The Portland Police Bureau still has dozens of vacancies despite its aggressive hiring effort and more than 60 new officers brought on throughout the year.
The bureau has its fewest members since the early 1990s, though 63 officers started with the city between the beginning of 2022 through mid-November.
The protests of 2020 marked a turning point in Portland’s history; the murder of George Floyd sparked nationwide calls for police reform that led agencies across the country to rethink how they operate. In Portland, 100 straight days of protests and riots preceded a mass exodus from the police bureau - over 100 officers quit or retired by the end of 2021.
Police supporters said it harmed the bureau and the city and still harms it to this day. However, police critics said it gave the city a chance to rebuild a police force dedicated to reform.
KATU recently spoke with Officer Trey Jackson, one of the city’s most recent hires. The 21-year-old, lifelong Portlander said he applied to other local agencies but knew his hometown is where he wanted to be.
“It's my community. I love it. I have respect for it, and I want everybody to have the same respect that I have for it,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he played sports in Portland growing up and graduated from David Douglas High School. He joined the junior cadet program with the police bureau and worked in private security before coming aboard as an officer in July.
“I know the city like the back of my hand. I know a lot of people; I played sports all throughout high school. I was a cadet. I've shown my face around to different parades and events on the Waterfront, so a lot of people will recognize me, and if they can see my face and feel at peace or feel safe, then that's a win in my book,” Jackson said.
Jackson started the state’s training academy in early November and finishes in March. He said he realized he was joining policing at a time when it’s under scrutiny and added that he and his training classmates discuss the difference they can make.
“If everybody goes home to their respective agencies and applies the stuff that we're learning right now, then we think that we can really shift this generation of policing,” Jackson said.
He was one of 16 people hired in July and one of 63 hired this year. However, it will be a long time before any of those officers are answering 911 calls on their own. After new hires finish basic training with the state, they do a 12-week advanced academy in Portland then ride along with a coach for at least 24 weeks. It typically takes 18 months to get new officers on their own.
Despite the hiring success, the police bureau’s website showed it is still 74 officers short as of November 29. Mayor Ted Wheeler, the police commissioner, previously blamed the issue on years of neglect before he took over as mayor.
“This was a multi-decade process that got us to the crunch that we find ourselves in today,” Wheeler told KATU in August. “My focus is: this is the table that is set before me today. Am I going to spend my time contemplating what happened 3, 4, 5 years ago, or am I looking to the future in terms of how we’re going to fix this problem?”
Wheeler said that’s he set a goal of hiring 200 armed police officers over the next three years. Earlier this year, he and his colleagues on council approved pay raises, retention bonuses to current officers, and recruiting bonuses to new officers in the police union’s new contract.
“You can come in at a time when we’re on the rise, and we need good people more than ever. It’s going to take a lot of good people, not just in police but in different city agencies and leadership, to really turn things around in Portland,” police chief Chuck Lovell said.
Jackson said that motivated him to join. He's also a person of color - giving him a lifetime of experiences he hopes will help him break through barriers in the community.
“I think that if more people who share the same skin color as me, see me show up to a call, someone who shares the same skin tone, same skin color, I think they'll feel more safe,” Jackson said. “They'll trust me, because at the end of the day, I'm there to serve my community.”