PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O'Donnell met Friday to discuss a dispute over enforcement of the city's new anti-camping ordinance, but they came away from the meeting without any major developments or resolution — only an agreement to meet again in two weeks.
The dispute arose last week when the city began enforcing a new camping ban designed to avoid the court challenges that have tripped up earlier efforts. The ban allows police to threaten campers with jail time, but only if there is shelter space available and they refuse an offer of shelter. But when police arrested the first violator under the new policy last Friday and took him to Multnomah County jail, he was cited and released instead of being booked.
Morrisey O'Donnell soon made it clear that as a matter of policy, she does not intend to book anyone "whose only offense is living unsheltered." She added that her office's policy is to lock up people charged with violating Oregon law, but not local ordinances like the city's camping ban.
Wheeler and some of Portland's city commissioners quickly condemned that decision, and there was some back-and-forth about which office was responsible for the misunderstanding. But with no other immediate options available, Wheeler changed course earlier this week and ordered police to issue citations to camping ban violators rather than taking them to jail.
In a joint statement released Friday afternoon, Wheeler and Morrisey O'Donnell said they agreed that "connecting people with services and housing is the best strategy to address homelessness in Portland." They said the sheriff requested additional data about Portland's homeless services and camping enforcement, and her team would review the data before the next meeting in two weeks.
The statement also reiterated that Wheeler has directed police to switch to a policy of issuing citations to campers who violate the ban and referring cases to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.
A document provided to KGW by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office shows that the sheriff's stated booking policy since August 2023 has been to book only for felony and misdemeanor offenses under Oregon law, and that both the sheriff's office and partner agencies "shall not book any individual charged with an offense that is not specified" under the policy.
The Portland Police Bureau's own policy states that officers are only to take people to jail "determined to be bookable by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office."
