December 19 2020
Officers and support staff shifted as Portland mayor asks for new spending requests after shootings double.
Portland officials have announced a series of staffing changes and upcoming budget requests intended to slow the surge of shootings in the city.
The changes and requests were announced Friday, Dec. 18, by Mayor Ted Wheeler, Chief of Police Chuck Lovell and Director of the Office of Violence Prevention Nike Greene after shootings doubled in Portland following the abolition of the Portland Police Bureau s Gun Violence Reduction Team in July following racial justice protests.
The GVRT had been criticized for focusing on members of the Black community at a disproportionate rate. Shootings have since doubled over the same time last year.
Four deadly shootings this week drove up Portland’s homicide count to 53, most in 26 years
Updated Dec 20, 2020;
Posted Dec 18, 2020
“The disparate impact of violence on our communities of color is shocking,” said Police Chief Chuck Lovell. “Our African American, Somali, Iraqi, Latino and other communities are grieving the loss of loved ones.” Mark Graves/StaffMark Graves
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this year, marking the most killings in the city since the early 1990s.
And 2020 isn’t over yet – setting up a grim vigil in what police across the country believe is a spasm of bloodshed influenced by the nation’s overwhelming health and economic calamities.
Pastor cuts short Zoom meeting with interfaith peace group due to barrage of bullets near his Portland church
Updated Dec 19, 2020;
Posted Dec 19, 2020
Police recovered more than 80 shell casings from three different types of firearms scattered around North Vancouver Avenue Thursday night.
Mark Graves/StaffMark Graves
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A deafening noise startled Pastor J.W. Matt Hennessee as he sat on a Zoom call in his office at Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church.
He heard a rapid succession of gunfire just before 7 p.m. Thursday, then the sound of a car peeling away.
“From how loud it was, it seemed as if it was right here in front of the church,” he recalled Friday night. “I was shocked to hear the noise that I heard.”
December 15, 2020 7:03 PM
Since George Floyd’s death in May, Black Lives Matter activists have demanded that their elected officials
“Defund the Police.” But many Democratic-controlled cities that followed through with these far-left demands are today witnessing an uptick in violent crimes.
Portland
“increase police accountability and reinvest in black and brown communities.”
Wheeler proposed that over $7 million should be
redirected from the Portland Police Bureau to communities of color. His
“Police Reform Action Plan” sought to dissolve the city’s Gun Violence Reduction Team in order to
“fundamentally re-shape” law enforcement’s approach to shooting prevention.
The city reported that although year-to-date shootings
December 15, 2020 7:03 PM
Since George Floyd’s death in May, Black Lives Matter activists have demanded that their elected officials
“Defund the Police.” But many Democratic-controlled cities that followed through with these far-left demands are today witnessing an uptick in violent crimes.
Portland
“increase police accountability and reinvest in black and brown communities.”
Wheeler proposed that over $7 million should be
redirected from the Portland Police Bureau to communities of color. His
“Police Reform Action Plan” sought to dissolve the city’s Gun Violence Reduction Team in order to
“fundamentally re-shape” law enforcement’s approach to shooting prevention.
The city reported that although year-to-date shootings