A Modern Tale of Two Cities
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair….”
Late one evening last December, just before Christmas, a Washington County mother sat at her kitchen table wrapping presents while the rest of her family slept. Suddenly, her phone buzzed with an alert. When she looked at the screen, she was startled to see video from an exterior home surveillance camera of a man actively trying to break into her home.
She immediately woke up her family and called 911. Less than two minutes later, the police arrived. They conducted a search and found the man hiding in a nearby backyard. He was arrested and charged. However, an investigation revealed more to the story.
Earlier that same evening, the same man walked up the street from the direction of a homeless encampment in Portland to a home where another family slept. He broke a ground-floor window with a brick, climbed through, and began rummaging through the family’s belongings. Everyone in that home was asleep, except for a young child who heard the man but was too afraid to get out of bed to wake her parents. Eventually the dad woke up from the noise and when he walked down the hallway to investigate, he was surprised to confront an intruder in his home. Luckily, the man turned and ran, fleeing the scene by stealing the family’s car. Like the Washington County mom, the Portland dad called 911. However, it took roughly 10 minutes before the dispatcher even answered the 911 call, far too late to provide an effective response or to keep the family safe.
This story represents a true tale of two cities. In Washington County, there exists a functioning public safety system that holds criminals accountable, seeks justice for crime victims, and protects the community. The crime rate in Washington County is approximately 30% below the state average and 50% below neighboring Multnomah County. In Portland, however, the city is on pace to tie or surpass last year’s record 92 homicides and 1,327 shootings. Safety is such a concern at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center that doctors and nurses carry mace, and bulletproof glass is being installed at the children’s clinic. Citywide, car theft is so rampant that 11,100 cars were stolen in Portland over the last 12 months, about 30 every day, surpassing the total number of stolen cars in New York City.
Why is this happening? Some point to national trends and argue that Portland is no different than any other American city. They highlight challenges associated with mental health, addiction or homelessness and beg for patience as they argue that the problem is too complicated to solve. Others point to the pandemic as the culprit. They say COVID has exacerbated disparities and increased crime. While it is true that all of these challenges are factors, none of them is the root cause of the current situation.
Earlier this summer, I traveled to San Diego for a conference. As I drove to PDX, I passed by the sad and now common sight of graffiti, tents and trash lining the streets. But after my plane landed in San Diego and I made my way to my hotel, I was pleasantly surprised to see a major West Coast city without the blight that has taken over Portland. How is it that things are different? The answer isn’t that San Diego is somehow immune to the challenges we see in Portland. Instead, the leaders in San Diego, such as my like-minded colleague District Attorney Summer Stephan, have prioritized livability and public safety for their community.
In my successful campaign for re-election as Washington County district attorney, I pledged, “Keep Portland out of Washington County.” A similar mantra exists in San Diego: “Keep San Francisco and L.A. out of San Diego.” While our two communities may not share a similar climate, what we do share is a similar desire to prioritize livability and public safety. And the way we can accomplish those goals is to ensure we have the right leaders in place.
The public safety challenges facing Oregon are the result of multiple decisions by multiple leaders. We live in a time when common-sense solutions – such as arresting criminals, prosecuting defendants, and incarcerating the convicted – are uncommon ideas. Leaders who call for task forces, make emergency declarations, or announce multi-year plans obscure the reality that many of the tools to address the current challenges already exist and the solutions are within our reach. Failed leadership created this situation, which means that responsible leadership can solve it. We do not need to tolerate this tale of two cities any longer.