Police
Police budget cuts cripple bike theft response unit
The leader of the Portland Police Police Bureau’s Bike Theft Task Force (BTTF) says the unit has lost its only source of funding and will have to significantly scale back its work for the foreseeable future. Officers with the task force had been doing regular bike registration events in partnership with Portland Parks rangers over … Read more
800 citations in 17 days: Tigard mayor connects dots from speeding to traffic deaths
It only took 17 days for Tigard’s two new traffic enforcement cameras to rack up over 800 citations. And just a few minutes for that city’s mayor to draw a line between this rampant, normalized lawlessness and death. The new cameras started issuing citations on July 14th at 72nd Avenue and at Hall Boulevard on … Read more
PPB traffic stop data shows Black Portlanders are overrepresented
H/T Latisha Jenson, Willamette Week In the first eight months of 2020, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers made 20,990 traffic stops. According to police data, between New Year’s Day and August 1st, 17.7% of the people stopped were Black — a significant overrepresentation of Portland’s Black population which was 5.8% as of 2019. Over the … Read more
PBOT splits with Portland Police Bureau on crosswalk law enforcement program
The Portland Bureau of Transportation has ended a 15-year partnership with the Portland Police Bureau that centered around the enforcement of Oregon’s crosswalk law. Since 2005 PBOT has conducted “pedestrian crosswalk education and enforcement actions” with the PPB. But in recent years conversations around the enforcement of traffic laws and concerns about racial profiling by … Read more
Person thrown to the ground and arrested while biking on SW 4th Avenue
WATCH – Portland Police officers knock a protester off of his bicycle and arrest him outside of Lownsdale Square Park near the Federal Courthouse downtown #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/tow0GzeyzW — Dan McCarthy (@DanMcKATU) July 16, 2020
Bike and walk advocates join calls for major police reform
“Our business has historically been in trying to build the best bike network possible, but our work is meaningless if public space is not safe for everyone.”— Bike Loud PDX co-chairs
Portland Police officers drove SUVs into people on the street last night
After Monday’s peaceful protest, even more people took to the streets last night to march against racism and policy brutality. While the protest was largely peaceful for many hours, there were several instances of more aggressive actions. Reporters documented the Portland Police firing tear gas and flash-bangs into peaceful crowds indiscriminately, causing shock and horror … Read more
Scofflaw car drivers are keeping police very busy
Whether it’s the Coronavirus Effect, a general sense of lawlessness, lack of concern about consequences, or all of the above — the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division has been very busy with dangerous drivers recently. You’ve likely seen the headlines about a spike in speeding. This is happening for the aforementioned reasons and because the … Read more
Police make 46 stops in 5 hours during crosswalk enforcement missions on SE Foster, Hawthorne
What does it take for people to stop when someone’s trying to cross the road? How about being on a commercial corridor full of shops? Maybe crosswalks with median islands and flashing lights? Perhaps a pandemic that asks everyone to lighten the load of first responders and hospitals? How about the presence of police officers … Read more