Portland Street Response’s future hangs in balance: ‘I feel like it’s about to implode’
Portland Street Response’s future hangs in balance: ‘I feel like it’s about to implode’
The alternative policing program is lacking support at City Hall and is struggling to secure long-term funding.
What's happening with PSR is so frustrating. I had a coworker ask me the other day what he should do to get help for an unhoused guy who seemed to be in distress but not need an ambulance. The police weren't really the right answer (the unhoused guy wasn't doing anything), but my coworker wanted someone to go talk to him. PSR was the only answer we could find for him to call.
Regardless of people's positions on funding the police, regardless on their complaints on addressing the symptoms of poverty, I can't understand why anyone would not want a group of people to be on call to help with these types of situations. Let the police tend to other priorities.
PSR is a really popular program in Portland. Most people want it expanded. A single city councilor leading it to failure makes me angry.
This is why I voted for Jo Ann Hardesty, despite some reports that she insulates herself from contradictory opinions and criticism. She was the real mover and shaker behind Portland Street Response in City Hall. I fear that the program will go nowhere without a forceful, powerful champion, as this article reports on.
Anyone able to get the full article from behind the paywall? I tried like 10 different ways to bypass it and failed