PORTLAND, Ore. — As a homeless man in Portland, Tru uses one thing to get by: a methamphetamine pipe. Inside the glass bubble are dark brown swirls — the signs of impurities in the drug, he explained. On Wednesday morning, Tru was smoking meth along the Eastbank Esplanade without fear of being caught by Portland police.
"I'm not too worried about it, to be honest with you," he said.
That's because at the moment, possession of small amounts of hard drugs is not a crime in Oregon. But starting Sept. 1, that's going to change; simple possession will become a misdemeanor, but people who are caught for possession alone, and no other criminal offenses, will be given the option of accepting treatment rather than being sent to jail — a process referred to as "deflection."
Tru sounded skeptical about the plan, declaring that it won't help anyone get into treatment faster.
"I would rather do jail, to be brutally honest, because treatment is — most treatment facilities aren’t worth it," he said.
Multnomah County officials hope to prove him wrong, or at least to show that others may be more willing to give deflection a shot.
At a long-anticipated news conference a few blocks away on Wednesday morning, officials laid out the framework for the county's deflection program, which will begin Sept. 1, the same day that possession becomes a criminal offense. The physical hub of the program is the county's new deflection center at 900 Southeast Sandy Boulevard, where officers will take people who opt for treatment over jail.
It’s still unclear how many people the center will be able to handle at once, and how many times people will be allowed to choose the deflection option if they get repeatedly caught. The timeline for training officers and deputies on the program is also unclear — as of Wednesday, no training has taken place yet, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
"We want to allow people multiple opportunities to get connected to treatment while still maintaining accountability," said Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt.
Once at the center, people will have 30 days to engage in recovery services to avoid future arrest. Engagement could come in multiple forms, according to Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson.
"So, that could be going into housing, that could be getting into detox, that could be getting into their treatment bed they need to positively engage in that," she explained.
"I understand the frustration and the apparent disconnect and misunderstanding that has come across, maybe, in this process," said Portland Police Chief Bob Day.
"There has been criticism about not having a plan, but we are building a deflection system that includes mobile outreach, leverages peer support, and finally creates a drop-off center for law enforcement," added Vega Pederson.
Wednesday's news conference came one day after Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O'Donnell said she would not book people into jail who violate Portland's new restrictions on homeless camping. She stood by that decision when asked Wednesday morning, but a short time later the county's communications team said the news conference would be limited to questions about the deflection center and program.
"At this point, I am standing by that statement in anticipation of having an opportunity to have further conversations with our public safety leaders and the city of Portland to again determine the best pathways forward to support community safety in all of our communities," Morrisey O'Donnell said.
Mayor Ted Wheeler has directed Portland police to cite people who violate the camping ordinance and refer those cases to the DA's office for prosecution. He has expressed concern over whether Morrisey O'Donnell will take a similar approach with illegal drug users in September, even though the new misdemeanor charge is state law rather than a city ordinance.
KGW did not get the chance to ask O'Donnell about that during Wednesday's news conference.