So, a random thought about Portland police presence (specifically, the number of full precincts the City has, given they're sort of "one stop shopping centers" for full service levels of police, including detectives and the like) crossed my mind just now.
Specifically, I wondered why, in a city of around (now) 600,000 citizens (590K in 2010) has only THREE full service precincts, NONE of which are located east of SE 106th Ave (Mall 205), nor west of North MLK Blvd, nor anywhere on the west side, other than downtown (Police HQ).
You'd think Portland leaders, specifically Mayor Hales (who, as Mayor, per City Charter, automatically is the head of the Portland Police Bureau, with complete control vested in him as Police Commissioner per se), given their emphasis on how great they're doing in transforming our "City That Works" according to Mayor Vera Katz's vision (which I'm assuming involved some planning, rather than just being dreamed into being like answers from the Delphi Oracle), would want good police presence throughout the city - particularly in the former Mid County area east of 205. Given, per Mayor Hales, the City raised East Portland "out of the cesspool" (his words, not mine) there would be corresponding police presence - in the form of full service precincts, perhaps. However, its odd that 165K residents (or so) in this area have only one precinct, which also handles everything south of Burnside and east of the Willamette. I mean, there's plenty for them to do, and you'd think the first thing City leaders would want to do in order to transform Mid-County into a land of milk and honey (as it were) would be to make residents feel safe.
There is the Multnomah County Sheriff's Bureau, at 122nd and NE Glisan. I don't believe, however, under Measure A consolidation/distribution of city/county services since the 1970s (saving both city and county money, it seems) they have any sort of patrol/arrest responsibilities within Portland city limits - rather, they (as I understand it, and please, correct me) do traffic patrol and provide safe libraries for all. As it were.
This all seems odd to me, and will become odd to you when we do a quick comparison with other metro area cities. Vancouver, for instance, added an East Precinct (in Cascade Park, at 155th and Mill Plain SE) when it doubled in size 15 years ago (to 170K people today). So two full service police centers, each serving around 85K residents, plus a separate admin HQ. Gresham (100K population), when "forced" (Mayor Hales' word) by Salem and Multnomah County to annex Rockwood, decided to provide a "Public Safety Facility" (a half-sized precinct, maybe?) to ensure residents' safety needs were met. And indeed, one does see Gresham police being quite active in Rockwood, especially around 162nd at the city line (maybe stepping up where the Portland Police cant get to?).
Seattle (YES, I know Portlanders dislike comparing ourselves with our northerly neighbor), with around 700K population, has five full service precincts. One for every 130K residents (or so). Hillsboro, with just over 100K residents, also has two full service precincts. Pretty darn good.
But wait, you say, Portland can't afford to put full service precincts just any old place, especially in parts of the city that can't pull their budget weight. Well, other cities do it, and in doing so they provide better policing to fewer residents. For instance, other cities charge developers and business interests (yes, there I go again with my "populist demagoguing" (Mayor Hales' phrase) higher fees and taxes to pay for said services. King County, when it forced its suburban areas to incorporate (with city-specific police departments) subsidized said police departments for a bit. As I've said before, not sure why Multnomah County can't do that. Or why Salem couldn't sweeten the pot.
Portland, at the very least, should provide enhanced police services (a "Public Safety Center" maybe, ala Rockwood?) to underserved areas. For instance, putting a precinct-like thing in, say, Parkrose (around 122nd NE maybe), and another at, say, Division/148th SE. Put one down around Foster/82nd SE. Re-open the Saint Johns precinct (now Traffic Division HQ). Add another precinct out Barbur Blvd, at maybe where it crosses SW Capitol Hwy.
It seems dangerous to me to have only 3 full service police precincts, each one serving around 200K people. I don't know, perhaps this is why we have so many visible "quality of life" issues going on here. I do realize Portland has come a LONG ways since 1985. I think, however, if we are committed to the vision Vera Katz created, we need to step it up. I'd ask Mayor Hales to rise to the occasion, but it seems to me at this time that he'd prefer I not give him a heads up when I blog about issues that involve him.
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