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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2021)
Page 4 October 20, 2021 A Grim Toll of Shootings, Deaths Continued from Front We are Open! 3901 N. Mississippi Ave. Portland, OR 97227 P: 503.281.0453 Fax 503.281.3408 Web: www.sunlanlighting.com E-mail: kay@sunlanlighting.com Avalon Flowers 520 SW 3rd Ave., Portland, OR 97204 • 503-796-9250 A full service flower experience Cori Stewart-- Owner, Operator • Birthdays • Anniversaries • Funerals • Weddings Open: Mon.-Fri. 7:30am til 5:30pm Saturday 9am til 2pm. Website: avalonflowerspdx.com email: avalonflowers@msn.com We Offer Wire Services PETER CLARKE Broker Liscensed in Oregon 503-333-5809 peter@livingroomre.com of Self Enhancement Inc, anoth- er school serving African Amer- icans, told the Portland Observer that more police are needed, but also said the effects of Covid-19 have made it harder to reach the youth who are impacted. “The challenge has always been access to the kids, and those kids having legitimate op- tions and opportunities to be in- volved in positive alternatives,” he said, pointing to the pandemic restrictions that have prevented a lot of that. “There has been a lack of op- portunities, in part because they have not had access to programs because of Covid,” he said. “We’re still out there providing services, but not at the same per- sonal contact level. You don’t build relationships with kids through Zoom, especially Black kids.” That’s been one of the major challenges this year, he said, and the lack of personal contact with kids and families has helped pro- liferate gun violence. “We need more opportunities, more personal contact,” he said. Hopson agrees with Mayor Ted Wheeler that more police of- ficers are needed, but says they need to be already involved in the community. “I’m in favor of adding more police to the force and specif- ically police officers who can work with this particular issue — having officer who know the kids and who the kids know and respect makes a difference,” he said. “There’s a preventative side as well as a police side and those two things need to work together.” Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt told KATU in September that address- ing gun violence is his number one priority, despite his larger goal of reforming the criminal justice system. Schmidt said arrests and pros- ecutions are needed now to stem the tide of shootings in Portland. In the long run, the prosecu- tor wants to craft more long term solutions. Portland Police Officer Charles Asheim, a member of the bureau’s Enhanced Community Safety Team that investigates in- jury shootings, has estimated that at least 60 percent of shootings are connected, acts of retaliation among different gangs. City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, a lifelong advocate for police reforms, has called for much more reliance on crisis in- tervention specialists responding to non-violence 911 calls, instead of police with guns, which she said can exacerbate a touchy sit- uation. Hardesty is calling for an ad- ditional $1 million to Portland Street Response, which was just recognized last month as an ef- fective program by Portland State University’s Homeless Research and Action Collaborative. “With Portland Street Re- sponse, we’re opening new ave- nues of care for people who have low or no access to health care,” Hardesty stated. “And each re- sponse that provides vulnerable people with compassionate care at the moment they need it most builds a better first response sys- tem for all Portlanders.” Hardesty also wants to see fewer guns on the streets and ad- vocates for a gun buy-back pro- gram, strict requirements regard- ing gun storage, a community mediation program and a new tip hotline. “The reality is we should have been investing more in this work a long time ago to have helped prevent what we are seeing to- day,” she stated in response to questions from the Oregonian and published on the city’s web- site. “It’s hard to catch up in a cri- sis,” she said.
