PRETRIAL <<Top judges for the state and Multnomah County have separately released new rules keeping habitual theft suspects, accused fraudsters and serious hate crime suspects in jail until they go before a judge. Oregon Chief Justice Megan Flynn on Wednesday ordered Circuit Courts and sheriffs across the state to hold anyone charged with a first-degree …
Category Archives: News and Analysis
6/2/2023 News Roundup
THE FASH <<The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that a federal grand jury has indicted a former FBI agent who lived in Bend for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building. Jared Wise, 49, was charged with two felonies and four misdemeanors in the case after federal …
6/1/2023 News Roundup
SHOOTING <<Police in Vancouver shot and killed an armed-robbery suspect Tuesday evening, the Vancouver police department said. The detective and other officers waited outside and witnessed the suspect leave the store. “When (the suspect) saw police, he dropped a bag of items, displayed a firearm, ran westbound through the parking lot and during the attempt …
5/27/23 News Roundup part 3
DEFUND THE DA <<On May 16, District Attorney Mike Schmidt went to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners to ask for more money in this year’s budget, citing a report showing his office was 26% understaffed. “We’re pretty to the bone,” he told the board. WW has obtained the staffing report, which was completed in …
5/27/23 News Roundup part 2
HOMELESSNESS <<The number of people experiencing homelessness of all kinds in Multnomah County—unsheltered, in shelters, and in transitional housing—rose 20% in 2023, an increase that county officials attributed to “ongoing use of increasingly robust by-name lists and services data.” Put another way: County officials claim they got much better at looking for unhoused people, muddying …
5/27/23 News Roundup part 1
5/27/2023 News Roundup ACAB GRAFFITI INVESTIGATION AND GUN ARREST <<A yearlong investigation by Portland police into a prolific graffiti tagging crew working both U.S. coasts culminated this month in the discovery of a ghost gun workshop in the basement of an East Portland home. The Portland Police Bureau announced the arrest of the home’s occupant, …
4/23/2023 News Roundup
OFFICER DOWN <<An Oregon reserve police officer who was shot and killed last weekend was honored Saturday during a celebration of life event in Nyssa. Friends, family and the community remembered 43-year-old Joe “JJ” Johnson as a good person dedicated to law enforcement and helping others. People came to the memorial from as far as …
4/22/2023 News Roundup
STREET RESPONSE <<At least one Portland Street Response worker has resigned since Portland Fire Chief Sara Boone announced a controversial change to the city’s mental health crisis response team last week. On April 11, Boone announced the team must respond to homeless sweeps to assist campers when asked by city contractors or leaders at Portland …
4/21/2023 News Roundup
SHOOTING <<A Marion County grand jury found an Oregon State Police (OSP) trooper’s use of force was justified in a deadly shooting on Interstate 5 near Salem this month. The Marion County District Attorney’s office released videos showing three different angles of the incident that took place April 10. One perspective came from OSP trooper …
4/20/2023 News Roundup Part 2
TEAR GAS <<Portland police blanketed downtown in tear gas at concentrations more than 50 times what federal regulators consider “immediately dangerous,” The Guardian reported yesterday. The first-of-its-kind analysis was performed by Forensic Architecture, a company that investigates human rights abuses. At one location, it concluded that concentrations were 2,000 times the federal limit on the …