PORTLAND, Ore. — The City of Portland is working with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform as part of a new "Portland Ceasefire" plan to reduce gun violence through expanded outreach programs and individual interventions.
At a press conference Thursday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler outlined a new organizational structure for Portland's Office Violence Prevention, Community Safety Division, Police Bureau, city leaders and community groups.
The "Portland Ceasefire" model is designed to identify people who are at the highest risk of being victims or perpetrators of gun violence, connect with them, and offer services, intervention and support.
The initiative includes the "Cure Violence" model and funding for community organizations and street level outreach programs, as KGW outlined in a report on May 4.
Portland is paying the nonprofit NICJR $437,600 for a year of training, consulting and review.
"The strategies that I’ve just outlined are the best ones for right now that we believe can make the biggest impact in reducing gun violence in the near term," said Wheeler.
Wheeler also announced the city will not move forward with gunshot detection technology proposals, citing a lack of police resources and a prioritization of community outreach work.
He said the "Portland Ceasefire" model is better equipped to deal with the city's gun violence issues right now.
Portland's number of homicides to date in 2023 is similar to this time last year, although the total number of shootings is down.
When asked whether an overall reduction in gun violence is reflective of national trends, Wheeler said regardless he believes this is the right approach.
"I firmly believe whether the data is going in the right direction or the wrong direction that we have an obligation to act at the local level with the best information that we have, with the strategies we believe will show the best results," he said.
Portland is using $4.5 million over the next two years to fund street level outreach workers through the 'Cure Violence' model — a public health approach to reducing gun violence.
Portland Police Bureau Chief Chuck Lovell also spoke at the press conference, sharing that officers on the Focused Intervention Team have collected more illegal guns so far in 2023 than they did in all of 2022
.