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Posted on 11/09/2021 4:25:20 PM PST by NoLibZone
Portland has 1.2 officers per 1000 people. National average in 2020 was 2.4 officers per 1000 people
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The number of Portland Police Bureau sworn officers is the fewest it’s been since 1989.
There are currently 788 sworn members combating record shootings and murders, confronting anarchists breaking windows and property, dealing with far left and far right groups squaring off in the city, crime in homeless camps and a rash of stolen cars.
Portland, which once proudly called itself “The City that Works” is struggling to keep up with crime.
Police staffing numbers in Portland have dwindled since the movement to defund police in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Now, as the union is calling on city officials to double the police force, Mayor Ted Wheeler and city councilors are left to decide what to do to ensure the city “works” for everyone again.
As of Nov. 8, Portland police had recorded 77 homicides so far in 2021. That’s the highest number ever recorded in the city.
‘A dangerous time’: Portland, Oregon, sees record homicides Police also say there have been 1,105 shootings as of Nov. 8 and they’re having a difficult time keeping up with smaller, more common crimes, like a theft Joel Morales reported.
Morales lives near a homeless camp off Interstate 5 in North Portland. He’s looking for his $3,500 electric bicycle that was stolen.
“I still can’t get Portland PD to help me out with this because they’re under-resourced,” he said. Morales said some of the homeless people living near his home told him that a person in the camp stole his bike.
While Portland’s population has continued to grow over the years, its number of sworn members has been – for the most part – declining since 2006.
In 1960, Portland had 654 police officers, when the city had 372,000 people. That’s about 300,000 fewer residents than the city has in 2021.
Over the last 60 years, as the population grew, so did the number of police officers. In 2001, the bureau staff peaked at 1,054 officers, according to data from the FBI. This data varies slightly from information published from the Portland Police Bureau, which said they had 1,049 officers in 2001.
After that, the population continued to climb, but the number of officers started to go down due to retirements and difficulty recruiting. Add in the budget cuts to the bureau in 2020, the chaos of violent protests, police leaving the bureau for other jobs – and the number took a dramatic dive.
As of Nov. 8, Portland was down to 788 officers.
The last time the city had fewer than that was in 1989 with 742 officers. Portland’s population at the time was 65% of what it is now.
Amid staffing shortage, Gresham Police refocuses its efforts KOIN 6 News spoke to other people who live near the homeless camp Morales has been complaining about.
“This is anarchy,” Laurie Sugahbeare said. “The city has decided what rules they will and will not impose.
“I carry a Smith and Wesson baton that extends outward for a good, quick swing,” said Dale Hardt. “Now the city, Jo Ann Hardesty, has asked us to step up and enforce the laws ourselves. And I’m here, Jo Ann. I’m ready to defend the laws.”
Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has advocated strongly for limiting the number of armed officers in the city.
“The police have a role, but their role is simply to solve crime. Their role is not to prevent crime, their role is not to intervene in other community activities. A response to gun violence should not be a knee-jerk reaction. As you know, we intentionally cut very specific programs in PPB’s budget during the last budget process because those programs had racially disparate outcomes,” she said in May.
She’s been the loudest voice on the commission for cutting the police force. She favors moving money to social services to prevent crime and funding non-police crisis workers to diffuse situations before they become violent.
She’s also denied that many of the shootings in the city are committed by gangs.
However, in late October, she told KOIN 6 News she reached out to Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell about creating a rehire plan.
“I’m open. I think if we’re going to rehire former officers, we need to have some criteria,” she said. “[To ensure] that we don’t bring back officers who’ve, who were part of the 6,000 use-of-force complaints from last year, that we don’t bring back officers who retired in lieu of being investigated.”
She said she thinks the city needs to work on “transforming a very dysfunctional bureau” and said she knows that’s going to take a while.
“We didn’t create a dysfunctional bureau overnight and it’s not going to be fixed overnight,” she said.
KOIN 6 News looked at how Portland Police Bureau’s 788 sworn-member force compares to similarly sized cities.
According to data collected from police departments in October, Washington D.C. has 3,578 officers, which is five officers per 1,000 people.
Boston has 2,098 officers, which is three officers per 1,000 people.
Milwaukee has 1,663 officers. The ratio is 2.8 officers per 1,000 people.
In El Paso, the police department has 1,138 officers or 1.7 officers per 1,000 people.
Seattle, which as of Nov. 2 had 40 homicides in 2021, has 1,124 officers, or 1.45 officers per 1,000 people. The city experienced its own exodus of officers in the past year.
Portland’s 788 police officers mean the Rose City has 1.2 officers per 1,000 people.
The national average in 2020 was 2.4 officers per 1,000 people.
The Boston numbers are very interesting—I always felt much safer there than any other American city—now I know why.
Obviously, if he can afford a $3500 e-bike he can afford to lose one, and the homeless guy who stole it needs it more than he does.
Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty needs to be tarred and feathered.
My peaceful little suburb in northern Virginia has lost 10 of 55 cops this year, and the town is having trouble replacing them. It seems like a nice place to work, but our Commonwealth Attorney for the county is a Soros justice socialist, as are the majority of our town council. It’s also a top location for illegals, now that enforcement has slacked off.
I’m sure the cops that left went to other places in central and southern Virginia rather than deal with politicos that don’t like them.
Poor Morales! How is he going to commute to his regular panhandling spot without his wheels?
Let it all burn down.
You’re safe there so long as you don’t drive. Most reckless, aggressive drivers I’ve ever seen. Several consultants I knew who lived in downtown Boston said they intentionally drove old beaten-up cars because they knew whatever they drove would get hit multiple times over its lifespan anyway.
Once, after flying into Logan, I ended up with a brand new BMW 525 as a rental car (they had an incredible deal). Based upon past experience, I was pretty nervous about driving that car in Boston, but I was headed up to Maine for a getaway and figured once I was out of the city I’d be relatively safe.
Following the directions provided by the rental agency folks, I took every turn they said, only to find myself headed back toward the terminal, and right into the flow of commercial vehicles (taxis, buses, etc). This upped the pucker factor considerably, especially when I noticed that construction had all lanes funneling down into one at the exit. That merge was just a giant game of chicken. No one was giving an inch, and I had cars on both sides just a hair from me, challenging me the entire time. Zero yielding or consideration, and if you showed weakness in any way you were done. Somehow, I emerged unscathed.
On another trip, I was driving near Harvard Square, across from the university. I had to stop at a crosswalk because there was a mob of students crossing the street. The drivers behind me just laid on their horns the entire time. My only thought was, “I guess it’s legal to just drive over people here.” I had no idea what they expected me to do.
My step brother is a Portland cop, he works with 12-15 other guys chasing drugs and drug dealers around the West Coast.
The PPB(Portland Police Bureau) gets very little support from City Hall or the left wing citizens who populate the city. The voters and politicians in Multnomah County are into “diversity hiring” for their police force.
The last 2 black applicants couldn’t drive a car. Let that sink in.
Some idiot left a 3500 dollar “electric bike” outside next to a homeless encampment. Shocked that it turned up missing. No number of police can make up for such profound stupidity.
Which city? I’m back in Falls Church after a 6-month traveling job assignment. I used to live in Sterling.
“As of Nov. 8, Portland police had recorded 77 homicides so far in 2021. That’s the highest number ever recorded in the city.”
According to city-data, the highest yearly murders for the years 2006-2019 was 29. (didn’t have the figure for 2020).
https://www.city-data.com/city/Portland-Oregon.html
You haven’t done any real Boston driving until you get to drive in the traffic circles (mostly in the inner suburbs).
The rule seems to be the craziest person goes first.
;-)
The City that Works to The City of Jerks
Oh, I definitely encountered the traffic circles. Also drove on a number of multi-lane suburban streets that had absolutely no markings at all. It was just make it up as you go along. I was driving with a colleague once and just like in a cartoon we came to a fork in the road with a signpost in the middle with about two dozen directional arrows pointing every which way. He was trying to navigate (this was before GPS was common) and I was driving. As we were approaching it in heavy traffic, I was saying “Which way, which way?” He couldn’t figure it out in time, which left us stuck in the middle, with traffic going around us in both directions, and staring at the sign which was now right in front of the car. At least we finally had plenty of time to figure it out.
Cousins in Boston advise to “just close your eyes and drive like us locals”.
If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.
“The City that Works to The City of Jerks”
Another phrase retards in Portland like to say is:
“Keep Portland weird”
Which isn’t a problem because the city is full of freaks.
Portland is located in Multnomah County which is a liberal bastion. The last time a Republican carried the county in a Presidential election was 1960.
Nixon edged JFK in a 50-49 type victory. Maybe 50/50.
The county is now 76% liberal progressive to 17% Republican of “all stripes.”
This BS about the Republicans becoming more conservative is untrue, the State of Oregon voters have lurched hard leftwing since 1988.
They just get crazier and dumber every year.......its almost incomprehensible.
Portlanders just re-elected Mayor Ted Wheeler who was Mayor during the now famous riots.
So, to all Portlanders: .........to coin an old high school saying.............”you asked for it”.
I agree with your suggestion on tarring and feathering, but WHITE feathers must not be used.
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