After a weekend of violence followed a brazen shooting at a Northeast Portland street fair, Portland’s police chief announced Tuesday that he’s bolstering the strength of the bureau’s Gang Enforcement Team.
Chief Larry O’Dea will add six officers permanently to the team. They’ll be pulled from each of the three precincts’ Neighborhood Response Teams and Street Crimes Units, and work the afternoon shift.
“Recent gun violence has gravely impacted our community and is a reminder to police that we must remain fluid in our response,” O’Dea said in a prepared statement. “As with other spikes in gun violence, we must respond with additional officers to help reduce incidents.”
While the move shifts officers from neighborhood teams that address city quality-of-life complaints, “it has the least impact to patrol operations,” O’Dea said.
This past weekend’s shootings pushed the number of gang violence response calls in Portland to 67, up from 51 at this time a year ago.
Police and probation officers say they’ve noticed 15- to 25-year-olds who have access to firearms are carrying them — instead of stashing the guns in houses, cars or behind bushes.
The six new officers will boost the team from 18 to 24 officers. There are also six detectives and three sergeants also assigned to the team. The new officers assigned will work on afternoon relief shift, boosting that shift’s strength to 13 officers and a sergeant.
The six officers to be permanently shifted to the gang enforcement unit will be selected based on their training, experience and desire to work to reduce gun violence, as well as their commitment to building relationships with the community, the chief said.
The shift comes days after Mayor Charlie Hales’ spokesman said the mayor did not think putting more officers on the street was the answer to the gang violence problem.
O’Dea said enforcement only can’t address the problem, that “it will take all of our partners as well as community members to impact gun violence long-term.”
The detective division and Cold Case Homicide Detail will continue to follow-up on unsolved gang-related homicides.
