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Last week, WW reported that Portland now has 1.2 police officers for every 1,000 people in the city (“Minimum Force,” Sept. 28). Using 2020 federal data, we crunched the numbers to see how Portland now fares compared with other large U.S. cities. The national average is 2.4 officers per 1,000, according to the FBI. The median among the top 50 largest cities is 1.8. Portland ranks 48th out of 50 cities in cops per capita. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Republican nominee for governor Christine Drazan, via Twitter: “Tina Kotek sided with defund the police radicals over our law enforcement. “She betrayed the men and women who keep us safe.
“I will always support Oregon law enforcement when I take office as governor.”
Redacted, via Reddit: “Can you imagine working a job where you have like half of the co-workers you need to get your job done, customers and your bosses are constantly screaming at you for not accomplishing enough, and when you do manage to achieve something, there’s a 75% chance it gets thrown immediately into the trash? That’s what I imagine it’s like to be a cop in Portland right now. It’s got to be incredibly demoralizing.”
nowcalledcthulu, via Reddit: “Next, imagine that you and all your co-workers spent an entire summer terrorizing the communities you’re supposed to protect after decades of corruption, racism and violence. Starts to make sense why the community might not give you the blind trust you demand. That level of self-reflection would disqualify you from being a cop, though. Seriously, stop acting like our corrupt police are the victims. It’s shitty to be a cop in Portland because Portland cops created a shitty culture and have fought any attempts at reform or progress. You get what you fucking deserve.”
kittychi, via wweek.com: “Businesses in formerly safe neighborhoods (looking at you, Northwest 23rd and surrounding areas) are hiring private security guards for protection of employees and so customers will shop; big downtown stores have a guard at each door, I have to ring a doorbell to be let in to a favorite store, downtown hotels are losing customers because they don’t feel safe, trash and zombies on meth wandering around…no, we don’t have enough police. If the city has money but can’t get police to come here, then spend that money on private security.
“Because of the problems, we need more police right now; at least temporary private security is warranted. I can’t even believe this is a debate.”
Kropothead, via Twitter: “Zusman and Meeker using WW to swing hard for an expansion of the police state.
“We need a new local paper that’s not written by the cowardly owner class.”
Sophlady, via wweek.com: “Quality matters more than quantity. More cops who do not themselves comply with the law wouldn’t help. The fact Portland has been in violation of a federal consent decree regarding police brutality for years likely makes knowledgeable applicants uninterested in working for the Portland Police Bureau. “A major error in these numbers is ignoring non-armed interveners, who are also law enforcement.”
LuxLocke, via Reddit: “Not many people want to join a force that the community routinely tell to F off. Go one town over and they get free hot dogs.”
Hoodlum of Bedlam, via Twitter: “The only upside is we don’t get hassled about traffic infraction issues anymore.”
LETTERS to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com