Crime is down in Portland after a pandemic-era surge. That’s good news, though there are still some grumblings about how police prioritize which crimes to investigate.
Police Chief Bob Day and Sergeant Matt Jacobsen, who heads up the Major Crimes Unit, talked with City Cast Portland podcast host Claudia Meza about the bureau's approach.
Here are a couple of key moments from the conversation:
How do you prioritize investigations?
Sergeant Jacobsen: “ The first thing we look at is if somebody was seriously injured.... Was a firearm involved or [were] shots fired? Then we look at some victim characteristics, like if this is a juvenile victim who was harmed. That takes a little bit higher priority.”
“It's really fairly common-sense things…. Then, kind of at the end of that: Those Repeated offenders. If we're seeing someone, even if it's not as serious a crime, but [they're] repeatedly victimizing our community members, that gets a little bit higher priority as well.”
Why don’t some crimes get investigated — even ones with video evidence?
Chief Day: ”We can always do better.… I think we're coming out of a time period where there was great hesitancy to really want to engage or feel like there was a desire for the community to even want to have us be a part of these solutions. And that has switched now….
"But we have a generation of officers who came through ’20, ’21, ’22, ’23, with really not that understanding. And the officers we hired in ’20 and ’21 really spent the bulk of their time just managing the crisis on our streets around protests and demonstrations.”
Earlier this year, you put out a crime reduction plan that aims to both reduce crime and also lower the call volume for patrol officers. What's the approach?
Chief Day: “ Policing is based on is the concept of swiftness and certainty. When you put a police car on the side of the road, people slow down…. We've lost that in some ways here in Portland for a variety of reasons…. What I'm trying to establish — and what I'm grateful that the police bureau is responding to — is creating an atmosphere and a belief [in] that swiftness and certainty.”
