City: Fatal police shooting, most other calls, not a good fit for Portland Street Response
In order for dispatchers to send Portland Street Response, the person in question has to, among other things, be possibly experiencing a mental health crisis. Author: Maggie Vespa Updated: 9:07 PM PDT April 19, 2021
PORTLAND, Ore. In the wake of Friday’s fatal police shooting in Southeast Portland’s Lents neighborhood, heads of a new, alternative first response program say they’ll be reviewing the details of that initial 911 call to see if their staff should have been dispatched instead of or alongside officers.
For now, reps for Portland Street Response (PSR) agree with the city’s Bureau of Emergency Communications (BOEC) and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB): that callers’ assertions that the man in question was armed left emergency dispatchers with no other choice but to send police.