PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Businesses are fed up with crime and vandalism in Woodstock and taking matters into their own hands.
They say they’re considering hiring private security and are in the process of talking to a company.
“The vandalism, drug use, and violence in the area has been terrifying for a lot of people,” said Cristy Landers, a local business owner.
Landers has had Transformations Salon in Woodstock for 22 years.
“There’s been a lot of changes, a lot of the houseless people who have moved into the neighborhood have been the scariest part for our kids,” said Landers.
She’s spearheading the effort to get private security for the neighborhood.
Landers told KOIN 6 their hope is to have guards patrol the neighborhood in the evening, shared between businesses.
She said she got the idea after someone broke into her salon in October and in that same month, a client told Landers she was attacked while walking down the street.
Landers hopes that guards could prevent more vandalism.
“If you go up and down Woodstock, you’ll see all the broken glass, it’s very disturbing,” said Landers.
In Woodstock, there are broken and boarded-up windows along the street. Employees told KOIN 6 they were broken by people on drugs or having a psychotic break.
Sonja Miller with the Woodstock neighborhood association said she and her neighbors also see criminal activity on the streets.
“It was trash, it was just out of control,” said Miller. “We have campers and drug dealing in distance of preschools.”
She said as soon as one camp is cleared, another pops up. She wants to see the city handle the problem in a more streamlined way, but also thinks the issue runs deeper.
“It ultimately is about having housing, it’s a balance between compassion and frustration, because of bad actors like the drug dealers,” Miller said.
There’s no ETA on when the business owners would actually get that security, but they discussed it at a recent meeting.