Homelessness is a widely debated issue here in Portland with the majority of the population agreeing that something has to be done to help this crisis. Unfortunately, this population is also disproportionately targeted by local law enforcement. Homeless individuals made up only 2% of Portland’s population on average from 2017-2020 but accounted for half of the arrests during that same timeframe (Source). One strategy that aimed to combat this was the launch of the Portland Street Response program by Portland Fire and Rescue and former Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in early 2021. This program aimed at helping reduce these arrests by diverting a variety of non-violent 911 calls away from police officers and instead sending mental health professionals and paramedics to these calls. In the first 6 months, this resulted in the Portland Street Response team dispatching to 903 incidents, 824 of which would have traditionally been responded to by the police. This was a 4% decrease in the amount of calls that police would have typically responded to in this timeframe and area.
Initially Portland Street Response was launched as a limited
pilot program that only answered calls in the Lents neighborhood during limited
hours. At the end of the first year of the program the Portland State
University Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative conducted a thorough
analysis and report on the program highly recommending the expansion of the
service to be made available 24/7 across the entire city. This recommendation was
echoed by a variety of different community organizations as well as people
throughout Portland (Source). The program was celebrated by Portland City Council when it received the one-year
report and made the decision to fully fund the program city wide.
In November of 2022, Rene Gonzalez defeated incumbent Jo Ann
Hardesty in the election for position 3 of the City Council and in January of
2023 he was designated to oversee Portland Fire and Rescue which houses Portland
Street Response. Gonzalez almost immediately started to use his power to impede
the program’s ability to run effectively by issuing a hiring freeze and
stopping the distribution of tents and other supplies. Since January, the
program has been in turmoil as the manager has quit and the program has been unable
to expand or secure long-term funding (Source).
With the overwhelmingly popular program steeped in
uncertainty, the group Friends of Portland Street Response have created a
petition that calls for:
1. End the hiring freeze imposed on Portland Street Response
and adequately fund PSR to meet citywide demand 24/7, as promised by City
Council.
2. Remove restrictions on the purchase of life-saving
supplies used to provide services, build community trust and de-escalate 911
calls.
3. Allow Portland Street Response to respond to more 911
call types, such as appropriate calls inside residences or involving a
potential suicide attempt.
4. Keep Portland Street Response out of enforcement
activities.
5. Establish Portland Street Response as a co-equal branch
of our first responder network located within a supportive environment in
Portland city government.
The petition has been signed by over 40 different community organizations and political leaders as well as over 4,500 people as of July 18th. You can sign the petition here
Read more about Portland Street Response and the different aspects of this story at the links below:
Dozens of organizations urge Portland City Council to reinvest in Street Response
Portland Street Response supporters petition city to prioritize program
Despite historical failures, Portland wants to fine, jail homeless Portlanders
Police Know Arrests Won’t Fix Homelessness. They Keep Making Them Anyway.
Portland Street Response: Year One Evaluation
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