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
Facebook Share
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.
Willamette Week
The need for strong, independent local journalism
is more urgent than ever. Please support the city we
love by joining Friends of Willamette Week.
Detective Erik Kammerer Is Investigating a Police Shooting While Being Investigated for His Own Use of Force City officials won’t formally confirm Kammerer’s identity, and he continues to perform his other duties. TWO JOBS: Detective Erik Kammerer, shown here policing a Portland protest, also investigates homicides. (Doug Brown) Updated December 17, 2020 A Portland police officer under investigation for allegedly using excessive force during protests has a puzzling assignment: He s a lead detective on last week s shooting of a Portland man by U.S. deputy marshals.
Insurers balk at covering Portland businesses; brokers say downtown upheaval has made carriers wary
Updated Dec 12, 2020;
Posted Dec 12, 2020
Mercantile, a locally owned clothing store in downtown Portland, has kept boards on its windows since it was looted on May 30. (Photo by Jamie Goldberg)
Facebook Share
Eric Murfitt watched helplessly from a live security feed as looters trashed his downtown clothing store, Mercantile, during a riot on May 30. Murfitt said the business suffered $1 million in losses due to the break-in and had to file an insurance claim to stay afloat.
But in November, Murfitt was informed that his insurance carrier would not be renewing the store’s policy. Nearly a dozen other insurance companies declined to even offer Mercantile a quote.
The people most harmed by crime are the least helped, a new study finds
Updated Dec 10, 2020;
Posted Dec 10, 2020
The nonprofit Partnership for Safety & Justice, which advocates for public safety and criminal justice reforms, coordinated with local service groups to interview 40 Black, Indigenous and Latinx people affected by crime. The interviews occurred in 2017 and 2018.
LC- Mark Graves
Facebook Share
People of color who have been traumatized by violence in the Portland metro area are too often presumed to have committed a crime when they were the ones harmed and as a result are less likely to report crimes to police and get the services they need, a new study finds.