Business owners are fleeing Portland in droves amid a pronounced rise in crime and homelessness, officials in the Democratic stronghold have revealed.
Once hailed as the ‘crown jewel of the West Coast’ for its trendy art and food scenes, The City of Roses has been in peril since 2020, largely due to efforts to defund police and lax bail reform laws that leave little to no deterrent for increasingly brazen criminals.
The city is also in the midst of a homeless crisis that has confounded local officials, with several stores forced to permanently shutter due to break-ins now common due to rampant crime, making the businesses no longer financially viable.
Local leaders are now sharing their strategies for solving the crime and livability issues, as they threaten to spill over into bordering Washington and Clackamas counties, where the court of public opinion is generally more conservative.
That said, crime appears to be tapering off in those main counties, which along with Multnomah County, comprises the Portland Metro Area.
Crime in Multnomah County, a more populated, progressive region, increased 9 percent last year amid its county seat Portland’s continued crime woes, causing public safety officials in different parts of Washington to decry the city’s sad state.
PORTLAND: Business owners are fleeing Portland in droves amid a pronounced rise in crime and homelessness, officials in the Democratic stronghold have revealed. A major issue in Portland is how accessible the drugs are
The city is also in the midst of a homeless crisis that has confounded local officials, with several stores forced to permanently shutter due to break-ins now common due to rampant crime, making the businesses no longer financially viable.
‘Each area has different challenges, but what we’re seeing in the metro area is absolutely rising crime,’ Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton told Fox News of Portland’s crime wave, which, similar to other Dem-led cities such as San Francisco and Chicago, began during the pandemic.
But while crime in the smaller, more suburban Washington and Clackamas counties has started to level off – due to officials like Barton filing charges and making arrests – crime in Portland has persisted, a crucial difference that Barton says is illustrated by Portland’s still-worsening crime rate.
With a crime rate of 66 per one thousand residents, Portland has one of the highest crime rates in the US, compared to communities of comparative sizes
‘The increases that we’re seeing are nothing like the increases that we’re seeing in our neighbors,’ Barton said. ‘Public safety is failing in Multnomah County.’
One major issue fueling the city’s slow recover is how accessible the drugs are becoming. People can pay as little as $1 for a fentanyl pill, compared to a year ago, where dealers would charge up to $20.
The flood of drugs on the city streets has resulted in a pronounced rise in homelessness and open-air drug use, often carried out at one of the more than 700 tent-laden encampments that have sprouted across the city the past two years – to which despairing police officers last month said they see ‘no end in sight’.
Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton says that while crime in his neighboring county has started to level off, crime in Portland has persisted, a crucial difference that Barton says can be blamed on a difference in bail reform laws
Last month, police seized rainbow fentanyl from a Portland motel room as part of a major drug trafficking sting. The suspect is believed to be part of a ring responsible for bringing large amounts of the narcotics into the state.
Despite yielding more than two kilograms of rainbow-colored fentanyl packaged and ready to be given to people on the streets as well as 393 grams of crystal meth and 49 grams of cocaine, the raid is feared to be just the tip of the iceberg, as drug use and theft remains rife, and instances of violence continue to plague citizens.
Many have blamed the city’s sad state on lax bail reform laws implemented by Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, which officials in neighboring Clackamas County say have pushed out countless businesses and residents.
Clackamas County commissioner Ben West told Fox this week that Portland ‘is a hollowed out shell of what it used to be.’
‘Businesses are fleeing and people are leaving for greener pastures.’
Like Barton’s Washington County, West’s Clackamas also reported arrest rates more than twice as high as Multnomah County’s, which has been headed by Schmidt since 2020.
Clackamas County ‘does things differently,’ West said, citing how his staff prioritizes police funding and prosecuting suspects.
A man on his knees smokes fentanyl on the street. The city is littered with tents, partially concealing people doing drugs before curling over in a trance-like state
Schmidt, an outspoken progressive and police critic, came into office during the height of the riots in the summer of 2020 and promptly enacted a policy decriminalizing most riot-related offenses.
Schmidt ran as a progressive and won 77 percent of the vote just days before George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in May 2020.
Now, nearly three years later, the city where coastal valleys provide the perfect climate for the delicate pinot noir grape and where the liberal lifestyle was sent up in the TV comedy Portlandia has become unrecognizable, overrun by drug addicts and homeless individuals.
Fed up with the city’s failure to failure to dissuade repeat offenders, and 2020 efforts to defund their department, hundreds of police officers have since retired or quit Portland’s embattled force, adding to the disparity between the two counties.
Kristin Olson, a local trial attorney in the city where a majority voted to decriminalize hard drugs in 2020, blamed the city’s woes on Schmidt, who just ten days into his tenure Schmidt announced how his office would decline to prosecute protesters over the majority of misdemeanor charges they were being arrested for – including criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, and interference with a police officer.
PORTLAND: Clutching a pipe to smoke the deadly drug, a man is seen flopped over next to a suitcase and backpack. Cops in Portland have admitted they see ‘no end in sight’ for the crisis
‘What’s happening is with our de-carceration and elimination of bail culture, we’ve got all these people running around,’ Olson told Fox News. ‘And it’s really scary because we also have this anti-police culture.’
Law enforcement, meanwhile is desperately trying to cut off major illicit distributors of the drug trade coming from Mexico, as a swathe of incidents continue to grab headlines.
Just last week, one man, down on his knees, was photographed smoking fentanyl as another held the crushed deadly drug inside a heated tinfoil – before inhaling the vapor through a tube.
Kristin Olson, a local trial attorney in the city where a majority voted to decriminalize hard drugs in 2020, blamed the city’s woes on its DA
Sideways in the city are often littered with tents, partially concealing people smoking and injecting drugs, before they curl over in a trance-like state. Clutching a pipe to smoke the deadly drug, another addict was seen flopped over on himself next to a suitcase and backpack.
Lieutenant Christopher Lindsey of Portland Police, who believes the numbers in his city are only going to climb, said last week that there were 156 overdose deaths in 2022 – compared to 135 in 2021 and 80 in 2020.
He told KATU: ‘It has gotten massively worse. Just as an example, a year ago when I was in the position a fentanyl pill would go anywhere from 10 to 20 dollars a pill. A year later people are paying one to two dollars a pill.
‘I am worried. I am concerned that it could get worse. I’m not saying that it is going to get worse but if you look at the trend it’s been getting worse for a few years now and I don’t see any end in sight.’
PORTLAND: Tent cities have popped up on the sidewalks in the city, where addicts often sit to take a hit and ‘zombie’ out in full view of families and children passing by
PORTLAND: Two people are slumped in the doorway of a building. ‘It has gotten massively worse’, says Lieutenant Christopher Lindsey of Portland Police
PORTLAND: One man in a wheelchair slumps. People can pay as little as $1 for a fentanyl pill, compared to a year ago, where dealers would charge up to $20
Ballot measure 110 was passed in 2020, decriminalizing possession of hard drugs. It is blamed for transforming downtown Portland into an open-air drugs market. Results of the ballot showed the east-west divide, with eastern counties rejecting the measure
A man slumps on the sidewalk in downtown Portland, Oregon
Multnomah County counted 6,633 people as experiencing homelessness on the night of January 26, 2022. Homeless statistics can be hard to verify as individuals will move around each day. Pictured: a homeless person in Portland in October
A line of campers are stationed along a road where homeless people are staying (pictured: Portland homeless camp in October)
Of the 6,633 people counted as homeless, 3,611 were living on the street and in homeless encampments, and an additional 2,222 people were sleeping in the city’s shelters
Portland currently has more than 700 homeless encampments across the city. The rise in homelessness has also led to increase crime in the city
Multnomah County, where Portland is located, counted 6,633 people as experiencing homelessness on the night of January 26, 2022. Homeless statistics can be hard to verify as individuals will move around each day.
Of the 6,633 people counted as homeless, 3,611 were living on the street and in homeless encampments, and an additional 2,222 people were sleeping in the city’s shelters. A further 800 more were in transitional housing.
The rise in homelessness has also led to an increase crime in the city.
It is understood that there were some 93 homicides in Portland in 2022. The city police department’s data is yet to confirm this number however, only releasing statistics up until October of this year identifying 82 murders.
This number would set a new record for murders in 2022, up from the previous year’s record of 88 in 2021. This smashed past the murder rate in 2020, where there were 57 homicides in comparison.
Portland is currently in the grip of a homeless crisis with tent cities having sprung up all over the place.
Lax bail reform laws implemented by woke Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt have left little to no deterrent for criminals in the city.
Rising crime and homeless camps that have spread from downtown and into the suburbs have pushed out countless businesses and residents.
In a recent incident, someone pointed a gun at a Salt & Straw employee’s head, according to civic advocate Thomas Lauderdale who sent an email to two dozen community leaders in Portland City Hall, Multnomah County and Oregon’s congressional delegation.
Other incidents have also happened near the headquarters, including a fire at an RV parked near the business which resulted in power loss.
Some of the most charming, trendy and expensive neighborhoods of the Pacific Northwest city are now overrun with tent cities crowding residential sidewalks and littered with trash
Dilapidated RVs are used by homeless people throughout the city, and are often spotted parked near encampments.
The Democratic city has one of the most deserted downtowns in the United States as soaring crime rates and homelessness are scaring away both locals and tourists.
Portland currently has more than 700 homeless encampments across the city within less than 150 square miles, and the ordeal has also led to skyrocketing crime in the area.
And some of the most charming, trendy and expensive neighborhoods of the Pacific Northwest city are now overrun with tent cities crowding residential sidewalks and littered with trash – and the issue is scaring away both locals and tourists.
Portland City Council rushed to refund the police last November after defunding them by more than $15 million in 2020. Officials voted to add $5.4 million to the force’s budget.
When the police was defunded in 2020, the Portland Police Bureau suffered through a rash of retirements and resignations.
Crime in Multnomah County, a more populated, progressive region, increased 9 percent last year amid its county seat Portland’s continued crime woes, causing public safety officials in different parts of Washington to decry the city’s sad state
In 2021, there were 90 homicides amid a surge in gun violence, which shattered city’s previous record high of 66 set three decades ago. There have been 72 murders recorded in 2022 so far.
Robbery is also of huge concern up 32 percent compared to this time last year. Overall crimes are up almost 21 percent compared to 2021
Violent crime in Portland has ramped up particularly over the last few years.
A recent study found it rose sharply in 2020 when the city played host to almost nightly protests and riots following the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests.
The city saw a 58 percent increase in homicides in 2020 compared to the year prior, and 2021 notched a 54 percent increase in homicides compared to the already violent and bloody 2020.
The number of homicides in 2021 was a 238 percent increase from the numbers recorded in 2018.
Portland’s woke DA: Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt
Hundreds of police officers have retired or quit Portland’s force over the last two years.
In exit interviews released to local journalists, officers who resigned in Portland often cited Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt as one of the reasons.
Schmidt, an outspoken progressive and police critic, came into office during the height of the riots in the summer of 2020 and promptly enacted a policy decriminalizing most riot-related offenses.
Schmidt ran as a progressive and won 77 percent of the vote just days before George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in May 2020.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt ran as a progressive and won 77 percent of the vote just days before George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in May 2020
Just ten days into his tenure Schmidt announced how his office would decline to prosecute protesters over the majority of misdemeanor charges they were being arrested for, including criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, and interference with a police officer.
At the time, the pandemic coupled with a spike in violent crime had already bogged down court proceedings, and most of those arrested at protests would have to wait months for their hearings – so it was simply easier not to prosecute in the first place.
Instead, Schmidt’s office was to focus on more serious protest-related crimes, including property damage, theft, and the use or threat of force.
Schmidt explained his policy as a desire to ‘focus on the cases that are actually going to have a positive impact on public safety.’
But with the pandemic in the rear view mirror, little appears to have changed.
His successful 2020 campaign was supported by Real Justice, a political action committee co-founded by radical anti-police activist Shaun King.
Over 90 percent of those arrested at the riots in 2020 in Portland for crimes ranging from arson to assault had their cases effectively dropped.
Although the police budget was cut in 2021, it was restored for 2022, but by then the damage had been done with efforts seemingly too little, too late.
In 2021, Portland surpassed its all-time record for murders at 90 homicides with things looking equally as bad for 2022 with 66 murders as of September 15.
For a city of 650,000 residents, Portland had more homicides in 2021 than larger cities on the west coast like San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.
Compounding the problem is that the number of sworn officers in the Portland Police Bureau is at its lowest since the 1980s despite the city experiencing surging population growth for the last 30 years.
Currently, there are around 800 sworn officers in the city – about 230 down from full staffing.
A lack of policing coupled with leniency when it comes to prosecutions is making Portland attractive for all the wrong reasons.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt (here with wife Clare and their son) in photos from his Facebook page
