A group of Portland residents has started a petition calling on the mayor and other city officials to do more to stop property crimes and improve livability across the city by cracking down on homeless camps.
The petition contends response times for 911 and non-emergency calls involving people who are homeless are delayed or ignored. City sweeps of camps are ineffective and lead to people returning to campsites, the petition claims.
The petition calls on Mayor Ted Wheeler to tour neighborhoods and talk to residents and work to address their concerns, as well as to identify the needs of people in the area who are homeless and offer more support to police officers.
The petition also demands Police Chief Danielle Outlaw and Commissioner Nick Fish increase ATV patrols and rangers in parks in East Portland. Oregon Department of Transportation leaders should prevent people from camping on their properties, and Multnomah County Commissioners should consider needle exchange programs, the petition says.
The city has removed 4,272 bags of trash and cleaned around 150 campsites in the East Portland area, according to Sophia June, a spokeswoman for Wheeler. Police have also responded to more than 3,600 calls for service in the Montavilla neighborhood alone between March and August 2018.
“The Mayor’s Office hears the concerns of the neighborhood and we are doing as much as we can with the resources we have,” June said in in email.
A Portland Police Bureau spokesman declined to comment Wednesday and said the agency would respond Thursday.
The group adopted the same name as another community initiative that has been around since 2014 and is aimed at encouraging residents to help prevent gang and youth violence in Portland neighborhoods. The older group has worked in coordination with Portland police.
The petition follows an analysis by The Oregonian/OregonLive of city arrest data that found 52 percent of the arrests Portland police made in 2017 were of homeless people, who make up less than 3 percent of the population. Homeless people were most often arrested on property, drug or low-level crimes, the data showed. More than 1,200 arrests were for missing court appearances or violating probation or parole. Allegations of non-violent crimes made up 86 percent of the arrests.
The American Civil Liberties of Oregon called on Wheeler and Outlaw to investigate whether officers are profiling people who are homeless. The city’s police oversight agency has since launched an investigation into how Portland police officers interact with people who are homeless. Outlaw requested the investigation.
Wheeler has called for further review to know how many arrests were related to calls from the public in comparison to contact initiated by police officers.
