840 Officers Needed To Meet Demands Of A Growing Portland

PORTLAND, Ore– Violent crimes in Portland are on the rise and the  Portland Police Union says the city is short officers, and needs to add around 175 officers per year over the next 5 years. According to Daryl Turner Executive Director of the Portland Police Association, “We had more officers on Portland streets 20 years ago.”  As an example, over the weekend the city had its 67th homicide.  Portland is on tap to surpass 70 this breaking a record set in 1987.

The Portland City Council defunded the police by 15 Million Dollars  a year ago.  On Friday the city announced it had a 62 million dollar surplus. It’s not known if any more money will be restored to the police bureau for more officers.  Mayor Ted Wheeler could talk more about his plans for the bureau next week.