Old Town: As homeless camping increases, business owners and unhoused cry for more help
Updated 7:58 AM;
Today 7:00 AM
The scene outside Union Gospel Mission in Old Town during a free lunch service. April 27, 2021. Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian
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Under the wail of passing trains, Portland’s Old Town residents and business owners swap stories of the latest neighborhood goings on. Their conversations repeat themselves week after week. They fear crime is increasing. They’re bothered by tents lining sidewalks and trash piling up. They’re frustrated that first responders don’t arrive quickly when homeless neighbors experience a mental health crisis. And they worry about the immense task of reopening their businesses after a year of closures.
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell addresses Chauvin verdict, gun violence, fatal shooting by officer in Lents Park
Updated Apr 27, 2021;
Posted Apr 27, 2021
Chief Chuck Lovell was out of state from April 15 through April 25. He was gone during the announcement of the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd and the April 16 fatal shooting of Robert Douglas Delgado by Officer Zachary DeLong in Lents Park.
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Just back from a vacation, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell on Tuesday publicly supported the Chauvin verdict, said the bureau still hasn’t selected officers to fill a new uniformed police team to address gun violence and said he would cooperate if an independent prosecutor is appointed to investigate the fatal shooting of a man by an officer in Lents Park earlier this month.
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Portland Street Response Sees Increase in Call Volume After an Initially Slow Rollout The program received its highest daily call volume on Wednesday. A mattress beside the sidewalk in Lents. (Wesley Lapointe) Updated 5:54 PM Portland Street Response, which launched its pilot program in the Lents neighborhood about nine weeks ago, has seen a nearly 60% increase in its total call volume in the past week.
WW previously reported, the groundbreaking program, which intends to reduce police interactions with Portlanders experiencing mental health or drug-induced crises, had initially seen a slow trickle of calls: about two per day.
April 23, 2021
Leaders from the County’s Behavioral Health Division briefed the Board of County Commissioners on the Mobile Crisis Program Tuesday, April 20, outlining the full scope of crisis services available to Multnomah County residents.
Mobile crisis services play a key role in emergency situations that don’t require law enforcement, fire or ambulance services. The COVID-19 pandemic, the racial justice movement, criminal justice reform, and other crises have underscored the need for easy access to mental health services, experts told the Board Tuesday.
The death last Friday of Robert Delgado underscores that need. Delgado, a resident experiencing homelessness who lived with mental illness, was shot during an encounter with Portland Police. His death has amplified calls for a new approach to responding to 9-1-1 calls that may have a mental health component.
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A Fatal Police Shooting in Lents Was the Nightmare Portland Officials Tried to Prevent The killing places a spotlight on the enormity of the decisions being made at the 911 dispatch desk. A memorial to Robert Delgado in Lents Park, where he was killed by a police officer. (Wesley Lapointe) Updated 5:40 AM Shortly before 9:30 am on April 16, Portland emergency dispatchers sent police officers to Lents Park to respond to a report of a man quick-drawing a handgun “like James Bond or like a cowboy.”