PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – This year is now on pace to surpass last year’s record number of homicides in Portland.
Portland Police Bureau homicide detective sergeant Michele Hughes, told KOIN 6 News it’s scary to think how many people are down range of many of those shootings and could be shot, particularly in public places.
Hughes also noted how much the city has changed since she started at PPB 24 years ago, and said even back in 2016, they were averaging around 25 homicides a year.
“There’s a serious disregard for human life going on in this city,” Hughes said.
Now, she said, that number has tripled and most of their cases are coming from shootings in homeless camps and gang violence.
“There’s definitely a higher percentage that are houseless, we’ve had multiple scenes this year involving houseless people and near these transient camps. More so than we’ve ever had,” Hughes explained.
She noted “repeat shooters and repeat homicide offenders are two different things. We know we have repeat shooters in this city. From the homicide side of things, we’ve had a few in the last couple years,” Hughes explained.
On Monday night, Portland had its 28th homicide of the year. Police responded to four homicides from Thursday night to late Monday night. Hughes said officers are trying to save lives when possible.
“Officers are doing a wonderful job of battle care in the field. They’re putting tourniquets and chest seals and taking care of these folks and getting them to the hospital and they’re surviving,” Hughes said.
With so many cases, she says detectives are battling burnout and it’s taking more time to solve cases.
“Our goal is to give those families closure and we care deeply about the work we’re doing. We’re not going to stop,” Hughes said.