State police, local bike cops hit streets, take names
Five-day mission focuses on Westside problem spots
The Portland Police Bureau showed what it could do in a series of intense missions in Central City last week. Portland bike officers, who teamed with Oregon State Police troopers and coordinated from a mobile command vehicle, made 39 arrests and sent 78 individuals to deflection over drug-related offenses.
The five-day mission focused on Southwest 12th and West Burnside, Couch Park, Old Town, the Central Eastside, Goose Hollow and the South Park Blocks. The teams also stopped 36 subjects and made nine traffic stops.
About 30 state and local uniformed officers participated, based on the number who posed for an official photograph on the last day of the mission.
Members of Friends of Couch Park, who were not forewarned, were impressed with the diligence and effectiveness of the mission in their neighborhood on May 20. One illegal firearm was seized, three arrests were made and seven grams of methamphetamine were recovered in and around the park.
The project concluded May 24 with a large team of state troopers dispatched by Gov. Tina Kotek. They arrested two men in the Plaid Pantry parking lot at Southwest 11th and Columbia, towing their vehicle and recovering 22 grams of methamphetamine.
Those arrests were photographed by your roving reporter, who happened to be walking by.
I lived in the middle of that area for more than 12 years, finally selling up and moving out of downtown because of the drugs and crime. I'm really glad to hear of such an organized crackdown on these low lifes.
It's about time. First thing I've seen from Governor Tina that shows even a dim awareness of what's going on in Portlandia, so I grudgingly give her some credit. But we need far more Police presence and interdiction of scofflaws, than this one off event. I'm sure the Portland City Council and JVP will be supportive of this kind of active policing.... oh wait!