District Attorney’s Office to Reimburse Portland Police Overtime Costs for Certain Weekend and Evening Calls

The contract lands at a time when both agencies are grappling with what they describe as historically low staffing levels.

Multnomah County Courthouse. (Sam Gehrke)
By Tess Riski

The Portland City Council will vote next week to authorize an agreement that requires the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office to reimburse up to $80,000 in overtime costs for the Portland Police Bureau.

The contract, which runs from July 2021 to June 2023, only applies to PPB detectives who are investigating child abuse cases. It specifically covers overtime costs incurred during after-hours and weekend callouts.

“The county agrees to pay the contractor for the cost of overtime expenses for after-hour and weekend callouts of specially trained detectives to respond to child abuse referrals in contractor’s jurisdiction and equipment costs,” the contract reads.

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The contract lands at a time when both agencies are grappling with what they describe as historically low staffing levels. It stipulates that the expenses will be paid out from grant money the DA’s office received through the state’s Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Intervention fund.

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