Stats show violent crime down in Portland since 2022
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Compared to the same point at this time last year, violent crime is down in Portland, the Department of Justice said. In the first six months of 2023, there were 41 homicides in Portland. This year, 34 — and of those, 25 are gun-related deaths.
The Portland Office of Violence Prevention held a meeting Monday night to talk about violence of all kind in the city. The biggest takeaway: Violent crimes, no matter how many there are, is not acceptable.
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“The numbers are down, but each person who is impacted is still impacted, right?,” said Elizabeth Perez, the Chief of Staff to Mike Myers, the Deputy City Administrator. “We want to be involved in the process, and there’s been no formal way of pulling the community together and figuring out where do we go as (the Office of Violence Prevention.)”
She said a big success the office has had is prevention and intervention, but she noted enforcement and communication both need to be improved.
“I think some of the things that we have heard from the community, that we need to improve upon, is our community engagement, is our communication,” Perez said.
Among those listening Monday night was Rev. Dr. J.W. Matt Hennessee with Vancouver First Baptist Church.
“We do a lot of work in the community, especially around the issues of gun violence, about issues of everything that we can do to work with bridging the gap between police and law enforcement,” Hennessee said.
The pastor said he hopes for constructive conversations.
“What I hear from people is they say ‘We just have to stop this, this has to end, this cannot continue.’ How do we work together to try to figure out a way so that there is no issue regarding people thinking that the way to solve conflict is to get a gun,” he said.
Statistics provided to KOIN 6 News by the Portland Police Bureau shows the number of shootings has definitely dropped in the city since 2022, when 826 shootings were recorded by early August. So far this year, 522 shootings have been recorded.
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The DOJ statistics reveal violent crime in most of the cities in the US and Canada is down year-to-year.
Though the crime statistics are trending down, Perez said their work at OVP never stops. The overarching theme of the Monday work session is the community needs to work together on solutions.
“We have to keep listening to our community and doing what they’re asking of us,” Perez said.
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