Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said gunshot detection is not a part of the city's plan to combat summer gun violence.
“The bottom line is, we want to wait until we have those resources in place and then we can reevaluate whether this model is one of our top priorities or not,” said Wheeler in a Thursday press briefing on public safety.
The city has been eyeing a gunshot detection system, which would install microphones or sensors in high-crime areas to help police quickly respond to shooting incidents.
The mayor said after speaking with Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell, the two determined it was best to hold off on the technology until staffing levels improve.
“We have a finite amount of officers,” said Lovell. “We respond to calls every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We would love to have more officers. We are working hard to get more officers on the street.”
Instead, the mayor announced a partnership between the Portland Police Bureau, the Office of Violence Prevention, and grassroots anti-violence groups to curb gun violence in the warmer months.
Shootings are down year-over-year, with initial Portland police data indicating 439 incidents so far in 2023 compared to 586 over the same five-month period in 2022.
However, there was a rise from 78 shootings reported in April 2023 to 92 in May.
The city’s Office of Violent Prevention is investing in a program called Portland Cease Fire. It focuses on identifying individuals who pose a high risk of involvement in gun violence and offering outreach services.
The program has four components:
- Using data to identify high risk perpetrators of gun violence
- Locating the individuals
- Engaging the community to connect them with intensive care programs
- Uniting law enforcement
“Through Ceasefire, our overarching goal is to increase public safety citywide by reducing gang involvement and homicides, decreasing recidivism and incarceration rates among gang and group members, and strengthening the police-community relations,” said Sierra Ellis, from the Office of Violence of Prevention.
The CEO of SoundThinking shared a statement with KATU on Portland’s recent decision not to pursue gunshot detection technology.
Ralph Clark says, “while we are disappointed that Portland is no longer moving forward with the RFP process, we understand how important it is to have the requisite resources and comprehensive strategy in place to effectively leverage any technology tool, including ShotSpotter. We are grateful for having been given the opportunity to engage with the Portland community. We stand ready to support the city when it is ready to re-assess the benefits of gunshot detection to quickly and precisely identify specific incident locations to render assistance and save lives.”