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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2022)
April 06, 2022 Page 3 INSIDE L ocaL N ews Arts & page 7 ENTERTAINMENT page 8 s ports Portland’s new Street Response team has expanded citywide, providing an unarmed public safety emergency response to non-life-threatening behavioral and mental health crisis calls. Street Response Goes Citywide Grows non- armed response to mental health 911 calls o piNioN c Lassified /B ids page 9 pages 9 - 10 Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a member of the National Newspaper Association--Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association The Portland Street Response team has officially expanded city- wide, significantly growing a non- armed public safety emergency response to non-life-threatening behavioral and mental health cri- sis calls and saving armed police resources for other calls. “We listened to the crisis on the streets, to affected businesses, and to our public safety officials to design and implement the first major change to Portland's first responder system in 100 years,” City Commissoner Jo Ann Hard- esty announced on Monday. “I am honored to have worked side- by-side with our community to successfully persuade City Coun- cil to join me in its creation and continue to demand it's expansion and full funding. Portland Street Response start- ed as an experiment last year in the Lents neighborhood of southeast Portland with a staff of six. Now the team will expand to a staff of 20 covering the entire city. “I’m thankful for Mayor Ted Wheeler’s collaboration in developing Portland Street Re- sponse these last 3 years. We started building this together with an entirely different Coun- cil, but today we were together again, and I’m happy to have Mayor Wheeler by my side in support of expanding Portland Continued on Page 4 Police Hiring Moves to High Gear PO QR code Publisher: Editor: Mark Washington, Sr. Michael Leighton Office Mngr/Clasfds: Lucinda Baldwin Admin.Coord.: Quayuana Washington Creative Director: Kenya Anderson Office Asst/Sales: Shawntell Washington CALL 503-288-0033 • FAX 503-288-0015• news@portlandobserver.com ads@portlandobserver.com• subscription@portlandobserver.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 ‘Help shape the future’ chief says The Portland Police Bureau has moved forward on a large-scale hiring effort for police officers af- ter months and even years of fail- ing to keep up with vacancies. "This is a defining time in pub- lic safety and the City of Portland," Chief Chuck Lovell recently an- nounced. "We have been hiring, but now with some enhancements, we are able to increase this pro- cess and bring on the next genera- tion of police officers." As part of the new hiring effort, the Bureau this month hired seven background investigators, added staff to the Personnel Division and is re-launching its hiring website, social media and recruitment ma- terials, officials said. As part of its recruitment ef- fort, PPB recently also released a podcast and a new video from Chief Lovell on its recruiting website, joinportlandpolice.com. The Portland Police Bureau Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell. (AP photo) reportedly offers the highest pay in the state. Currently, the entry level wage is $75,675, with a $5,000 hiring bonus (new officers receive $1,000 after being sworn in, another $1,000 at end of pro- bation and the final $3,000 upon completion of 3 years of service). For lateral hires, the wage starts at $87,753 and goes to $107,736. Lovell said his department is currently challenged with a se- vere staffing shortage. The Bu- reau currently has 777 sworn members of all ranks, but is au- thorized to have 882. "We want our community to know they can be part of this ef- fort and we need assistance," said Chief Chuck Lovell. "If you know someone, have them contact us. Help shape the future."
