Portland Police Association announces ‘five-year vision’ plan for public safety
The pitch from the police association is focused on adding a lot more sworn officers to the bureau and making the city and job more enticing to possible recruits.
By KPTV Staff
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PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — As Portland continues to grapple with record-high gun violence, the city’s police association just announced a “five-year vision” plan for public safety in the Rose City.
The pitch from the police association is focused on adding a lot more sworn officers to the bureau and making the city and job more enticing to possible recruits.
People we spoke with agree more safety is needed in Portland, but are split on whether that should come from police.
After rounds of slashed budgets for the police bureau and potentially more on the horizon, the association is calling on the city to instead increase police staffing levels over the next five years saying Portland needs to nearly double the size of its force to be comparable with other American cities of similar size.
To do that the association says 840 more officers need to be hired over the next five years and 50 retired police officers need to be rehired in the next two years to address immediate staffing needs.
In the Lents neighborhood, a pilot project filters police out of mental health and some homeless-related calls for help, instead funneling response to a “Portland Street Response Team.” A recent review of the program before city council was positive, but some people including neighbors in Lents say more resources are still needed.
The police association also wants to beef up the recruitment process including raising starting wages and offering local training for new hires.
FOX 12 reached out to the police bureau on Friday and the mayor’s office for comment on this proposal. PPB did not have anyone available for an interview and we didn’t hear back from Mayor Wheeler’s office.
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