On Nov 4, Portland Street Response’s second shift will start taking calls and offering expanded service from 6 pm – 2:30 am Thursday through Sunday. PSR’s existing day shift has changed its hours to 9 am to 5 pm Monday – Thursday. Both shifts will respond in a new expanded boundary that corresponds to Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct, increasing the boundary from 13 square miles to 36 square miles.
Portlanders can plug their addresses into this online tool to see if their address is within the boundary: https://www.portland.gov/streetresponse/address-lookup-tool. Requests for Portland Street Response service can be made by calling 9-1-1.
The new night shift response team includes a Firefighter/EMT, a Mental Health Crisis Responder, and two Peer Support Specialists.
“This next phase of Portland Street Response’s expansion is part of Portland Fire & Rescue’s commitment to health equity and a bureau-wide vision for creating a community where all of our neighbors are able to access the mental, behavioral health, and social service supports they need to live healthy, productive lives.” says Fire Chief Sara Boone.
During the first phase of the pilot, PSR initially created a boundary that corresponded to Portland Fire & Rescue’s Fire Management Areas, but the team soon discovered that connecting the boundary to Portland Police Bureau’s precinct system was more effective for dispatch.
"We look forward to continuing to meet with members of the Street Response Team and collaborate on how we can best coordinate and align our resources to serve those most vulnerable and get them the help they need," said Chief Chuck Lovell. "Our Behavioral Health Team has worked to supply training, provide support and assist the efforts of the Street Response Team as they begin their expansion. This is a valuable public safety partnership."
Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty oversees Portland Street Response and helped create the program for the City of Portland. She says: “I’m so excited that today we are ready to expand Portland Street Response to a larger portion of Portland’s eastside with a new shift coming onboard. This is the next step towards Citywide expansion as we continue to thoughtfully grow PSR to provide a compassionate first response to people in crisis on our streets, which will also free up resources for our police. I want to thank the Lents neighborhood for being an incredible partner throughout this pilot and Portlanders throughout the city who have continued to express strong support for growing Portland Street Response.”