Addressing Crime in Portland

One of our key strategies in addressing crime is to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement agencies. Hopefully we can start more neighborhood watch areas to work with law enforcement using ideas that make our close knit Neiborhood's a little safer working with vendors and others to bring back our downtown area. By fostering strong partnerships and collaboration, we aim to enhance public safety, reduce crime rates, and improve the overall security of our city. Together, we can make a difference in creating a safer Portland for everyone. In 2020 city counsel members voted 5 to 1 eliminating 15 million from PPB budget. That translated into eliminating at least 80 staff positions. Today our police force has about as of this year 800 sworn members about 300 professional staff and about only 35 cadets. This for the size and population is a very low count of officers to cover the many multitudes of different areas and duties performed withing a police force. Iam glad we have other services in our city like Portland Street Response. We need more entities like this reducing the time need of a trained police officer. PPD does not have enough staff to handle each department effectively to offer any curb in crime. I think what is needed is about 1400 police officers to be able to handle what they see each day. Example I was in a car accident and called 911. The person who answered that call they asked is anyone leaving in an ambulance. I said no. That person said that the police will not be coming! I had a vehicle stolen it was missing for many months, I had tools in it. When I finally got a phone call from the police to come get it I had a day to pick it up and it was destroyed, junk. No investigation and I have evidence that would capture the criminals. A couple weeks ago a man was walking on our street carrying a car battery. He came up to me and started talking to me wanting a smoke, and about he is out looking for a car to drive home. He told me his name and that he was from another country. He told me he keeps looking at this one car but is not sure if he wants it, it was brothers car. We do not have enough traffic officers to even control traffic infractions. Currently we are installing more traffic cameras. i just saw a picture from one mailed to the owner of the license plate. It is a person making a traffic infraction with a clear view of the driver but it is the wrong car The owner of the license plate just found out his front plate was stolen. At one point there was no one assigned to traffic division that was a two year amount of time. PBOT and other government officials are working on an idea of making 82hd avenue a safer more stable street to drive on. I watch the news all the time there was a woman on the news talking about the safety she feels or the lack of will come from this maybe, as she walks her dog here. She was standing next to a sign that reads " This crosswalk is Closed. That sign if it is the same one got run over and only a little metal sticks up out of the sidewalk it only took a few weeks for this to happen to that brand new sign. When PBOT showed up to install a new crosswalk sign they started to do the work at midnight. I spoke to the man in charge they left and did it in the morning. I watch the drivers on 82nd drive by this crosswalk all the time. As a taxpayer in my opinion the new pedestrian crosswalks are not visible enough and the lights on some of them are not bright enough. As a person was crossing the walk with it walk lite on a car stopped and the woman putting on makeup behind the stopped car crashed into the car that was stopped. The cement divider they installed has destroyed many cars losing oil pans, wheels, a-frames as they run into it. The intersection at 102nd and Halsey with the new bike lane and bike traffic light is very dangerous for all users foot traffic, bikes and cars go look at it. I think we need some different designers and planners at PBOT I know many cyclists' would agree. No matter how much faith is allowed to PBOT 82nd Ave will not be safe until traffic officers are back to full force and the public can see them causing change to bad driving habits. Sex trafficking on 82nd avenue is a 24/7 business. Everyday every hour this also motivates some drivers to drive reckless or distracted while doing business. One day I watched a man stop his vehicle jump out of his vehicle and start to attack a lady of the night in the middle of the day. I waved her over to me and stand behind me. My neighbors saw me standing up to this man came out of there houses and stood with me making the man leave. You have people running for mayor each of them have different ideas and different directions. Many others running for others positions within our government and none of them work together on a single goal. Our city has gone through to much to let people who want to lead to have many more years of bad times. The first thing i support fully is a well funded and educated law enforcement agency to keep citizens safer. Wow this was just one topic and i only scrapped the surface.