Apparently the guy was released that night and promptly broke out a car window for somewhere to sleep.

Along with the police taking a long time to respond to this, they just turn them loose anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I love hearing all of these 'experts' proclaim how we don't need police, how police are the problem, how there are better ways.

We would probably need less police if more people would a) behave, and b) take responsibility for themselves and solving their own problems. Even then there would be situations were police were absolutely necessary, but we’re nowhere close to that, so we need a lot of police. It is too bad that more folks don’t appreciate what a tough job it is and support those doing.

Ah, Portland is so loving this time of year.
No police and let the crazies (meth heads) run loose and do as they please. Why wouldn't that work?

I spent $50 on an uber to go downtown for jury duty last week, no way in hell I would get on a Max, armed to the teeth or not.
https://www.fox9.com/news/woma...egon-brianna-workman

Hard to find booking photos these days.
Yep, zombie..

That subhuman has no place in any type of society. I’m afraid if I saw someone do that, I’d beat the ever loving shit out of them. She’d make the ice guy look like a beauty queen.

Ha! We were talking about making one of those GW Bush signs saying miss me yet and having a cop leaning out instead.

As always, careful what you wish for, you just might get it. It is however unfortunate for the people who voted against stupid but lost.

“Walmart has said it is permanently closing its last two stores in Portland - months after its CEO warned of a historic rise in thefts.

The sites, located at the Delta Park and Eastport Plaza shopping centers in North and Southeast Portland, will shutter on March 24.

The retail giants said it is closing the stores - which serve as a haven for low-income shoppers across the city - because they were not meeting financial expectations.

That said, the closures serve as the latest instance of businesses relocating or closing shop altogether amid a pronounced rise in crime and homelessness.

The mass exodus has been carried out by owners fed-up with the Portland's sad state, and officials' subsequent failure to quell both crises. …”

DailyMail article:
https://mol.im/a/11826175

If you have to visit Portland your companion should be a 10mm. Spare magazines are not an option.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
“Walmart has said it is permanently closing its last two stores in Portland - months after its CEO warned of a historic rise in thefts.

{snip}

...closing the stores - which serve as a haven for low-income shoppers across the city - because they were not meeting financial expectations.

Yes, everyone agrees that theft is a huge problem. No argument there.

But we can't forget about the extreme business taxes in Portland plus the minimum wage of $14.75 per hour. Even at $14.75 per hour, it's tough to even find workers since the perks of not working are almost as good as working. Now a business has to pay a large portion of the paid FMLA, along with everything else. Wonderful.

Seriously, there is a bill in play now which would give every non-working (homeless) person $1,000 per month to spend however they wish. The money comes from, businesses and taxpayers.

Portland is just not the place to do business, of any type.

Yes, theft is a problem. But it's not the complete story.

The complete story is hard left politicians are elected, Portland has attracted loonie left-wingers, heroin and meth are legal so hard core dopers move there for the drug-friendly climate, antifa are left alone and the city is swarming with "unhoused" drug addicts who avoid available free housing because they can't shoot meth all night long. Portland once beautiful now a dangerous human garbage dump. To be avoided unless if carrying concealed and you have a backup watching you your backtrail.

This is what happens when you vilify law and order and embrace the criminal fringe of our society. Portland, wallow in it.

Seattle is following Portland's downtown mess and the aftermath of defund the Police. In both states once your cross the mountains, it's a breath of fresh conservative air but even Spokane downtown is suffering with homeless camps. Not sure if Bend, OR is considered Conservative or liberal.

Additionally, in Washington State we have an Assault Weapon Ban (HB1240), a Pre-Purchase Licensing Requirement bill (HB1143) and a Expanded Public Nuisance bill SB5078 (designed to harass FFL's due to clerical errors) up for votes this week or further processing to move the bill along.

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
Seattle is following Portland's downtown mess and the aftermath of defund the Police...

https://www.seattletimes.com/s...ice-have-dropped-90/

The Seattle seesaw: Traffic tickets from police have dropped 90%

March 15, 2023 at 6:00 am

By Danny Westneat
Seattle Times columnist

Five years ago, right after state lawmakers passed a law to crack down on distracted driving, I got nabbed for it in a sting.

I was driving up Denny Way in Seattle, back toward my office, when a cop pulled me over. I was startled because as far as I knew, I wasn’t doing anything wrong.

“Three blocks back, you were talking on your cell phone,” he said. He pointed to the line of cars along Denny, “like in that one, see?” I looked, and sure enough – a driver idling at a red light was also on a phone, as I admittedly had been too.

The officer said the department was running an educational campaign, so my ticket for this first offense would be $136. “If I get you again, it’ll be double,” he said.

He hasn’t gotten me again. I’d like to say that’s because I’ve been a model citizen. But it’s probably due more to this: He isn’t really trying to get anybody anymore.

In 2018, I was one of about 28,000 Seattle drivers to get ticketed by police for a non-criminal driving infraction. In the 2010s, Seattle police doled out an average of roughly 40,000 tickets annually, more than 100 moving violation tickets a day.

The cops have all but stopped. They gave out only 3,863 tickets for 2022 — a drop of 90% from the 2010s pre-pandemic average.

I bring this up because city leaders have been expressing crisis-level concerns of late about the rise in traffic accidents and deaths in Seattle. Last year there were 28 deaths and 10,000 accidents, and the year before there were 30 deaths – the most in 15 years. This though the city is seven years into a safety campaign to eliminate all traffic-related deaths by 2030.

The city transportation department has done a review of why that “Vision Zero” campaign isn’t working. The 37-page report makes almost no mention of police enforcement — other than to say it’s out.

“Peer agencies are moving away from enforcement as a leading strategy, pointing instead to a safe systems model and designing roads to be ‘self-enforcing,’“ the report said.

“I don’t think any of us want police involved in traffic stops,” summed up Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales at a hearing last week, and no one disagreed.

Streets can definitely be made safer through design. A great example was the “road diet” of Rainier Avenue through Columbia City. Traffic bogs down there, but what used to a white-knuckle experience for pedestrians is now much more placid.

The council also signaled it plans to ramp up camera enforcement. (Currently cameras are used to catch red-light runners at select intersections, and to ticket speeders in school zones.)

But we’re in denial if we think we’re going to get to zero without the cops involved.

Example: In 2018, the year I got my cell-phone ticket, there were more than 3,000 drivers like me tagged for driving while talking or texting. Last year that was down by about 80%. Does anyone believe texting behind the wheel has been nearly eliminated? Me neither. They just aren’t enforcing it anymore.

In 2018, the city charged 447 drivers with reckless driving, a criminal misdemeanor. Last year, there were only 149 – a 67% drop. Reckless driving really is down by two-thirds here?

“Pedestrian Deaths Spike in U.S. as Reckless Driving Surges,” reported a 2022 New York Times story.

Of course there have been serious problems with some cop stops over the years – with inequitable enforcement imposed on Black and brown people, or worse, when a stop goes haywire and leads to someone’s death. Police reform was supposed to address that. At the same time, though, you can’t catch texting or reckless drivers with cameras. Somebody’s got to pull them over.

ameras could maybe help control speeding. Without them, the head of the city’s transportation department said they don’t know whether lowering speed limits has helped with safety or not.

“‘Hey you reduced the speed limit on all these arterials, but did it actually change driver behavior?’“ Greg Spotts said, relaying to the council one of the top questions he’s hearing from the public. “We’re going to have to do an analysis of that.”

I’m going to guess the answer will be “no” — it hasn’t changed driver behavior. That’s because drivers aren’t worried about getting caught.

The local writer Charles Mudede said the other day you can feel this Wild West sense walking about the city. Seattle is suffering from the “permitted lawlessness of cars,” he wrote, where “you can constantly break the vehicle laws with near impunity.”

The stats suggest there’s truth to that. I would only add that it’s by political choice. The city told the police not to meddle with the “lawlessness of cars” – and is still telling them that, see quotes above. So the police mostly don’t.

Seattle is a seesaw town. It wasn’t long ago we were America’s Singapore, a nanny state that might ticket you for anything from jaywalking to spitting to driving around with a noisy muffler.

Not sure where this seesaw is going to settle. But probably somewhere in the middle would be less confused, and hazardous, than this.

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
Seattle is following Portland's downtown mess and the aftermath of defund the Police. In both states once your cross the mountains, it's a breath of fresh conservative air but even Spokane downtown is suffering with homeless camps. Not sure if Bend, OR is considered Conservative or liberal.

Spokane would be conservative when measured against the rest of Washington-state, moderate when measured against the rest of the US, however within the Palouse, it's a liberal center and the largest urban settlement. Salt Lake City has a significant homeless problem, however like Spokane & Boise, these are the lone urban centers in hundreds of miles that offer bigger social services thus, they attract the down & out, drug addled and the anti-social.

Bend is a classic affluent-liberal enclave. Deschutes County as a whole has teetered between both sides, however its capitol of Bend has continued to grow with Portland and Seattle refugees, bringing their politics with them.

The reality is that in the lawless society fostered by leftists based on political careers that were initially fueled by “we’re going to abolish the police state”, that society took it to mean exactly that- the police were only there to harass people and generate income so now the people are FREE FROM TYRANNY. The politicians themselves didn’t care that the fabric of that society would rot; they cared about garnering power.

The entire left coast has become a nightmare for law abiding citizens. The criminal element knows they can do pretty much whatever they want. The police are in very real danger of civil suits and physical assaults for doing their jobs. I don’t believe there’s any chance for a conservative to get voted in anywhere to a real position of actual power where this poison has spread and flourished.

I hope everyone learned a very important lesson here.

This country is full of very good people, with good hearts, a good moral compass, who just want to live and get along. Police really aren't focused on these people as they are just living their lives, doing things right. When they make a small mistake the need a little reminder to stay on the path and that is usually sufficient. This is true and evidenced by communities that see little crime from the citizens, and most from those passing through.

This country is also full of people that will do anything for a fast buck, they have no moral compass, they are selfish and self serving and care little if at all for anyone around them. These people will pray on the former, and each other, at any opportunity. Laws are needed to protect the good people from these people. Police are needed to focus their attention on these law breaking malcontents to assure they stay in line. Bottom line is that the only thing that keeps these people from running rampant is fear of being caught and punished. This includes the citizens ability to defend themselves from an attack.

When you remove that fear of being caught and punished or severely injured or killed by attacking the wrong person you have removed the last barrier that prevents these people from doing whatever they want, to whoever they want. This is seems like common sense to a lot of us but apparently a full on live, real, society wide demonstration of this fact is necessary.

I wonder how long it will take them to get it....

REI closes its Portland store after being 'overwhelmed' by theft

“Outdoor goods firm REI will close its huge downtown Portland store after struggling with record-breaking thefts and burglaries despite splurging on heavy-duty security. …”

DailyMail article:
https://mol.im/a/11985749

quote:

I wonder how long it will take them to get it....

Sadly, it will take more than musing over the maladies that plague people at the regional level; the left coast is proof of this. For dyed in the wool leftists to make the jump to common sense, it would likely take a personal tragedy to even make them consider consider changing affiliation or even quietly voting against their normal grain.

We see it all the time in democRAT controlled cities rampant with crime of every stripe. These mentally ill people keep voting for the assholes that openly tell them every election cycle what they’re willing to do or not do. Personally, I am past feeling any kind of remorse for their woes. I would go as far as saying I don’t give a flying fuck about anyone that gets exactly what they ask/voted for and then bitch-whine that they aren’t safe, have their shit stolen, or have their favorite wine and cheese shop shut down because their “profits are down” which is leftist blather for “society’s assholes are running businesses off”.

I will give REI credit for telling the truth here and blaming theft, not “profit margins” or some such.

They disarmed the Portland State University campus police after some drunk guy tried to pick up a loose Glock on the street, and after ignoring verbal commands, they shot him.

I said from the beginning that unarmed police are useless, and increases the overall danger for EVERYONE.

Uncomfortable for students? How so?

-----------------------------------------------

'It's uncomfortable for students': Portland State University rearms campus police officers

The university's president cited increased encounters with weapons as one reason for rolling back PSU's previous approach limiting when officers carried guns.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland State University has rearmed its campus police force.

University President Stephen Percy explained the reasons why in a letter posted on the school's website, Tuesday. Percy said PSU officers are encountering an increasing number of weapons on and near campus receiving limited help from the Portland Police Bureau. “These factors have necessitated a change in practice on the part of campus police officers: In order to protect our campus, our nine sworn officers are having to go on most patrols carrying arms,” wrote Percy.

A campus spokesperson told KGW the change has been in place since February. Response to the announcement was mixed among students.

“I think the only thing I can say is it's uncomfortable for students,” said a PSU freshman named Griselda.

“I'm hoping that everything stays safe,” said JD Amisi. “I'm hoping that they don't have to use them.”

Both Amisi and fellow student Edward Niyongere said that as students of color, they feel less comfortable approaching officers now, knowing they're armed.

“Before I knew this, I was definitely more willing to talk to campus police if I had a situation or a problem,” said Niyongere. “If [officers] do have guns, they might accidentally mistake me for [a suspect], but I can also see why somebody would want them carrying it just in case that something happens.”

RELATED: Two years after death of Jason Washington, protesters continue call to disarm PSU campus police

In 2018, campus police shot and killed Jason Washington. At the time, Washington was trying to break up a fight near the Cheerful Tortoise. In a settlement agreement, PSU paid Washington's family $1 million. Calls to disarm PSU officers, followed. The murder of George Floyd strengthened those calls. In 2020, PSU announced they would change the way police patrolled on campus. Sworn officers carried guns only at the discretion of PSU Chief of Campus Public Safety, Willie Halliburton.

“Things have changed,” Halliburton told KGW in 2020. “We have to find a way to reinvent or do police work that's not just beneficial for police officers but for the community… I truly believe this is what we need here at Portland State. It will work here.”

Judging by Tuesday’s announcement, it didn’t work for as long as many had hoped it would.

“Unfortunately, the environment around the PSU campus has changed since that time,” wrote Percy.

In addition to Percy’s letter to students, the school posted a video message from Halliburton.

“We have not abandoned unarmed patrols,” said Halliburton in the video. “You will see our officers respond to certain calls in an unarmed manner. This was done so at the officer's discretion and when it's safe.”

Besides PSU’s nine sworn officers, their staff also includes seven unarmed public safety officers and eight student safety ambassadors.

https://www.kgw.com/article/ne...a4-9ca3-95150827249c

Let me make this clear.


Good place for social worker, maybe not the best for police SWAT



GREAT place for Police SWAT, horrible place for social workers

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
REI closes its Portland store after being 'overwhelmed' by theft

“Outdoor goods firm REI will close its huge downtown Portland store after struggling with record-breaking thefts and burglaries despite splurging on heavy-duty security. …”

DailyMail article:
https://mol.im/a/11985749

One less anchor tenant in the downtown core area and one less store REI has to worry about unionizing.