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“Deflection” has been defined.
After weeks of work, a group of civic leaders and law enforcement officials working to set up an alternative to the criminal justice system for drug users has come up with a plan.
Under guidelines released at 5 pm Friday by Multnomah County, people stopped with small amounts of illegal drugs can avoid jail if they agree to a screening, get a referral for treatment, and “engage” with the service recommended by the screening within 30 days.
People committing other crimes are not eligible for deflection. The guidelines don’t set a limit for how many times a person can use deflection; instead, it limits how frequently a person can do so. If a person fails to complete the deflection steps and is stopped with drugs within the following 30 days, they would “instead be arrested and charged if contacted by law enforcement during that time period.”
The guidelines were developed behind closed doors and finalized Friday by a group that included Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, police chiefs from Portland and Gresham, District Attorney Mike Schmidt, directors from the Multnomah County Health Department, representatives from Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office, and others. DA-elect Nathan Vasquez didn’t attend the Friday meeting, “though his concerns were considered,” county officials said in a statement.
“The team also agreed that they would review the data, experience of clients and partners, and public safety needs every 30 days and adjust any of the following agreed-upon terms and provisions accordingly,” the county said in a press release.
The Oregon Legislature introduced the term “deflection” in House Bill 4002, passed in March, which recriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs, overturning a central plank of Measure 110. As a condition of that, the Legislature asked counties to take steps to keep drug users out of the criminal justice system, as Measure 110 intended.
Recriminalization starts Sept. 1. The legislation sets no deadline for setting up deflection services, but Vega Pederson has said the county intends to have some in place by then.
Though not required by the Legislature, Multnomah County decided to create a temporary center in an old printing plant on Southeast Sandy Boulevard where police can bring people willing to try deflection. Retrofitting the building is expected to cost as much at $2 million.
The center will start sobering a small number of intoxicated people next year, the county said. A permanent center, likely at another location, will open in 2026.
At a county hearing Thursday, residents of the Buckman neighborhood protested the plan, saying it would leave drug users in the neighborhood after they are dropped there.
“The leadership team has been developing initial policy direction for deflection based on information known today, including that it can take multiple attempts to engage in treatment and services,” the county said “There is also the need to hold individuals accountable for community safety. All of this work is taking place while the court system is overburdened and in particular, while there is a critical shortage of public defenders.”
County Commissioner Sharon Meieran, a persistent critic of the county’s deflection plan, questioned many of the guidelines in a marked-up copy of the press release.
Meieran’s questions included: “What kind of screening? What is being screened for? What does ‘engaged with’ the service mean?” The emergency room physician also asked where people would be referred.
Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards also voiced questions.
“I am going to want a lot more detail on what referral services will be available and required and who will be making those referrals and with what criteria,” Brim-Edwards said in a text message. “This is just one piece of the work that has to be done. Small win.”