanwhile, the sweeps continue. The weather and the dearth of other places to live make no difference, nor does the failure to track where those swept were ending up. During the second half of 2023, there was a 63 percent increase in the sweeps compared to the same time frame in 2022 (Oregonian, January 7). In February, Portland Police, acting on an okay from a Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge, raided a camp in the Glenfair Neighborhood. Taking advantage of the fact that people were together in a small area, the police were able to arrest 12 individuals on active warrants and issue 30 trespass notices (Portland Tribune, February 21).

City Council held a hearing on February 14 about Enhanced Service Districts (ESDs). It was a love fest for the business community. The contractors who issued the report to Council were involved in creating the earliest Business Improvement Districts, which include Clean and Safe in downtown Portland. They did not entertain the question of whether ESDs should continue to exist at all. They recommended that caps be put on how much money condo owners and other residential property owners should pay compared to businesses. The "fees" which cannot be called "taxes" due to Oregon law, then pay for services that nobody else gets including, as Portland Copwatch (PCW) pointed out over and over again, four police officers' salaries. In testimony to Council, PCW noted that arrangement with privately funded cops is supposed to end in June, but no one responded. Only a few people testified-- three community members, a condo owner and two people involved in the ESDs. Council members expressed thanks for the input but only fixated on fee caps for residential property. Nothing about the harassment of the houseless people or destruction of their property. You gotta pay to play. As this was a report, no action was taken, but the issue will likely come back to Council before the newly constructed Council is seated in January 2025.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Rene Gonzalez is in the process of removing Portland Street Response (PSR) from his portfolio. PSR has long been praised for the work they do sending teams out to work with those who are in crisis rather than the police who often act less humanely. Taking it away from Gonzalez would appear to be good news for PSR and the thousands of Portlanders who strongly support them. PSR will likely transfer to the Community Safety Division (CSD). PSR has been quartered in the Portland Fire Bureau which has disconcerted some fire fighters who had difficulty with the pronouns PSR staff preferred to use, as well as their "wokeness." PSR responded to nearly 7,400 calls in the 12 months after April 2022. Mayor Wheeler indicated that he plans to prioritize PSR in the upcoming budget and hopes it will be fully funded (Oregonian, March 3). Earlier, Commissioner Carmen Rubio proposed using interest money from the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), which she oversees, to fund PSR (Oregonian, February 7&9). Later, Rubio rescinded this $3 million dollar offer because the PCEF is limited to climate-related causes. Ignoring that legal restraint, Gonzalez indicated his plan was to redirect this money to other public safety initiatives (Oregonian, March 22).

May, 2024
Also in PPR #92

Portland Copwatch
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065/ Incident Report Line (503) 321-5120
e-mail: copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org

Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.

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