Public Information Officer’s Role and Duties
The Bureau has a PIO Manager, a Sergeant who acts as a PIO, and a civilian PIO. During off-hours, PPB also has officers acting as PIOs in a detached status. All requests to interview the Chief, officers, detectives or other members of the Bureau should be, routed through the PIO first. The PIO may be contacted by emailing PPBpio@police.portlandoregon.gov
As a general rule, the PIO works Monday through Saturday rom 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The PIO is available after-hours and weekends for incidents with a clear need for immediate public notification due to community safety concerns. The PIO will continue to respond to major incidents, including Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) callouts, critical incidents and other large-scale emergencies. Updates will be sent out via FlashNews or Twitter.
Information requests and incidents that do not have an immediate community safety concern will be answered the next business day. Examples include: property crime offenses, such as theft or fraud, or information requests regarding incidents that are not active events. This would also include non-active and non-emergent incidents that viewers or readers send to media (e.g.: bike theft, car theft, burglary, etc.), those that are reported by other media outlets (confirming others stories) and inquiring about updates to earlier releases unless there is a clear need for immediate public notification due to community safety concerns.
Helpful Links
- Public Records Request
- Images for Use by Media
- News Releases
- Open Data / Stats
- Online Police Reports
- Homelessness Toolkit
Release of Information
We try to release as much information as possible as early as possible. The PIO works closely with Detectives and others to ensure that any information released will not compromise an investigation.
Identity: There are a few exemptions where information will not be released regarding a person’s identity. For example, when there is an incident in which the person involved is taken to a mental health facility and is not charged with a crime, we will not be releasing their name. As a general rule, we do not release the names of living victims for several reasons, including ensuring the integrity of the investigation. We have a victim-centered approach of investigating, as we do not want to re-victimize someone who has already been injured or traumatized and could possibly be in danger if their identity is known.
Expungement: When the Bureau makes multiple arrests such as following a protest or sex trafficking sting, we do not publish the names and photos in a news release. However, the name and age of those arrested and booked at the Multnomah County Jail will be readily available to the media via email per request.
We do not publish it due to people going to court using ORS 137.225: Order Setting Aside Conviction or Record of Arrest to get their charges expunged. After expungement, the Bureau is required to remove their names from our media releases (which are archived on our website) and also are on our social media sites. This is a very cumbersome process that requires us to document, take screen shots and then remove it.
Public Records Requests
To submit a public records request or check the status of an existing public records request please visit the Portland Public Records Request Center.
Please be advised that all public records requests require payment. Please see the City of Portland Fee Schedule.
More information about records requests can be found on the Records Division Website.
Requests to PIO: all requests for information should be emailed to ppbpio@police.portlandoregon.gov so the PIO on-duty will receive it. Inquiries that require information about multiple incidents, a person’s arrest history with the Police Bureau, statistical analysis about crimes would be most appropriately submitted through a public records request.
One important element to understand is that the Portland Police Bureau does not have a robust search function, such as Google that can easily answer your questions. We must often locate subject matter experts or consult analysts who need time to determine the answer. We know something like this can be very frustrating and also difficult to explain why something that seems so simple becomes so complex in our system.
Resources
The Police Bureau’s Strategic Services Division has an open data portal.
The Open Data site includes:
- Crime Statistics: An interactive report summarizing the type and number of report offenses by neighborhood.
- Officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths from 2010 to present.
- Calls for Service: Updated map of 911 and non-emergency calls in Portland. This is an interactive map in which a filter can be used to assist in locating incidents by location and date. This is helpful location to locate a case number. Active incidents or investigations submitted via the Telephone Reporting Unit (TRU) or online reporting will not show up on this map.
- Stolen Vehicle Statistics: Vehicle theft and recovery statistics for the City of Portland.
- Stops Data Collection: Traffic, pedestrian and bicycle stops data collection information.
- Traffic Fatalities and Serious Injuries: Portland traffic crash data since 2006, summarized by mode and location on an interactive map. (Data Compiled by PBOT)
- Use of Force Data Summaries: Monthly and Quarterly Reports on Bureau Use of Force.
- Shootings
- Staffing and overtime
Video: School Resource Officers (SRO) Presentation to City Council - Jan 7, 2020
Video: Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Drone Presentation to City Council - Mar 22, 2023
Info: Body Worn Camera (BWC) Project
Live Coverage
Finally, members of the media are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Live Coverage Agreement.
Though it is very rare that we would ever have to enact this voluntary agreement, it is our hope that everyone would recognize why live coverage could jeopardize a violent incident that is unfolding.