Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, April 06, 2022, Page 3, Image 3

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    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
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All created design display ads become the sole property of
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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
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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."