Members of a confrontational community group are, allegedly, taking the law into their own hands. According a Facebook event created by the group, the Montavilla Initiative, members will be patrolling homeless camps for stolen bike parts with a police officer next week.
The Montavilla Initiative is a unofficial neighborhood group that purports to be concerned with community safety, but has been accused of being a vigilante group that harasses homeless people—most recently in the pages of the Los Angeles Times. The group has previously worked closely with members of the Portland Police Association, and was a major player in last year’s unsuccessful push to convert the abandoned Wapato Jail into a homeless shelter. In September, members of the group filmed individuals who were entering a syringe exchange site and domestic violence shelter, with the stated aim of documenting their “bad behavior” to share with police.
The Montavilla Initiative is unrelated to the Montavilla Neighborhood Association, which does not support the splinter group’s motives.
A public Facebook event page created by the Montavilla Initiative advertises a chance for members of the group, as well as residents of Montavilla and nearby neighborhoods, to meet with PPB Officer Dave Sanders on Wednesday, January 9. The event description says Sanders, who heads up the Portland Police Bike Theft Task Force, “will walk with neighbors through a few camp sites which have been storing and chopping up stolen bicycles.”
The event page also says that only those who RSVP to the event—and, presumably, are approved by the Montavilla Initiative—will be given the location.
However, a statement the Mercury received from PPB spokesperson Christopher Burley suggests that Montavilla Initiative’s description of the event might be misleading. Burley said that Sanders has no plans to walk attendees through houseless camps in the neighborhood.
“This session is to be an educational in-classroom opportunity to learn about bike theft prevention and create community dialogue,” Burley said. “Officer Sanders contacted the Montavilla Initiative regarding the Facebook post earlier today.”
As of Friday afternoon, the Facebook event’s language had not been changed. Additionally, two weeks ago the Montavilla Initiative told a commenter on its public page that “we will actually be walking into a camp or two to look at stolen bikes and getting tips and strategies as we walk.”
This suggests that either the Montavilla Initiative leaders were mistaken about the intended purpose of the event, or that the plans for the event changed at some point between then and now.
But still, the general public can’t attend this secret meeting with a Portland Police bike theft specialist, at an undisclosed location?
I can’t quite see the legality of a secret meeting between police and a group such as this. Wonder what the mayor has to say?
These bigots believe that the homeless have no rights that a housed person is bound to respect. So do PPB and Wheeler.
Good for them. Take back the night, take back the streets.
“The Bike Thief” is a great film. You all should see it.
At the same time, if you’ve ever had a wheel or seat or frame etc. stolen and then see a hobo walking around with an expensive rim, or collection of wheels that are clearly stolen, it’s hard to hold back the desire for sweet revenge.
It’s complicated.
Euphonius, there is no “right” to steal and chop up people’s bikes, sorry. If someone steals your bike right in front of you, you can immediately confront them and take it back. Just because you don’t see your bike until a couple days or weeks later doesn’t mean the right to take it back goes away.
And anything on the public street is considered to be “in plain view” for constitutional search and seizure purposes.
“In September, members of the group filmed individuals who were entering a syringe exchange site and domestic violence shelter, with the stated aim of documenting their “bad behavior” to share with police.”
What the hell were they doing filming women utilizing a domestic violence shelter for!?
Drug dealers have long been using rental cars so that their own car doesn’t become seized as instrument of crime. There is a need for legal reform to properly account for and make presumptive income assumption of drug addicts in benefits eligibility determination. This will be an unpopular proposition in Portland, because it directly hurts the bottom line of SSI Medicaid drug addict transients.
IRS states proceeds from crime constitutes reportable income that must be declared. It is a fair presumption that 24/7 surveillance of a sample of drug addicts would produce a population median drug usage statistics and it is fair to compute median drug usage by median street value of drugs as drug addicts’ income. I believe we can purge many transients on SSI and Medicaid on income ground by using their addiction related spending as income regardless of how it was obtained. This would significantly cripple the homeless industrial complex. Some of significant stakeholders in the transient druggie industry are providers that bill Medicaid and their bottom lines depend on getting transient drug addicts enrolled into Medicaid.
“Just because you don’t see your bike until a couple days or weeks later doesn’t mean the right to take it back goes away.
And anything on the public street is considered to be “in plain view” for constitutional search and seizure purposes.”
Have you ever confronted a bike thief? It’s actually pretty easy. You can register your bike’s serial number and have it tracked in case it’s stolen. Bikes, and even their parts, will show up online. However, the confrontation is the easy part: Getting your bike back requires you to ask yourself some questions. What do you know about the person who stole it? How confident are you that you could take it back easily? What if they aren’t alone? What if they’re armed? What if they’ve been in more than a few altercations in their time while you, button pusher, have been in relatively none? What if they’ve had military training? What if they’re just more comfortable stabbing or shooting someone than you are?
By the time you’ve gone vigilante, you’ve already lost. You’re better off spending extra up front to buy decent locks, quick-release wheels, and a bag for that expensive leather seat.