Portland Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler announced in June that he was authorizing radical changes to how policing was done in his city, including disbanding the city’s gun violence reduction team. Now the city is grappling with a surge in violent crime.
“Portland police are scrambling to respond to 15 homicides in the city so far in July. That’s the most killings in one month in more than three decades,” The Oregonian reported. “So far this year, 24 people have died in homicides in Portland.”
While the city has been in the national spotlight for violent riots that have occurred for over two months, the newspaper noted that overall person-to-person and property crimes were down compared to past years, but added that “homicides, assaults, burglaries and vandalism are up.”
The Oregonian added that the city had seen a total of 63 shootings in July compared to 28 the year before. Police Chief Chuck Lovell noted late last week that “the bureau was forced to cut its Gun Violence Reduction Team at the direction of the City Council.” – READ MORE
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