How thin can the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) trim some of its specialized units? We will find out soon, as the bureau finalizes plans this week to pluck officers and sergeants from a number of areas to compensate for sinking numbers within patrol, the bureauâs visible front line that responds to 911 and non-emergency calls.
âThere are no good options,â PPB spokesperson Sergeant Peter Simpson tells the Mercury. âWe have to pick the best of bad options. No matter what we do, we suffer a little bit. Itâs trying to find out the best way to suffer the least.â
Last week, during a work session with Portland City Council, PPB brass proposed transferring about 25 officers from nine units to join the bureauâs 331 existing patrol officers. Three sergeants from those units will likely join them. Recently appointed Police Chief Mike Marshman will finalize the figures this week, Simpson says, with the shifts taking place as soon as mid-October. Thatâs the quickest that involuntary transfers can take place due to the cityâs contract with its main police union, the Portland Police Association.
The bureauâs been forced into this position by a number of factors. Portlandâs population is booming while the police force is dwindling as members retire. At the same time, the PPB is having trouble attracting new recruits. That means response time for 911 calls is increasing, and remaining cops have less âfree timeâ to build relationships with the community.
âOur projected separationsâdue to retirement or resignations to other law enforcement agenciesâexceeds our hiring ability,â Marshman told Mayor Charlie Hales and the rest of city council last week. He said the bureau needs to hire 385 sworn members over the next five yearsâan average of 77 per year, compared to the average of 25 hired over each of the previous five yearsâto make up for recent and expected vacancies, despite having few applicants. âMost importantly, our limited staffing on the street, and in the bureau in general, really, truly hurts our relationship-based policing efforts,â Marshman said.
(The meeting starts 9:08 into the video)
The chiefâs proposed tweaks come from all around the bureau. He suggested transferring seven of the Traffic Divisionâs 39 officers and one of its nine sergeants to patrol. From the tactical operations divisionâhome of the Gang Enforcement Teamâfive of the 26 officers and one of 10 sergeants may be moving.
âThe work that each of those units does is needed,â the PPBâs Simpson tells the Mercury, âbut at the core function, weâve got to be able to respond to calls for service from the patrol ranks.â
Not everybody on council was upset that some of these units will be trimmed. Commissioner Steve Novick has been a longtime critic of the Drugs and Vice Divisionâs staffing and budget, and said last week that âtrying to intercept the supply of drugs is fruitless.â Four of the 19 officers and one of the five sergeants in that division could be headed to patrol.
Likely joining them are one of five officers in the Personnel Division, one of five officers in the Criminal Intelligence Unit, one of two âRegJIN Sustainment Teamâ officers helping with bureau computer records, both of the Strategic Services Division officers who analyze crime statistics (non-sworn employees will still work there), and one of three investigators the bureau sends to the district attorneyâs office.
And in a move that might generate outcry, Marshman is considering chopping the Mounted Patrol Unit (MPU) in half, from four officers to two.
The bureau essentially admits the MPU, the cops who ride around on horseback, serves no real law-enforcement function other than public relations. âPeople who may not even like the police will come up to the horses and have a conversation with officers while they pet the horse,â said Assistant Chief Chris Uehara. Still, calls to kill the unit during recent budget crunches have been met with community outcryâwith moneyed Portlanders even chipping in to help pay for the MPU in past years.
âYouâre asking us to pick our poison,â said City Commissioner Nick Fish. âWeâre essentially thinning the soup and itâs going to have an impact, in my view, on public safety.â
Marshman responded: âWhat weâre trying to do is thread the needle in multiple waysâitâs very hard to prioritize these... Iâm keeping my fingers crossed that this strategy works.â
In the meantime, the bureau is attempting to speed up its recruiting and hiring process.
âItâs simply taking too long to get into the Portland Police Bureau,â said Assistant Chief Mike Leloff at the meeting last week. âWeâre looking from beginning to end. Yesterday we had a discussion about how it needs to be six months to get in and not 13 or 14 months.â
Simpson told the Mercury it actually takes about nine months to get hired by the PPBâbecause of exams, physical and psychological evaluations, and lengthy background checksâbut thatâs way longer than it should take. Many police departments are hiring, he said, âso youâre competing for candidates who have a lot of choices,â including from departments that can give them official job offers sooner. The PPB is trying to bring in more recruits without lowering standards, he said.
The bureau currently has six background investigators to check on recruitsâ pasts, which takes up a significant amount of time in the hiring process. Officials want to have 20 of the non-sworn investigators to reduce caseload and get potential officers screened sooner.
The bureauâs also trying to broaden the areas it recruits from, particularly going after people living in California and working in the military. Recruiting locally, especially minorities, has proven difficult.
âYouâre in one of the whitest cities in America,â says Simpson, âso trying to recruit people of color from your own city is a challenge. Weâd love to hire local, believe me.â
At last weekâs work session, Marshman said that only a few hundred recruits have recently taken the test to become a Portland Police officer, compared to a few thousand vying to become a firefighter, âso weâre cognizant of removing every single barrier possible to get a qualified applicant pool.â