Portland Sets New Homicide Record, Uses Traffic Barrels to Combat Drive-by Shootings

The number of homicides in Portland has now surpassed its previous annual record of 66, set in 1987 – and there are still more than two months to go in the calendar year.

As of Tuesday, Oregon’s largest city has recorded 67 killings so far this year, three-quarters of which have been carried out by firearms, according to the Associated Press. The total number of shootings – around 1,000 – has also left an additional 314 people injured.

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The Pacific Northwest city is now implementing novel solutions aimed at improving safety, including adding traffic barrels to prevent drive-by shootings and suspending minor traffic stops so officers can focus on immediate threats.

Police say many shootings are linked to gangs, fights and retaliation killings, but they are also affecting bystanders.

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Nationally, homicides increased by nearly 30% from 2019 to 2020, based on FBI data. However, in Portland, deadly violence is increasing at a faster rate than nearly all major cities, with an 83% increase in homicides in 2020, according to the Associated Press.

Portland has seen more homicides in 2021 than some larger cities, including San Francisco, and it’s had twice as many slayings as its larger Pacific Northwest neighbor, Seattle. Other hard-hit Western cities include the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metro area, which has about 679,000 residents and has seen a record 97 homicides this year.

Portland police have struggled to quell the violence, with the bureau 128 officers below authorized strength. Since August 2020, about 200 officers have left the department. Many, in their exit interviews, cited low morale, lack of support from city officials and burnout from months of racial justice protests, which often ended in plumes of tear gas and confrontation but have largely died down since last summer.

“We are running on fumes. There’s no way we can investigate thoroughly, and correctly, all these shootings,” said Daryl Turner, executive director of Portland’s police union.

Turner says the city will need to hire 840 officers over the next five years to implement proper community policing and keep Portland safe.

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Amid booming calls to defund the police, city leaders slashed $27 million from the police budget last year — $11 million due to the pandemic-caused budget crisis — a decision that Turner says has cost lives.

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In addition, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced in June that officers are no longer being directed to stop drivers for low-level traffic violations.

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