PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After three people were killed in two shootings over the weekend, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is hopeful the front-line response to gun violence will change soon.
On Saturday, a man was killed and a woman was hospitalized in a shooting off NW 17th and Irving Street. The following day, two men were found dead in the Centennial neighborhood, southwest of Powell and SE 147th Street. There hasn’t been an arrest in either case.
Portland grappled with a record number of homicides in 2022, and the Centennial and Northwest neighborhoods were no exception.
According to the latest data available from March 2022 through March of this year, there have been four homicides over the past five years in the Northwest neighborhood, with two coming last year. Meanwhile, Centennial has experienced 19 homicides since 2018 and seven over the past year.
Wheeler said that arrests can often take time and that the process is not like what people would see on TV shows.
“The reality is, they don’t get solved the same day,” Wheeler said. “It often takes significant investigative resources in order to bring people to justice.”
However, he also said that he’s feeling optimistic about the front-line response.
Last year, Wheeler set a goal to add 300 sworn staff to PPB and said the city is making progress on that goal. There are fewer vacancies for Police Bureau positions than in recent yearsas the Bureau is authorized for 882 total sworn positions. Currently, PPB reports 75 open positions, compared to 109 in 2022, 103 in 2021 and 85 in 2020.
“We’re actually ahead of the target and I expect we meet that 300 threshold prior to the three years that I pledged,” Wheeler said. “Portland is a destination bureau still, despite the challenges the community has faced.”
There have been no additional positions funded, but PPB also hired 55 more people than it lost in the last six months. KOIN 6 News asked the Mayor’s Office if there are plans to propose additional funding for PPB to meet Wheeler’s goal. They responded by saying “As we fill vacant positions, we will work with Council to ensure PPB has the resources it needs to maintain this momentum.”
In 2022, Wheeler’s budget priority for PPB was adding Public Safety Specialists to the ranks. The Bureau reports 29 of the 70 authorized positions are currently vacant.
“We’ve made real big investments in investigating homicides and shootings with the increase of our homicide unit and build out of the Enhanced Community Safety Team. Those investigations are ongoing,” said PPB Chief Chuck Lovell.
KOIN 6 News has tracked 28 homicides so far this year, compared to 35 this time last year. Gun violence traditionally increases during the summer months and Lovell is banking on last year’s creation of the Community Safety Division to prevent a third straight record-breaking year for gun violence in the Rose City.
“We’re always looking to make arrests in those cases but this effort is something that we’re committed to,” Lovell said.