Reforming public safety in Portland is no easy feat February 10 2021 The City Council's task is difficult because responsibility is spread over multiple Portland agencies or outside city's purview. As the Portland City Council grapples with reforming the city's public safety system, it is confronting two longstanding issues — Portland's nearly unique form of government and the fact that some elements are the responsibility of other jurisdictions, including Multnomah County. The social justice protests sparked by the death of George Floyd have focused attention on the criminal justice system, including the need for police reform. But well before they started, Mayor Ted Wheeler appointed a Public Safety Work Group to propose how all public safety agencies can work better together. They include the Portland Police Bureau, Portland Fire & Rescue, Bureau of Emergency Management, and the Bureau of Emergency Communications, which operates the 911 emergency response system.