Portland Cops Hand Out Cell Phone Numbers to Homeless
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Photo credit: MBisanz http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sitting,_waiting,_arresting_2.jpg
Police officers in the Portland Police Bureau’s Behavioral Health Unit are taking people to the doctor’s office and the grocery store, for examples, and simply helping them get on their feet.
“They’re really going way, way beyond what the traditional role of a police officer is,” said Lt. Cliff Bacigalupi of the Behavioral Health Unit (BHU).
The BHU was established in 2012 after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found the Portland Police Bureau “engages in a pattern or practice of unnecessary or unreasonable force during interactions with people who have or are perceived to have mental illness.”
The DOJ and the city of Portland came to a settlement agreement in September, ending the civil lawsuit brought by the federal government against the city. A district court judge in August allowed the settlement agreement that requires the city to reform its use of force policies.
Bacigalupi said the BHU is working to improve relationships with people who might be homeless or have mental illnesses and are continually running afoul of the law. He said police officers giving out their cell phone numbers is just one example of how that’s working.
“In the past, where they would use just 911, now they have somebody that they can make contact with,” he said. “In the bigger picture it’s (police officers) becoming somebody steady that they can trust and call on."
Watchdogs of the police department say the changes in community policing are welcome.
“I think the police are trying the best they can to engage people on the street,” said Israel Bayer, Executive Director of Street Roots, a bi-weekly publication that addresses poverty and homelessness.
But Bayer cautioned there’s still room for improvement.
“While we appreciate the police’s efforts to help partner with a variety of groups to get people into housing, we’re always looking at ways to continue to improve police accountability.”
Long Way to Go
It will likely take the city at least five years to meet all the requirements in the settlement with the DOJ, according to court documents.
But Bacigalupi said he thinks the department has already made strides.
“I absolutely believe to the center of my core that we have improved on every level the way that we address people with mental illness, people that are homeless, people that are in crisis,” he said.
All Portland police officers have to sign a statement saying they have read the full DOJ settlement agreement by Oct. 29, police spokesman Pete Simpson said.
It's unclear how many people have received police officers' numbers, Bacigalupi said.
“I hear my folks on the phone constantly with people,” he added.
The BHU consists of about a dozen officers, including three Mobile Crisis Units, in which an officer is paired with a social worker. Additionally, 78 officers act as the Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team. They are trained to respond immediately to incidents involving people who might have a mental health issue.
"There have always been officers who go above and beyond in their commitment to helping the homeless," said Jay Auslander, director of Emergency Services, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, which partners with the police department in dealing with mental health and other cases.
"The creation of the BHU has taken that effort to the next level by providing a structural framework for officers to better organize follow-up for individuals in need.”
The police bureau, Bacigalupi said, would have liked to have done all of this a while ago, but “getting the will to spend money on it in large part came as a result of the DOJ agreement.
“In large part, their job is to take these really complex cases and find a solution,” he said.
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