Captain Todd Wyatt is under investigation following an incident in Idaho.(Photos © J. Maus)

Captain Todd Wyatt of the Portland Police Bureau's Traffic Division has been temporarily reassigned. According to the PPB, Wyatt was recently involved in an "off-duty incident while driving that involved another driver." The incident is being investigated by the Idaho State Police.
The [...]

Pickett accepting his Alice Award in 2009.(Photos © J. Maus)

Robert Pickett, a Portland police officer who has endeared himself to many in our community, has accepted a position with the U.S. State Department. Pickett, who announced the news minutes ago at the City of Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting, will report for training for his [...]

Waiting to cross near Beaverton City Hall.(Photo © J. Maus)

What would happen if police officers in a suburban city went out and did a crosswalk law enforcement action (a.k.a. sting) at a busy intersection? Well, the Beaverton Police Department found out last Wednesday. Beaverton PD officers spent five hours, from 10:00 am to [...]

"If we could have put a solid felony case together against Mr. Hanna, and we tried, we would have gone forward with much stiffer charges... I would have liked to seen felony charges, but at the end of the day, this was the best we could do." -- Sgt. Todd Davis, Portland Police Bureau

Many people [...]

Captain Todd Wyatt.(Photo © J. Maus)

Todd Wyatt is the new captain of the Portland Police Bureau's Traffic Division. Wyatt, 41, takes over the position from Eric Hendricks who held the position for just 13 months before being reassigned to a job in the Chief's office.
Wyatt comes to Traffic from his previous post as Captain of [...]

Horse mounted cops survived budget process, bike mounted cops didn't.(Photo © J. Maus)

With the passage of the budget yesterday, a rare opportunity for the Portland Police Bureau to add bike patrol officers has passed us by.
A proposal by the Police Bureau that surfaced back in January would have cut the PPB's Mounted (horse) [...]

Asst. Chief Larry O'Dea.(Photo © J. Maus)

As I noted yesterday, there have been a lot of changes at the Portland Police Bureau lately and the Traffic Division - the arm of the bureau that is engaged with biking and transportation issues -- has not been immune to them.
Today, former TD captain and now Assistant [...]

Former Traffic Division Captain Eric Hendricks has moved into the Chief's office.(Photo © J. Maus)

The Portland Police Bureau has announced another change atop the Traffic Division. Former Captain Eric Hendricks will now serve as the new Assistant Chief of Investigations in the Chief's office. Hendricks was named Captain in April 2009, making him [...]

Former police chief Rosie Sizer spoke at Bike Gallery when Portland celebrated reaching Platinum status in April 2008.(Photos © J. Maus)

Last week, Portland Mayor Sam Adams made a surprising move by firing Police Chief Rosie Sizer and moving control of the bureau back into his office (and away from Commissioner Dan Saltzman).
There might be more [...]

Last year, the Mayor and his staff rode in the parade.(Photo © J. Maus)

In a bid to save money, the Portland Police Bureau hopes to replace some of its sworn officers with volunteer bike riders in this year's Grand Floral Parade.
Lieutenant John Brooks with the PPB's East Precinct is in charge of the parade. [...]

Detail of map showing one of the paths through Delta Park near I-5.

The City of Portland plans to start up a citizen bike patrol to work the paths around Delta Park and Interstate 5 in North Portland.
According to an announcement for the upcoming training event that happens Tuesday (5/11), members of the new patrol would, [...]

Blake Sharkey Steve; arrested for hit and run and vehicular assault.(Photo: Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office)

Given our recent discussion of police responses to vehicular assault, I thought this story from Clackamas (about 11 miles SE of downtown Portland) that just came over the wire was interesting.
According to the Oregon State Police, at just before 2:00 today [...]

Mounted Patrol Unit in action downtown.(Photos © J. Maus)

Back in January, we reported that in order to save $585,000, the Portland Police bureau was considering a transfer of their horse-mounted units to bike patrol. The idea is to shut down the Mounted Patrol Unit (MPU) and redeploy four formerly horse-mounted officers to work bike [...]

(Photo © J. Maus)

The Portland Police Bureau issued 384 citations and 31 warnings for violation of Oregon's new cell phone law during the month of January. The law, which makes it a primary offense (meaning cops do not need any other reason to pull you over) to hold a cell phone to your ear [...]

Do you have to put your foot down?(Photo © J. Maus)

This week's "Ask BikePortland" comes from Daniel Knutson. Mr. Knutson, 52, wrote in to express his frustrations at getting a ticket from a Portland Police Officer a few months ago for doing a "track stand" at a stop light.
On September 19th, Knutson says was [...]

Bike Patrol in action on SE Hawthorne.(Photo © J. Maus)

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) could save $585,000 per year if they were to make good on a proposal to dismantle their Mounted Patrol Unit and transfer four officers to downtown bike detail. The savings would come from reducing the number of employees from seven [...]

Despite appearances, that bike lane continues through the intersection.(Photo © J. Maus)

We've got more reaction and analysis on the infamous disappearing bike lane decision.
First, a quick review: Carmen Piekarski was right-hooked by a woman driving a car while biking through an intersection. Multnomah County Judge Pro Tem Michael Zusman ruled that the person driving [...]

Notice of Exclusion written to Matt Cleinman for trespassing in Waterfront Park. - Larger version (90kb jpg) -

At 4:30 am this morning, a Portland Police officer issued a Portland man a notice of exclusion and warning for trespassing because he was riding his bicycle through Waterfront Park while the park was closed.
Matt Cleinman, a [...]

Portland's Mounted Patrol Unit.(Photo: Police Bureau)

The Portland Police Police Bureau, like all City bureaus, is facing another year of budget cuts. The PPB must reduce their budget for the coming year by 2% (other, non public safety bureaus have to cut 4%). One idea that has been proposed is to dissolve their Mounted [...]

Police Chief Rose Sizer talks with citizen traffic safety activists Susie Kubota and Erin Greeson after the City Council meeting yesterday.(Photos © J. Maus)

Today, the Portland City Council unanimously approved the Transportation Community Policing Agreement.
At yesterday's Council meeting, the four City Commissioners (Mayor Adams is away) heard testimony from traffic safety advocates and [...]