During the King Neighborhood Association meeting on Wednesday, September 8th, concerned neighbors discussed the police response to the fight at 10th/Alberta on Monday. Officer Pryce who came in the Neighborhood Response Team officer’s stead, commented that Portland Police officers are stretched thin, especially at times when a major incident draws a lot of officers, leaving other areas sparsely covered. Neighbors have learned that police district 630 which coincides with most of the King Neighborhood has no officer on patrol from 1 am to 7 am. Instead this district, which is home to North Precinct relies on officers who may be traveling to and from the precinct to provide coverage.
When the first call came in about Monday’s fight, an officer was most likely not immediately dispatched since a fight between willing parties as opposed to an attack is put in a cue waiting for an available officer and not considered to warrant pulling an officer from other duties. When an officer did come to the scene the first time, he did notice a suspicious person sitting in a vehicle nearby but did not take the time to run a check of the license plate. After the shots were fired and that person fled, police were unable to determine who did the shooting–most likely the person in the vehicle. With adequate staffing, the responding officer could have taken more time to asses the situation.
The KNA resolved to write Mayor and Police Commissioner Adams to urge adequate police coverage in our neighborhood at all hours. The text of the letter is below.
Dear Mayor Adams,
This message comes with support by unanimous vote at the King Neighborhood Association’s meeting September 8th, 2010. We, the members of the KNA, are extremely concerned about recent gang activity and violence in our neighborhood, and are dismayed to report yet another incidence of gunfire that occurred at NE 10th and Alberta on September 6th.
While, fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt during that time, the incident brought to light some disheartening facts. First let me state the members of this association applaud and sincerely appreciate the valiant work our local Portland Police officers do on a daily basis. This being said, we are very concerned about the safety of our community, and the weakening of police services to our area, which seems to have been plagued with incidences of unrest in recent months. Specifically we’d like to call to your attention two issues:
1) Officer response times. Several citizens called 911 at the onset of the incident, when several young adults engaged in combat in the street. Police did not arrive on the scene until several calls had been made, from different sources. What began as a verbal conflict escalated into gunshots fired in the air. We understand that officers are now, at times, spread thin in order to cover broadened territory and realize this may contribute to delayed response times; however, in this case a more timely police response might have prevented the incident in question from worsening into gunfire. This leads us to our second concern.
2) Lack of 24-hour staffing at the North Precinct. It is our understanding that between the hours of 1:00-7:00 am District 630 within the North Precinct is not staffed with an on-duty officer. Officers that are called to the area may need to travel some distance to tend to the situation. One police officer responding to the shooting last Monday was quoted as saying, “It’s crazy since so much goes on in this district.” Evidence of gang related activity appears to be growing in this neighborhood with signs of tagging, obvious drug deals in broad daylight and shootings, of which this incident is just one of several in the last 2 months. In light of these facts it seems vital to ensure that the North Precinct has consistent and stable 24-hour staffing.
We ask you, Mayor Adams, as Police Commissioner, to adequately staff the North Precinct to allow our hard-working police officers to be able to respond to urgent situations faster, at all hours of the day, without having to travel vast distances across the North Precinct’s coverage area. We call attention to what appears to be increased gang and violent activity in the North/Northeast part of the city. We again thank the police officers in our area and all over Portland for their tireless and continuing efforts.
Sincerely,
The Members of the King Neighborhood Association
Members of the King community who are concerned about safety are encouraged to follow up with further emails and calls to the Police Commissioner Mayor’s office.
sam.adams@portlandoregon.gov
(503) 823-4120