NYT reports private security assuming police function - is it really this bad? (Portland: crime)

[parentologist]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/u...smid=url-share

Above should be a free link. For those who live there, or go into Portland frequently, is it really this bad? Police response with over an hour wait to a report of an insane woman who attempts to kidnap a child? Naked raving lunatics in the middle of the street, and no police response? Scores of people overdosing on the streets?

[Metlakatla]

It's happening in cities all over the country:

https://time.com/6275440/insecure-pr...lacing-police/

But yeah, this fentanyl thing is taking quite a toll.

[EasyBeezy]

I come into downtown Portland every day for work, and I'm sorry to say that nothing in this article surprises me at all. I don't actually live in Portland (I live half a mile south of the city limits), but I knew things were bad when I was at a bar last year and a drunk patron fell backwards on a barstool and slammed the back of his head on a metal door and was out cold and bleeding profusely. The bartender called 911, and she was put on hold for 10 minutes before she could even report what happened. The guy could have died in that time, and if it had been a murder or a fire, the same hold time would have happened. I was appalled. I had never heard of being on hold for 911 before that incident.

[take57]

Originally Posted by parentologist

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/u...smid=url-share

Above should be a free link. For those who live there, or go into Portland frequently, is it really this bad? Police response with over an hour wait to a report of an insane woman who attempts to kidnap a child? Naked raving lunatics in the middle of the street, and no police response? Scores of people overdosing on the streets?

I live in downtown Portland and the crime, mayhem and homelessness are on par with cities with similar population and demographics. Much of our reputation started a long time ago when Bush Sr. made a visit to town and discovered that we're not as genteel as the Nantucket-types he hangs with respect to matters of wars and social justice. It ruffled his blue blood enough that he took to calling our town "Little Beirut". Not too different than when Trump declared the city an 'anarchist jurisdiction' (whatever that is?) when he sent the Feds in, who by in large were the instigators of much of the BLM protest conflicts.

As for the Portland Police Bureau being non-responsive, it's absolutely true. Much of that precipitated as a result of citizens calling for the PPB to be held accountable for some fairly ugly incidents during those protests. The bureau (via the police union, the Portland Police Association) staged what could only be described as a 'soft strike' essentially slow walking any and all responses and investigations under the guise of personnel shortages. Up until a few weeks ago there was only one officer assigned to traffic patrol in a city of roughly 145 sq/miles. It was common knowledge that short of murder, the cops would not lift a finger for much of anything. It didn't take long for criminals to figure it out, which begets even more crime and worsens the problem further. The cops didn't/don't care even a little bit.

In short, pragmatically Portland isn't all that much different from most metro areas but conservatives, law and order zealots' and fake news orgs (I'm thinking FOX, I'm kind of surprised the NYT felt the need to pile on. It wasn't so long ago that they were slobbering accolades all over us like a schoolboy crush) need something to justify their dubious agenda. We are an easy target.

All I know is I have guests from all over the country visit nearly non-stop in the summer and there's not a one of them that would hesitate to return in a nanosecond. With that said, three... two... one... cue up the folks from not even from our area code to start chawing on my take. I don't much care at this point, water rolling off the back of a duck as it were.

[Hemlock140]

Before Covid we would go to Portland 2-3 times a year and often stay overnight, it's only a 3 our drive each way. Since then it's been once a year, and we have avoided downtown. We used to always go to Powell Books, Voodoo donuts on 3rd, and the Portland Nursery on Stark, and explore around downtown. The first time we went after the end of the 2020 lockdown we were amazed to see what had happened, graffiti all over the place and homeless camps that we hadn't seen there before. Downtown we actually witnessed crime, and started to feel uncomfortable, so now we avoid that part of the city. I work in downtown Seattle and while both seem to be out of control I'm so much more familiar with Seattle that it doesn't seem as bad as Portland now.