3:,?t $lortlanò (Observer Diversity Special Edition August 22, 2012 This page Sponsored by: Page 3 Fred Meyer What's on your list today?» L ocal N ews D iversity S pecial F ood page 7 & 12 v. •l3S* O pinion ? pages 8-9 H ealth pages 10-11 Curtailing a hangout for loitering and a spot where drugs were bought and sold, Portland Community College installed a fence on top of an old foundation wall along North Mississippi Street that borders a campus parking lot. Crime Fight METRO page 13 PCC-Cascade teams up for success S ummer F un G uide by A be P roctor The area around Portland Com munity C ollege’s Cascade C am pus in north Portland - particu larly in the vicinity of the intersec tio n o f A lb in a A v e n u e and Killingsworth Street - has long held a reputation as a rough neigh borhood. But a new report released by the Portland Police Bureau shows that this reputation may soon be a thing of the past. D etails o f the extraordinary progress made to reduce street crime and other undesirable activity in the north Portland community was made public on Thursday during a news conference attended by the police bureau, campus officials and busi ness owners and residents. page IS Arts ■MMMmMBMnMMM Serious crimes like murder, ag gravated assault, and robbery are down 27 percent in the vicinity of the campus from 2007 to 2011. Even in the last year and a half, as violent crime rose 9 percent citywide, it fell by 16 percent along the Albina and Killingsworth corridors. The report largely attributes this progress to the work of the Albina- Killingsworth Safe Neighborhood Commission, a community safety group founded by Cascade Campus President Algie Gatewood in 2006, of which the police bureau is a member. The commission heard from resi d e n ts, stu d e n ts, w o rk ers and businesspeople alike who shared a concern about repeated incidents of loitering, theft, drug possession ■■■■■■■■■■■MHMMWMM and dealing graffiti and, sometimes, gang violence. Gatewood asked the community to find ways to make the neighbor hood a safer and more livable place. He tapped local residents, business owners, the police bureau, Jefferson and R osem ary A nderson high schools, and representatives from government agencies in the area, such as the Multnomah County Li brary and TriMet. They began to meet regularly, and the Albina- Killingsworth Safe Neighborhood Commission was bom. “Since the commission began, we have made tremendous strides toward making this a safer, warmer, continued on page 21 ■MMMMMMMMHHMHMM Added Enforcement on Flash Mobs V iN EN T fD EED l EAIMENE pages 16-18 C lassifieds page 22 C alendar page 23 A new protocol will send juveniles to detention if they are caught stealing from stores or committing thefts and robberies on transit as part of a social media- organized criminal flash mob. Local convenience stores and the Lloyd Center Mall have been recent targets of flash mobs of young people. In the past, prosecutors would not pursue misde meanor charges and police would not take the youth to jail after they’re caught. The new protocol by Multnomah County allows police to make an immediate intervention and pursue prosecutions. The tougher enforcement was adopted to curb an emerging problem. Once the youth are taken to juve nile detention, authorities can detain the youth over night, or contact their parents to try to ensure the behavior is addressed at home.