Editorial: City Council’s slow wake-up to a gun violence crisis
On Thursday afternoon, the Portland City Council gathered in an online work session to discuss one of the most dire issues facing Portland – community safety. But the agenda didn’t focus on what to do about the year’s record-setting pace of homicides or the dozens of shootings that take place every week in the city.
Rather, council members learned of research linking infrastructure improvements with reduced crime; heard a proposal for the city to partner with a health care provider to handle non-emergency medical calls; and discussed how to ease the crush of calls overwhelming 911 dispatchers over the next year.