Community Safety

Information

Are you looking to report issues, request services or find information? PDX 311 improves access to local government within Multnomah County by providing a single point of contact – in person, online or over the phone.
Start with 311:
Email 311@portlandoregon.gov
Phone at 3-1-1 or (503) 823-4000 within Multnomah County
In-person at the Portland Building’s Customer Service Desk at 1120 Southwest Fifth Avenue.
You can file a police report online here, report an abandoned vehicle here or report an illegally parked vehicle here.

Safer Summer PDX

The Safer Summer PDX program focuses on the short-term task of reducing gun murders and shootings and creates a foundation from which longer-term gun violence prevention work can be built. While Safer Summer PDX nests its work in the important longer-term work of upstream violence prevention and community equity transformation, the focus of this effort is to direct resources to garner near-term results.

Safer Summer PDX addresses Portland’s gun violence with a three-pronged approach:

Focused Intervention, comprised of law enforcement partners tasked with investigating gun violence incidents, including the Focused Intervention Team (FIT) and its oversight group (FITCOG), and the Enhanced Community Safety Team.
Focused Impact Reduction, working with the Street Services Coordination Center (SSCC) to coordinate outreach tailored to houseless individuals who are at high-risk for perpetrating or being victimized by gun violence.
Focused Investment, funded $2.4 million invested by the City to combat gun violence specifically over the summer months, complimenting the efforts of the Office of Violence Prevention through strategically targeted investments.

Gun Shot Detection

In July 2022, the Focused Intervention Team Community Oversight Group made an Official Recommendation On the Implementation of ShotSpotter Technology as a Focused Deterrence Tool to Address Gun Violence in Portland.

In September 2022, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell also officially recommended that Mayor Wheeler begin implementing ShotSpotter on a pilot basis.

Mayor Wheeler will work with Council offices and make outreach to the community to determine what details the pilot will entail.

The City of Portland will host a Gunshot Detection Townhall on April 25, 2023. This event will provide an opportunity for the public to engage with the potential contractors and learn more about these technologies.

Gun Violence Reduction Grants

In the Spring of 2022, the Office of Violence Prevention awarded a Gun Violence Reduction Grant to five community organizations:

African Refugee and Immigrant Organization (ARIO)
African Refugee Immigrant Organization (ARIO) is a non-governmental, non-partisan, non-religious and non-discriminating community-based organization based in Portland, Oregon. It provides assistance services to the African and immigrant residents of Portland, and its surrounding areas.
Insight Alliance
The Insight Alliance works in prisons and in the community with a simple focus: understanding the limitless nature of the human mind and recognizing our own innate well-being. Everything we need to thrive already exists within us.
Black Men In Training (B.M.I.T)Black Men In Training is committed to helping our youth and our community every step of the way, by providing services that can be useful to their wants and needs.
Healing Enriching and Learning Purposes (H.E.L.P)
Our vision is to eliminate gang and gun violence so each young person can live their life’s purpose. At H.E.L.P., we provide 24/7 direct support and resources to support K-12 youth and young adults who are experiencing difficult life circumstances.

Ethiopian and Eritrean Cultural & Resource Center (E.E.C.R.C)
The Ethiopian and Eritrean Cultural & Resource Center are a 501(C)3 organization established in 2017, in order to provide culturally specific services to Ethiopian, Eritrean, and other African communities within the Oregon and Southwestern region of Washington State.

Learn more about the grants here.

FY22-23 Budget

Refocusing, reforming, and restaffing Portland’s community safety network has been a top priority for Mayor Wheeler since being elected as Mayor in 2016. This budget continues to invest in transformational change and strengthens the city's diverse network of crisis prevention and intervention tools.

Refocus: Refocusing the way our system functions by expanding 311’s hours to 24/7 coverage and expanding staffing for the Bureau of Emergency Communication (BOEC) to reduce 911 wait times.

Reform: Reforming by investing in both upstream gun violence programs through the Office of Violence Prevention and Community Safety Division, while diversifying our types of responders by fully funding Portland Street Responses’ 24/7 citywide expansion and expanding the park ranger program. We are also reforming the system by increasing funding for community-led policing and accountability via the Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing (PCCEP), implementing body worn cameras and staffing for the Focused Intervention Team Community Oversight Group (FITCOG).

Restaff: Restaffing by increasing the number of permanent unarmed Public Safety Specialists (PS3) positions.

FY22-23 Proposed Budget - Community Safety

Spring BMP

During the Spring Budget Monitoring Process, City Council approved one-time funds for community-based gun violence ceasefire actions ($1.4M), such as traffic diversion efforts and the outreach pilot recently completed at Mt. Scott led by Commissioner Rubio and Commissioner Hardesty. More details on this will be forthcoming.

Portland Street Response

In March 2022, Portland Street Response expanded citywide. The program, within Portland Fire & Rescue, assists people experiencing mental health and behavioral health crises.

"The expansion is an integral part of modernizing our public safety system into a community safety system that works for all," Mayor Wheeler said during a press conference on March 28.

Learn more abut Portland Street Response here.

The Portland Police Bureau has a variety of advisory councils, separated into Service and Operation Specific Councils and Community-led, Community-driven councils. Find out more here.

You can learn about racial justice and the police reform action plan here.

Learn more about the Focused Intervention Team (FIT) Community Oversight Group (COG) here.