Portland Police one-day mission in Menlo Park results in 26 arrests

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Portland Police said they’re partnering with the community to address rising crime.

During just a one-day mission, police said they made dozens of arrests in the Menlo Park neighborhood.

People who live and work in the Menlo Park neighborhood on the east side of Portland said it’s a busy area and they’d like to see its problems addressed.

“We’ve got a nice coffee shop over here. We’re just trying to make the neighborhood better and make sure that everybody’s safe,” Jonathan Hardy, who works nearby, said.

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Community members said a lot of the issues take place at the MAX station at East 122nd Avenue.

“They need to do better especially with people smoking fentanyl down here at the platform,” Kathy Yost, who lives nearby, said.

People said they’re glad to hear about Portland Police Bureau’s recent mission in this area. PPB’s East Precinct said they partnered with local business leaders last Tuesday to address crime in this neighborhood. Officials said it was a joint effort between multiple teams including East personnel, air support unit, K9 units, and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police.

“I do think it’s good,” Hardy said.

Teams said they patrolled areas between Southeast Stark Street and Northeast San Rafael Street, and between Northeast 117th Avenue and 126th Avenue, and said transit police were also active along the MAX line.

Officers said the mission resulted in 26 arrests, and said they also recovered three stolen cars and seized two illegally possessed firearms.

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People said they’d welcome these types of coordinated police efforts more often.

“Time will tell. Actions speak louder than words,” Yost said.

“Keep the police over here or keep some kind of security where people aren’t selling drugs. I feel like that makes it a whole lot safer, too,” Hardy said.

PPB said of the more than two dozen arrests made – 15 were for felony charges.

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