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The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office has decided to book into jail violators of the city of Portland’s camping ban, a reversal from the sheriff’s position last month when the county jail turned away the first person arrested by police officers for violating the ban.
The reversal by Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell comes after a back-and-forth squabble last month between her and Mayor Ted Wheeler after the sheriff’s office refused to book a man into the county jail who had been arrested by officers after repeatedly turning down offers of shelter.
“I respect the City Council’s decision to increase enforcement for livability issues and am committed to working together to identify solutions that address the broader context of homelessness and public safety,” Morrisey O’Donnell said in a Tuesday morning joint statement with Wheeler.
That’s a very different tone from statements she made last month after her staff declined to book the man officers brought to the jail. At the time, she said: “Arresting and booking our way out of the housing crisis is not a constructive solution. As the elected official charged with managing the jail, I believe we need to utilize the corrections system as a place for people who pose a genuine danger to the public, and that does not include individuals whose only offense is living unsheltered.”
It’s not clear from the joint statement what led to Morrisey O’Donnell’s reversal.
She said her office would book violators of the ban for four months, then would “analyze and evaluate data...to determine if this approach is effective and sustainable.”