Police sergeants in Portland, Oregon, reportedly canceled out dozens of low-priority 911 calls over the summer without contacting the callers to notify them they would not be receiving a law enforcement response.
The city’s police bureau policy requires officers to make contact with those calling 911 and explain to them that officers would not be responding if that is the case, although dozens of closeouts without a call back occurred in July and August, according to the Oregonian/Oregon Live, which filed public records requests about the matter.
Supervisors at the Bureau of Emergency Communications said they were receiving complaints about the dropped calls. Patrick Jones, the client services manager for the BOEC, wrote a memo about the complaints to Director Bob Cozzie in August.
“They are often understandably upset at the delay and become more upset when told PPB has closed their call without action or notification,” Jones told Cozzie.
On Aug. 21 and Aug. 23, dispatch records that the news organizations received indicated that 38 calls were never responded to and were closed out after being placed on hold. Jones wrote that one patrol sergeant told a supervisor at the BOEC that the Police Bureau “was far too busy to make those calls,” in reference to the requirement for officers to contact those who call 911 if they won’t be responding.
“That is certainly true, just as it is true that BOEC is far too busy to make the calls or to receive the inevitable calls from angry complaints wondering why police have not responded,” Jones told Cozzie.
It is unclear exactly what each of the calls that were dismissed were about, as there has reportedly been no full review of the closed-out requests. Capt. Tina Jones said that the Police Bureau was reminded about the callback policy after the summer’s dropped calls.
“It’s always a learning process, and sometimes, things get missed. This was an opportunity to remind everybody of the expectation at the command level,” Jones said. “The key is once it was brought to our attention, we addressed it.”
Chief Chuck Lovell sent a memo to Mayor Ted Wheeler in December that put some of the onus on staffing issues and the protests over the summer, which turned violent in Portland, a hot spot for demonstrations and riots following George Floyd’s death.
Wheeler also expressed concerns after hearing about late response times to calls and requested more information on that matter in November. He told police that while he understood problems arising from staffing shortages, he was “increasingly concerned that priority calls are taking too long to receive a response and that some calls may not be responded to at all, leaving community members without adequate public safety service in Portland.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Portland Police Department and was directed to a Saturday news release that acknowledged that officers are supposed to contact callers if they don’t respond.
“Some calls for service are determined to be informational in nature or not criminal matters,” the statement read. “Patrol supervisors are trained to balance the call load with available resources and in certain cases can cancel the call. There is a procedure for this, and supervisors are tasked with balancing public expectations, Bureau resources, the Bureau’s mission, values, and goals, and dedication to community policing.
“A decision to cancel police response carries with it the obligation to attempt to contact those requesting police services and inform them why there will be no response,” it added.
The response time for calls has decreased since a peak over the summer, when the city was grappling with civil unrest, and in February, more officers will be reassigned to patrol, the release noted.
“Responding when our community calls for help is our core function, and it’s disheartening when we don’t meet expectations,” said Deputy Chief Chris Davis. “I’m encouraged that we’re seeing improved call response despite unprecedented budget and staffing challenges.”
