Residents Portland, Oregon's most populous city, faced unprecedented homicides, an increase in property crime and a general sense of "lawlessness" during 2022. A citizen anonymously told Fox News:
With the police force the way it is, people think they can do anything. I feel that it won't always be like this, but right now we are in the middle of anarchy.
Record number of homicides
With more than 90 murders recorded through mid-December, the well-known Rip City broke a new homicide record for the second consecutive year. Between January and October 2022, property crimes increased by 16% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Burglaries, vandalism and "frightening encounters with people suffering from serious mental health crises" have driven many businesses out of the city. Entrepreneur Katherine Sealy, owner of a Portland establishment, commented:
The increase in crime and the homeless population continues to be a challenge that I believe the city is beginning to address.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, has commissioned a survey conducted by the local firm DHM Research, which revealed that almost half (48%) of the 500 inhabitants who were surveyed felt unsafe walking alone at night in their own neighborhood. Of those who felt unsafe, 78% told the researchers that they were afraid of being physically assaulted.
Police shortage and anti-progressive vote
Law enforcement agencies attribute the problem in part to the severe staffing shortages they have been experiencing in their departments since 2020. At the time, as anti-police protests rocked the city, the City Council voted to cut the department's budget by $15 million, even though activist supporters of the 'Defund the Police' movement had demanded cuts of $50 million.
Currently, the police have more than 100 vacancies open to recruit new officers, and there are 804 sworn officers, after a low of 773 in September.
According to their data, response times to emergency calls reached levels not seen in over a decade, with a high-priority call waiting more than 20 minutes for a response. Loretta Guzmán - whose cafeteria was vandalized - said that her customers say that nowadays it is as if the police "have almost disappeared."
The 2022 year-end shows some signs of change. Portlanders voted to reform their government and ousted far-left progressive City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in favor of more moderate Democrat Rene Gonzalez, whose campaign offices were attacked twice in the run-up to the election.
Homelessness crisis
The continuing homeless crisis has pushed residents and business owners to their absolute "limit" said Darren Marshall, CEO of a tea company:
We deal with robberies, we deal with assaults. This afternoon we had an explosion around the corner. Fire everywhere. That is the world we live in every day.
The City Council approved a ban on street camping in November. And the council has given the green light to allocate $27 million from the city's budget to create designated outdoor areas for homeless people to camp. The ban will be extended over the next year and a half as campgrounds are allocated and built.
