Crime in Portland

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

I just interviewed someone this morning for HR Director at my company who has been working in Downtown for a very prominant company. Their reason for leaving... windshield has been smashed 3 times in the last year and car broken into even more. This culture that DT has breed and is spreading has got to change or Portland will be the next Detroit.

My biggest concern is so much of why Portland boomed is very much lifestyle based, I know so many (read: almost all) that moved here for lifestyle, moved here on a whim, liked it on vacation. Move 1st, get a job second. Literally everywhere else I know for (pre-retirement) moves is for jobs or family. Portland is different. So what happens if it becomes uncool?

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

This culture that DT has breed and is spreading has got to change or Portland will be the next Detroit.

I moved here 8 years ago from Detroit. Although Detroit is not without its own problems, I think this comment is unfair and/or misinformed given people’s perceptions of Detroit.

Most of Detroit’s violent crime, although high, is mostly contained within certain areas of the city. That doesn’t make it better but it also makes the more public/heavily traversed areas of Detroit feel pretty safe. The property crime in Portland is actually quite a bit higher than Detroit’s and has been for awhile.

Personally, I have never been put in a situation where I felt truly unsafe in my normal daily life while living in Detroit. On the other hand, the property crime thing in Portland combined with the mental health/homelessness issues here have routinely made me feel uncomfortable and at times made me truly question if I were in danger. I’ve had my car broken into 3 times while living here and I never had anything of the sort happen in Detroit. I was in a Target store once while is was being ransacked by a group of people stealing. I, like others, have had some crazy stuff happen on transit, too, mostly with folks on drugs and/or mentally ill people who are unpredictable. I saw nothing like this in Detroit. The west coast is its own thing and my perceptions of safety have changed a lot since living here.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by subterranean

I moved here 8 years ago from Detroit. Although Detroit is not without its own problems, I think this comment is unfair and/or misinformed given people’s perceptions of Detroit.

Most of Detroit’s violent crime, although high, is mostly contained within certain areas of the city. That doesn’t make it better but it also makes the more public/heavily traversed areas of Detroit feel pretty safe. The property crime in Portland is actually quite a bit higher than Detroit’s and has been for awhile.

Personally, I have never been put in a situation where I felt truly unsafe in my normal daily life while living in Detroit. On the other hand, the property crime thing in Portland combined with the mental health/homelessness issues here have routinely made me feel uncomfortable and at times made me truly question if I were in danger. I’ve had my car broken into 3 times while living here and I never had anything of the sort happen in Detroit. I was in a Target store once while is was being ransacked by a group of people stealing. I, like others, have had some crazy stuff happen on transit, too, mostly with folks on drugs and/or mentally ill people who are unpredictable. I saw nothing like this in Detroit. The west coast is its own thing and my perceptions of safety have changed a lot since living here.

Agreed, I actually like Detroit. Very driving centric, but it's got a lot going on. Had issues with downsizing of the auto industry, but it has mostly stabilized over the last decade+. I have some friends that moved there and love it. The cultural institutions are amazing. Having major research universities like UM nearby helps.

[sopdx]

It could be a perfect storm for REI at that location. Crime has increased exponentially. The area directly west of the store under I405 is not good. I walk through there often and it's pretty scary. The store also stated that the store is too small for them. Why renew?

[PhillyPDX]

Will be interesting how this plays out. Giving such advance warning could be a way to get city council to act. Sort of like Nike tried on MLK (that went nowhere and is still closed due to rampant thefts).

If REI actually departs that is a significant PR disaster for Portland. Probably the national store that most embodies the PacNW.

[CorbinWarrick]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

They just didn’t make money, crime is just an excuse. Rinse, repeat.

Haha that’s what I said. Always excuses for Portlands problems

[NOPO]

Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick

Haha that’s what I said. Always excuses for Portlands problems

It’s true though. Despite what is being said here about the store being packed, it was struggling because it is an expensive business in a time of inflation. Crime is just the excuse to cover their ass on their failure.

[CorbinWarrick]

Originally Posted by NOPO

It’s true though. Despite what is being said here about the store being packed, it was struggling because it is an expensive business in a time of inflation. Crime is just the excuse to cover their ass on their failure.

Lol so everything is fine? More bad news for Portland check this:

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2023...-construction-cranes.html?outputType=amp


“Builders are feeling rising costs all over North America, but RLB isn’t reporting a similar slowdown elsewhere. The firm counted more than 500 cranes in the 14 markets it surveys, an all-time high.”



But it’s happening everywhere huh? Come on man

[NOPO]

Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick

Lol so everything is fine? More bad news for Portland check this:

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2023...-construction-cranes.html?outputType=amp


“Builders are feeling rising costs all over North America, but RLB isn’t reporting a similar slowdown elsewhere. The firm counted more than 500 cranes in the 14 markets it surveys, an all-time high.”



But it’s happening everywhere huh? Come on man

Construction of new housing hasn’t been down very much even accounting for the pandemic in Portland, despite what you’re claiming here. So to me that seems promising, not ominous.

And big cranes do not account for all the smaller plexes being built.

[NOPO]

This chart was shared by City Observatory, but it was corrected by city officials. New permits in 2022 were around 4000.

[downtownpdx]

‘We enable’: Portland drug counselor calls for new approach to homelessness

by: Michaela Bourgeois, Ken Boddie

Posted: Apr 16, 2023

'If money were the solution, we would have already solved it by now.'

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Kevin Dahlgren isn’t a typical homeless advocate. The Portland-area drug counselor says he has spent 28 years helping people on the streets along with advising cities and counties.

Dahlgren has received national attention by arguing that cities and social service agencies are enabling homelessness and fostering dependency among the people they say they’re trying to help.

“What we’re getting wrong is the crisis continues to grow as the budgets grow,” Dahlgren said – noting that over the last two decades, he’s seen the issue become a “multi-million-dollar industry.”

“We enable, we do not empower these individuals to reach their fullest potential,” Dahlgren said. “What we’re getting wrong is we’re not helping these individuals thrive. We’re simply loving them to death out there and I witness this personally, dozens and dozens of times.”

Instead, Dahlgren says Oregon needs to change its approach to addressing homelessness.

As Governor Kotek signed the $200 million homelessness and affordable housing package into law in late March, Dahlgren says “if money were the solution, we would have already solved it by now.”

continues - https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/we-enab...-calls-for-new-approach-to-homelessness/

[NOPO]

The problem is no one is funding housing first, plus social workers to help people settle into new housing and maintain it. Shelters are a bandaid and solve almost nothing besides giving someone a place on a cold night. But these people need stable housing, and it would be cheaper to implement than the social triage we currently do.

[NOPO]

Since the need for more cops has been drum-beaten here, I think this is germane. Consider the agency you will be giving even more power to.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/po...s-tuesday-black-lives-matter-1234716202/

“A War Crimes Team Investigated the Portland Police. The Results Are Damning. A forensic investigation found the police used dangerous amounts of tear gas in an attempt to put down Black Lives Matter protests.”

[CorbinWarrick]

This is what I mean.. then some wonder why these business are bailing downtown

Look at this mess. Who does this?!

https://twitter.com/wtfportland1/status/1648781029761744896?s=46&t=dXwx5T1xbC4FX9QIho9i4g

[NOPO]

We have a crime issue and it’s coming from inside the PPB:

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/04...feedback-report-says.html?outputType=amp

“Unidentified Portland police officers left derogatory remarks on an anonymous survey seeking their feedback about online training regarding how to refer to and interact with people in the LGBTQ+ community.”

[CorbinWarrick]

Originally Posted by NOPO

We have a crime issue and it’s coming from inside the PPB:

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/04...feedback-report-says.html?outputType=amp

“Unidentified Portland police officers left derogatory remarks on an anonymous survey seeking their feedback about online training regarding how to refer to and interact with people in the LGBTQ+ community.”

Ok. Any comment on this latest crime spree?

[NOPO]

Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick

Ok. Any comment on this latest crime spree?

Yes, our cops are murdering people. Terrible crime spree.

https://www.opb.org/article/2023/01/02/p...ment-gun-violence-oregon/?outputType=amp

“The incident marked the 38th time law enforcement in Oregon shot at someone last year, breaking a previous record set in 2018 when police shot at 37 people, according to police watchdog Portland Copwatch.”

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by NOPO

Yes, our cops are murdering people. Terrible crime spree.

https://www.opb.org/article/2023/01/02/p...ment-gun-violence-oregon/?outputType=amp

“The incident marked the 38th time law enforcement in Oregon shot at someone last year, breaking a previous record set in 2018 when police shot at 37 people, according to police watchdog Portland Copwatch.”

I know it's shitty that it happens at all, but sometimes it's justified, sometimes it's not. As the criminology prof stated, areas with higher crime rates have higher police shootings. Our crime rate has skyrocketed.

If you look back on this thread, there are posts from 2016 about how we had 8 homicides as of August of that year. We finished 2022 with over 100. This coincides with the budget slashing of 2020 that dismantled the gun violence reduction team and left us with smallest police force since the 1980s, when our population was a lil over half of today's. The consequences are apparent every day partly because criminals know they can get away with whatever when the police are short handed. Thankfully we're hiring more now.

I'm thrilled to see Portland Street Response expanding and I think it's going to make a big difference when it's scaled up to the immense challenges caused by mental illness and drug addiction. But we need all of the above, so we can effectively dispatch the right people for the right situations.

[NOPO]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

I know it's shitty that it happens at all, but sometimes it's justified, sometimes it's not. As the criminology prof stated, areas with higher crime rates have higher police shootings. Our crime rate has skyrocketed.

If you look back on this thread, there are posts from 2016 about how we had 8 homicides as of August of that year. We finished 2022 with over 100. This coincides with the budget slashing of 2020 that dismantled the gun violence reduction team and left us with smallest police force since the 1980s, when our population was a lil over half of today's. The consequences are apparent every day partly because criminals know they can get away with whatever when the police are short handed. Thankfully we're hiring more now.

I'm thrilled to see Portland Street Response expanding and I think it's going to make a big difference when it's scaled up to the immense challenges caused by mental illness and drug addiction. But we need all of the above, so we can effectively dispatch the right people for the right situations.

I still don’t think we need *more* cops. The ones we have should do their jobs.

[NOPO]

https://www.opb.org/article/2023/04/19/f...tarts-to-go-down-in-2022/?outputType=amp

“A rise in crime during the pandemic across most of Oregon’s largest cities – including Portland – is abating, according to a new state analysis of preliminary federal crime data.”

The only negative I can see with this happening is that it will be attributed to our council’s conservative policies when it’s not because of that at all. I believe crime is decreasing naturally because we are pulling out of the pandemic doldrums.