VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY:
The visionPDX Input Report

PUBLIC SAFETY:
Crime

  


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Portland is still relatively safe, but crime is a growing concern.

Section Summary

Many people praise Portland for its relatively low levels of crime compared to other major cities. However, as the city grows, people are worried that the crime rate will rise. People point to deteriorating safety conditions downtown, the growing number of youth involved in gangs and juvenile delinquency and increases in drug use and drug-related crimes to bolster their argument that crime is becoming a serious problem. They are particularly worried about Portland’s at-risk youth, who they fear will be lured into gangs and criminal activity if they are not engaged in school or positive community activities.

Some Portlanders believe that crime is rising in part because of an overly-permissive culture and political atmosphere which accommodates petty criminals and does not enforce existing laws. Others hold an opposing view, believing that more needs to be done to help drug addicts, the mentally ill and others stay out of the criminal justice system. However, regardless of their perspective, most Portlanders want to see crime addressed before it becomes and even bigger problem.

Summary of Main Ideas

  1. Many people experience Portland as a safe city.
  2. Rising crime rates threaten Portland’s livability.
  3. Portland is too soft on crime and too lenient with criminals.
  4. Gangs pose a threat to youth and to the community at large.
  5. Reducing juvenile delinquency is a community responsibility.

Summary of Tensions and Disagreements

  1. What is the most appropriate and effective response to petty crime?

MAIN IDEAS

  1. Many people experience Portland as a safe city.
  • A large number of respondents value Portland as a “clean, safe city” especially compared to other cities in the country.
  • Many Portlanders said they live here because it is safe for families and a good place to raise children (See Urban Livability: Family Friendly).
  • Many individuals also speak of feeling safe in Portland, including:
    • Individuals who identify as sexual minorities;
    • Immigrants and refugees; and
    • Women, many of whom say they feel safe walking, running or cycling alone in the city.
  • Many people think that Portland’s small size makes it feel safe and comfortable. Some of these people worry that the city will feel less safe as it grows.
  • A smaller amount of people love the fact that they feel safe downtown and believe that safety will increase with higher density and more people living near each other.
"Portland still feels like a relatively safe city. If I want to go for a run, I just leash up my dog and go, no matter what time of day. As a woman, that means a lot to me.”

“I value how safe I feel in the city because feeling safe allows me to run along Waterfront Park alone at lunch, take a stroll down the park blocks, or meet a friend for dinner.”

“[I value] the overall openness of the people. This is very uncommon for a city of this size. I feel that someone would stop and help me if I was hurt on the street and I feel relatively safe.”

  1. Rising crime rates threaten Portland’s livability.
  • Many Portlanders who have lived here for some time state that Portland is becoming less safe, with higher instances of crime and drug abuse.
  • This decrease in safety is linked to the presence of:
    • Drug dealers;
    • Drug users, many of whom commit crimes such as property theft; and
    • Gang members or groups of aggressive-looking youth.
  • Many feel that the downtown area used to be safe, but has increasingly become an unsafe place for shoppers, tourists, families with young children, and others (For more, see Health: Substance Abuse).
  • Some people express fear of being victimized downtown, and others are fearful of crimes committed in their neighborhoods.
  • Those fearing criminal behavior and gang activity include:
    • People living in neighborhoods with higher poverty rates;
    • Some families with young children;
    • Teenagers; and
    • Elders.
  • Portlanders state that we must reduce crime, specifically the presence of drug dealers and buyers, in specific areas of town including:
    • Downtown, specifically bus malls and Pioneer Courthouse Square;
    • The Park Blocks;
    • Old Town;
    • Waterfront Park;
    • Lloyd Center;
    • North Portland;
    • Outer Northeast Portland;
    • 82nd Avenue;
    • East Burnside;
    • Rockwood;
    • Southeast Powell Blvd..; and
    • Local neighborhood parks.
  • In addition to gang activity and drug-related crime, some Portlanders express concerns about other types of crime such as: car thefts; home invasions; violence; prostitution; graffiti and vandalism.
  • Portland also needs to address vagrancy problems in and around the downtown entertainment district, Old Town and Waterfront Park.
“Regain our parks for families and hard-working individuals from the drifters, druggies, gang-type people inhabiting some of them.”

“The street people issue has become …pervasive, particularly with aimless young people. There is for the first time in 20 years a feeling of concern for safety in the Pioneer Courthouse space in particular. This is the number one negative comment I ever hear about Portland.”

“I’d like to feel more safe. I’d like gangs to go away. I’d like drugs and all the crime they cause to go away. I’d like parents to be good role models, priests to be true and ethical guides, police to be dependable and for the people. I’d like there to be good schools, resources, jobs.”

Sample Strategies:

  1. Police should spend more time on serious crimes and less time on panhandlers and runaways.
  2. Crack down on the methamphetamine industry by focusing on prevention, which is more cost-effective than buying new jail space.
  3. Fund and expand jails and prisons to remove repeat offenders from the streets.
  4. Address the root causes of crime, drug use and anti-social behavior.
  5. Improve the city’s public school system and provide more options for at-risk youth.
  6. Encourage neighbors to take back their neighborhoods by supporting them in their efforts to reduce crime and gang activity.
  7. Decrease fraud and property crime through public safety programs to educate and protect the public.
  8. Let the police work on crime and develop a separate agency, system or facility to work with the mentally ill.
  1. Portland is too soft on crime and too lenient with criminals.
  • There are a number of comments throughout this section from people who believe that crime is on the rise in Portland because the city is too soft on crime.
  • These respondents feel the following factors are partly to blame:
    • Portland’s liberal political climate, which some believe breeds drug use and criminal behavior;
    • Lax enforcement of existing laws by police officers; and
    • An overly tolerant social atmosphere, which some feel emboldens criminals.
  • Existing laws should be enforced strictly by police officers, including:
    o Traffic laws (speed limits, red lights, etc.)
    • Laws prohibiting prostitution;
    • Laws banning smoking on Tri-Met platforms;
    • Laws prohibiting drinking in parks; and
    • Laws against drug dealing, especially in public places.
  • People who break the law should be held accountable and punished more harshly.
  • Criminals should not be let out of jail for lack of funding or space.
“Stop being so lenient with lowlifes. Stop allowing panhandlers, drunks and criminals to roam the City, selling and using drugs everywhere, threatening people, and basically living on the buses, MAX, sidewalks and parks. They’ve become part of the ‘public domain’ and it’s awful. Find other places for them to live (such as jail!)”

"Portland needs to hold the bar higher for people. They need to expect accountability. We need to stop reinforcing the idea that people can’t do it themselves. What do you have when you sober up a horse thief? A sober horse thief. What happens when we instill and reinforce entitlement issues in criminal, homeless people, and addicts? Portland needs to help people who are willing to do the hard work and stop throwing money at those who don’t want a better life.”

Sample Strategies:

  1. More funding for jails, so that criminals can be held for the full duration of their sentences.
  2. More police presence in neighborhoods and downtown.
  1. Gangs pose a threat to youth and to the community at large.
  • Some Portlanders are very worried about gang activity in the city and rising rates of gang-related crime, including graffiti, property damage and youth violence.
  • Youth gangs have been increasing their presence in certain neighborhoods, including outer Northeast Portland and East Portland.
  • Many people--particularly elders and families with children– fear gang activity and groups of people that appear dangerous or intimidating loitering in downtown, in parks and some residential areas.
  • Portlanders are also worried about graffiti, which they consider to be a by-product of gang activity. Worries include:
    • Graffiti makes Portland look dirty, unkempt and uncared for;
    • Graffiti can intensify violence between competing gangs;
    • Graffiti is a significant concern because so many people value the beauty and cleanliness of the city and consider it a key part of Portland’s identity (see Urban Livability: City Appearance).
  • Portlanders should not tolerate gangs and should work vigorously to reduce gang violence.
“I’m seeing…a lot more graffiti and in what has been considered the ‘nice’ places which makes me think gangs are more prevalent. I’ve also noticed more of a drug problem lately.”

“[I would like to see] a more concentrated effort to rehabilitate the homeless, to get kids, drugs, and gangs off the streets.”

“I wish there were more programs for young people. Also more programs for parents. Less shootings in the community. There should be more police in the neighborhood. No popping wheels or breaking windows. Less gangsters and more security.”

Sample Strategies:

  1. Create and promote early intervention programs for troubled and at-risk youth that will prevent them from being drawn into the world of gangs.
  2. Provide free tattoo removal for young kids trying to exit gangs.
  3. Publish and post more information on how to report individuals engaged in graffiti.
  4. "Create a program for youth who want to be part of a group but are joining gangs for lack of information."
  5. Focus juvenile justice on reform, not punishment.
  1. Reducing juvenile delinquency is a community responsibility.
  • Many respondents look to the community to prevent youth from joining gangs and/or entering a life of crime.
  • Portlanders want investments early in the success of all of the community’s young people.
  • While the police play an important role, many people believe that the community—not the police—is mainly responsible for deterring youth from a life of crime.
  • Portlanders believe that better quality schools, more programs for youth and greater community involvement with youth will deter them from criminal activity.

    Improved Schools:
  • Portlanders believe that with effective and flourishing schools, we would have fewer dropouts, teen pregnancies and juvenile offenders.
  • Many respondents believe youth who are engaged in school and excited about their education will not be enticed by gangs or a life of crime.
  • Focusing on improving schools will solve many of the problems that lead youth towards unproductive, anti-social behavior.

    Youth Programs:

  • Many youth, especially low-income and at-risk youth, lack access to inexpensive activities that can keep them engaged in the after-school hours and during the summer months.
  • Youth request more skate parks, more after-school programs, and other activities to keep them “out of trouble” and learning new skills.

    Community Involvement:

  • Neighborhoods should offer extensive, inexpensive youth activities to reduce juvenile delinquency.
  • Neighborhood associations should be equipped to take the lead in defusing gangs and giving young people a place to go and things to do.
  • Police should create programs where they can work with youth and build positive relationships with young people.
  • Local businesses can do more to involve youth through job shadowing, summer internships and partnering more with local schools.
“We need more places for kids my age to go where we are not able to get into trouble.”

“More programs to help keep kids out of gangs and off drugs, and instead into activities that they can be good at and proud of.”

“Educate our children well so that they don’t fall into drugs or gangs.”

Sample Strategies:

  1. Schools, government agencies and neighborhood centers should teach the principles of non-violent methods of conflict resolution for all age levels.
  2. “A lot more work in low-income neighborhoods to work with kids giving them a hopeful sense of the future so they have no interest [in] the dead-end life of gangs.”

TENSIONS AND DISAGREEMENTS

  1. What is the most appropriate and effective response to petty crime?

    There is a major disagreement in this section regarding how best to deal with people who are involved with minor crimes, especially individuals who are socially disadvantaged (people experiencing homelessness, people with mental illnesses or who are addicted to drugs, runaways, etc.). Most respondents favor a “compassionate” approach that seeks to understand and address the root causes of these crimes. Instead of harsh prison sentences for this type of offender, they prefer community service, rehabilitation, counseling and other services to help individuals turn their lives around and become productive, contributing members of society.

    They would prefer that law enforcement officers spend less time “hassling” these people and more time focused on preventing major crimes and catching serious criminals, including drug dealers, violent offenders, child molesters and others. They want to see a cohesive, multi-disciplinary partnership between law enforcement, social service agencies and the justice system that provides effective services for “at risk” populations and prevents them from joining the ranks of serious, hardened criminals.

    There is a much smaller group of respondents that is very opposed to this position. These Portlanders want to see strict enforcement of all existing rules and would prefer that drug addicts, gang members and anyone else who breaks the law serve prison time, regardless of that person’s circumstances or life challenges. They are opposed to providing additional services to people who are breaking the law or have already broken it, and would prefer to see those funds spent on increasing prison capacity and keeping criminals in jail for longer periods of time.