© Provided by Washington Examiner The Portland City Council in Oregon has a new plan to fight a rising tide of gun violence: deploying unarmed park rangers who are not sworn law enforcement officers in some of the city's most dangerous quarters.
The city moved forward with the plan on Wednesday, giving the rangers a $1.4 million boost to "provide a positive, unarmed community safety presence in Portland's parks and surrounding neighborhoods." People in the program can enforce park ordinances, and "when voluntary compliance cannot be gained, exclusions or ejections may be used, as well as civil penalties in limited cases."
Costing the city nearly $6 million, the plan does not allocate anything to bolster the Portland Police Bureau as the area has experienced roughly 250 shootings in 2021 so far, compared to 111 in the first few months of 2020. Instead, law enforcement officers have been directed to "realign internal resources to create six (6) additional assault investigative detectives and one (1) sergeant to coordinate on gun-related investigations."
"The devastating rise in gun violence in Portland and across the nation requires an urgent response and today the Portland City council took action," Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty wrote in a tweet. "This afternoon the City Council unanimously passed a comprehensive gun violence reduction proposal."
PORTLAND POLICE OFFICERS FLEE FORCE IN DROVES
"I am happy to see our city move forward with a response that understands that police have a role in addressing gun violence, but that police alone cannot solve this problem," she said.
The city's "Community Safety Director," who started on April 1, will helm the proposal to end gun violence. The position was established "to provide greater coordination across the City's public safety bureaus and to guide systemic change."
Money will also be allocated for grants to organizations that will assist in the reporting of shooting and victim care.
"Today, City Council passed a $6 million plan to stop gun violence in Portland," Mayor Ted Wheeler wrote in a tweet. "We're working to keep Portland neighborhoods safe, while also increasing trust and ensuring our public safety and policing practices reflect our community's collective values."
Police officers in Portland have been resigning or retiring in record numbers, citing a hostile political climate and incompetence from city leaders. Some 115 officers have left the force since July 1 of last year, the highest in at least 15 years. As of March, 93 officer positions remain open, as well as 43 civilian positions.
"What the city council has done to beat down the officers' willingness to do police work is unfathomable," a retired training officer wrote, according to the Oregonian. "I have never seen morale so low. Officers leaving mid-career and sometimes sooner to go to other agencies. Officers retiring when they would have stayed longer if the situation were different."
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The city was roiled by criticism following the death of George Floyd after riots persisted in the area for weeks, leading to the deployment of federal law enforcement to curb the violence. Sporadic demonstrations have continued to occur, as protesters on Sunday tagged a prominent police union with graffiti and lit debris on fire outside of the building.
Tags: News, Portland, Oregon, Law Enforcement, Gun Violence, Riots, George Floyd
Original Author: Jake Dima
Original Location: Portland deploying unarmed park rangers to combat surge in shootings