Free Republic

Portland’s flailing Mayor, Ted Wheeler, has a new idea, bring in ex-cons who have served decades in prison after being convicted of serious crimes, which can include murder, to patrol the city’s troubled streets. He wants to contract with a San Francisco-based nonprofit, Urban Alchemy (UA) that hires formerly incarcerated convicts to patrol troubled areas to address street-level issues rooted in addiction, mental illness and homelessness. The plan is for Urban Alchemy to deploy outreach patrols in the city center where Portland police have struggled to maintain patrols.“We want to make sure that that presence, the things we need in...