Portland Streets, Fast and Furious

Thanks to the woke morons...

PORTLAND, Oregon — Portlanders' complaints about dangerous driving, speeding and street racing are starting to get as loud as the noisy exhausts that reverberate through parts of the city.

Seasoned runner and cyclist Daniel Hough is unfortunately used to close calls with cars on the roads. But after having a brief altercation with a driver he said cut him off just a little too close, he called Portland police.
Two weeks later, Hough said their response was that there's "really not much the police bureau can do right now because there is no traffic enforcement program." He said police told him the program was entirely defunded.

As it turns out, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has only one full-time designated traffic officer. His name is Sgt. Ty Engstrom.

"When I first came to the traffic division, we had 35 motorcycles and probably 10 or 12 cars back in 2009. And before they dismantled everything, we were down to about 18 or 19 motorcycles and one car. And now we're down to one motorcycle full-time," Sgt. Engstrom said.

The article didn't mention the crime rate and lack of police in that area, but that's obviously an even bigger problem thanks to idiots who don't understand why we need cops.

www.kgw.com/article/news/local/speeding-...75-b64a-a4f1a1ae42d2

From reading other news articles, it appears Portland Police have been chronically understaffed (by hundreds of officers), and were even during last summer's riots.

Portland police officers had an array of reasons why they thought racial justice protests in 2020 were among the largest and most enduring in the city’s history: pent up energy from COVID-19 lockdowns, weak condemnation of property destruction from political leaders, the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute low level offenses, and restrictions on the use of tear gas.

“It appeared as if many younger people, lacking entertainment and work, often attended the protests, with some gathering regularly to socialize and drink and a portion of those then engaging in criminal activity,” reads an after action report on the summer’s unprecedented demonstrations filed by the Portland Police Bureau.

The bureau’s after action review for civil unrest in Portland between May 29 and Nov. 16, 2020 is compiled in three reports totaling 40 pages. The report, obtained by OPB this week, paints a picture of an agency desperately understaffed and struggling to respond to massive demonstrations for which they were unprepared. But it also reveals an organization out of sync with the community they are charged with protecting, and confused by the depth of anger thousands were expressing toward local officers and policing more broadly.

www.opb.org/article/2021/04/28/portland-...g-historic-protests/

Another article talks about city government cutting the police budget by $30 million.

“We have a scaled-down police bureau. I’ve long said that our staffing on the streets is inadequate,” said Mayor Ted Wheeler last month at a press event discussing recent changes with PPB.

The city has been near a boiling point for the last year with tense encounters between police and Portlanders happening frequently. Over the last year, the city cut almost $30 million in funding from PPB, some due to the pandemic and some due to calls for police reform following the death of George Floyd.

You get what you pay for (or don't pay for).

katu.com/news/on-your-side/portland-city...within-police-bureau

So is it fair to say we finally agree on something? It sounds like we do and that gives me some hope.

I think we might be reaching high tide for law enforcement suppression by the left.

Former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer attacked and robbed near her Oakland Jack London Square home
www.ktvu.com/news/former-senator-barbara...s-jack-london-square

hopefully she carries some clout even though retired and wont be seen as a plebe and collateral damage by the defund fools.

Crime happens to everyone and didn't start with the defund movement.

Wayne Harrison wrote: Crime happens to everyone and didn't start with the defund movement.

What a non sequitur Wayne. NO ONE is saying crime started with the defund movement. At least you are conceding there is a defund movement and not repeating the pathetic lie that it is a right wing policy.
The people paying the price are minorities the poor and underprivileged. How do you rationalize that?

I don't have to rationalize something I don't believe in, BB.

WSJ had a column on this too, but they said it is a national problem, not only Portland. During the pandemic, police stepped back from stopping motor vehicle law breakers, especially in the cities. Motorists took advantage of this and the empty streets to speed and pull crazy stunts. Gangs of motorcycle riders run through NYC. Even saw a story where street racers in Arvada are taking over empty parking lots of closed retail outlets.

Wayne Harrison wrote: I don't have to rationalize something I don't believe in, BB.

I am not clear on what you do not believe in.

Is it that crime, violent crime, murders and random attacks on minorities primarily Asians are not happening?

Or they are not happening mostly in democratic dominated cities?

Or that they have nothing to do with the Democrats efforts to defund and denigrate the police?

It's not important that you know or understand what I don't believe in, BB. But I will say some police seem to be out of control.

I do believe police abuse should be more closely monitored to weed out the bad apples.