FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mayor’s Office to Host Community Forum: How Does Law Enforcement Interact With Vulnerable Populations?
Forum will focus on public safety and how police interact with vulnerable populations and examine upstream region-wide mental health and addiction issues.
Portland, OR–The Office of Mayor Wheeler will host its monthly public safety forum on June 27 from 6:30-8:30 pm at 1900 SW 4th Avenue Room 2500B, on the topic of how police interact with vulnerable populations, including the houseless and those struggling with mental health and addiction. The forum will examine the upstream issues of homelessness, including mental health and addiction, and how public safety officials interact with individuals, including referral to services and collaborating with other social service partners to address issues.
The meeting will include two panels, featuring both service providers and public safety officials across jurisdictions who interact with vulnerable populations, in order to examine addiction and mental health from a public safety lens. The forum will discuss the importance of a public safety approach that is both accountable and compassionate.
The Mayor’s Office is proud to spearhead a program – the Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing (PCCEP) – to develop recommendations for how the Portland Police Bureau can better engage the community in its development of policies that directly affect Portlanders, with a specific focus on racial justice, constitutional policing and mental health issues. Part of PCCEP’s role is to facilitate conversations with Portlanders about public safety and police accountability. The Mayor’s office will host interim community forums until the PCCEP is established and members are seated. These interim meetings are held the last Wednesday of every month.
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