PORTLAND, Ore. — Police arrested eight homeless people after raiding a homeless camp in Northwest Portland Wednesday morning. The camp was located on the corner of West Burnside Street and Northwest 15th Avenue.
The raid happened around 10 a.m., and those arrested all had outstanding warrants, according to officers on scene.
“They're just plowing through — like, it’s ridiculous ... I get it's ODOT property and stuff like that, and I respect that, but I think it’s just kind of like bulls----,” said Magdeline, who is homeless and addicted to fentanyl. She’s been staying at the camp.
“All of a sudden, we're being like, rampaged by the Portland police,” added Gigi, who also stayed at that camp. Her boyfriend was one of the ones arrested Wednesday morning.
“Apparently, he's just being booked and released,” she said.
Less than an hour after police got there, a city camp removal crew started clearing all the tents and everything inside them, but another group showed up shortly after — with a different mission.
“We're doing a pilot program outreach for Multnomah County and the governor, doing rescue missions,” explained Terry Conner, an outreach worker with Sober Housing Oregon. “We are able to assist them getting detox, immediate beds, and clean and sober housing.”
Shortly after the raid, state, county and city officials announced they were expanding a program that pairs outreach workers with police to try and connect with homeless people struggling with addiction. It’s the latest tactic to come out of the tri-government 90-day fentanyl state of emergency declared in late January.
The first year of the program will cost $683,000. That will cover four outreach workers, a data analyst, a vehicle for the outreach team, and a place to work out of in downtown.
“You know, there's the meth look, and now, there's the fentanyl look,” said Magdeline, who at 20 years old knows both 'looks' well. “I can’t gain weight, ulcers... just like, everything ... and not to mention the infections that you get.” Despite all the pain, though, she declined the outreach worker’s offer for recovery services.
Gigi was the only one at that camp to express interest in getting help, but she wanted to wait for her boyfriend to be released from jail before she moved forward with detox.
“A lot of them have lived this way so long that they're accustomed to it, and they're just afraid of change,” said Conner, who has lived experience with addiction.
Neighbors afraid of being identified said a change can't come soon enough.
“It’s encouraging to see some action taken… it's a step. I don't know how long it will take for it to return,” said one man who’s lived in the neighborhood for nine-and-a-half years.
“We're allowed to go about two blocks. Every two blocks. Every time we're told to move, we just go another two blocks until we're told to move again,” said Gigi.
Gov. Tina Kotek also weighed in on Wednesday on the move to continue pairing outreach workers with police, saying in a statement, “We asked Unified Command to leverage enhanced coordination to break the mold and bring new ideas that can outlast the 90-day emergency … This is a tangible result that has the potential to be a model for other regions. I commend the County, City and all of the partners that made this possible.”
The 90-day fentanyl state of emergency ends at the end of April.