Our Approach to Public Safety
With 1,100 shootings and 93 homicides by the end of November this year, community violence has undeniably become a public health issue in Portland. Crime has risen nationally over the past three years, and Portland is no different. Seeing this rise in 2020, POIC + RAHS now leads a concerted effort towards expanding violence prevention and intervention, taking a community-driven approach to mitigate the harm. Our strategy entails a holistic approach, including partnering with CBOs to provide a village of support. Resources provide for people at-risk and victims of gun violence, a viable career path is mapped out for public safety workers, and credible messengers are employed from within the community to build lasting relationships with vulnerable populations.
When gang violence spiked in the 1990s in Portland, POIC partnered with other community-based organizations to form a united front against the escalating threat—fueled by governmental funding to help reduce crime rates. When the number of homicides and gun-related deaths lowered, the allocated budget for this approach waned, deemed a lesser issue by city leaders. Ultimately, efforts faded, and the united safety net loosened. Without a sustained presence and continuous funding, there was fertile ground for the thorns of generational violence to sprout and ensnare the community again.
Compounded by systemic issues like gentrification and exacerbated by a global pandemic, our city is experiencing another spike in violence. To combat the increase in violence, POIC is resurrecting the Village approach. We’ve engaged in maintaining ongoing support and funding to safeguard against the fluctuating threats of violence. These efforts include growing our Village network of minority-led CBOs, advocating for continuous funding from government agencies, and recruiting dozens of credible messengers to lead the charge against violence in well-paid Public Safety Worker positions.
Reviving the Village:
While POIC Outreach teams were in place before the pandemic, the rise in violence in 2020 brought the need to expand violence prevention and intervention efforts. Our staff stepped up to lead and unite the community, increasing the scope of our work.
Public Safety Village: Bringing the community together
POIC formed the Public Safety Village in the summer of 2021 - an initiative to combat community violence. Eleven grassroots, Black-led organizations, led by individuals impacted by community violence, comprise the Village. By working together, we fill in regional gaps in violence intervention services by providing cognitive behavioral therapy, conflict resolution, recreation opportunities, youth grief and loss support groups, decision-making skill building, and more.
Rosemary Anderson Schools: Keeping youth engaged and off the streets
Our prevention approach for at-risk youth focuses on facilitating access to education, activities, and mental health resources. Students at Rosemary Anderson Schools have access to on-campus professional therapy, trauma-informed staff, and a village of support around them. The Oregonian recently reported, “For students, Rosemary Anderson High School represents stability and safety, a respite from dangerous streets and chaotic home lives, its teachers and staff often doubling as surrogate parents.” This support network includes CHI (Community Healing Initiative), which serves justice-impacted youth who may be on probation or at risk by connecting them to support groups, family healing services, and community activities.
Photo: Beth Nakamura
“For students, Rosemary Anderson High School represents stability and safety, a respite from dangerous streets and chaotic home lives, its teachers and staff often doubling as surrogate parents.”
Expansion in 2022:
Over the past three years, we have revamped our mission for public safety, working with the city of Portland, other nonprofit organizations, and the community to redesign city outreach services. Our approach to violence prevention and intervention is community driven because decreasing violence requires working together. In 2022, we received more funding than ever to expand our outreach initiatives.
Community Care Team: Credible messengers building relationships
The Community Care Team is a street-level “walking resource” for gang-involved/impacted at-risk youth and families. The team provides youth with referrals that promote reconnection to their academic institutions, employment pathways, and social support services navigation. The services are designed to reduce the stressors linked to the high rates of violence and trauma faced by youth of color in their respective communities. Families receive assurance of having their basic needs met, which aids healing. Team members have lived experience and provide effective mentorship and support after a violent incident. They work by the motto, “If hurt people can hurt people, then healed people can heal people.”
Healing Hurt People: Showing up in the darkest moments
This year, the Healing Hurt People team expanded to serve both Legacy Emmanuel and OHSU, offering in-hospital support for victims of violence and their families during traumatic events. HHP team members advocate for patients and help bridge the gap with hospital staff to assist families in navigating the resources needed to recover. These essential public safety workers provide invaluable service to the hospitals, victims, and families they serve. The team helped more than 139 people last year, and 39 victims and families have been relocated to develop a path to safety.
HB4045: Financial empowerment to keep the work alive
This Spring, Governor Kate Brown signed Oregon HB4045, granting funding to POIC for ongoing efforts to prevent gun and community violence, allocating dollars for the Healing Hurt People program, and expanding prevention and intervention endeavors across Oregon. This funding is crucial to maintain the momentum against the rise in violence and will be further distributed in 2023.
It takes The Village
POIC aims to help decrease violence in Portland and maintain the lower levels long-term. Public safety is a public health issue, and we must treat it as one. Solving generational violence demands a dynamic approach, and POIC is committed to adapting and rethinking outreach efforts and developing a certified career path for Public Safety Workers recruited from the highest-risk communities. This strategy will stimulate economic development by creating living wage jobs with growth opportunities within the most disadvantaged populations grappling with the constant threat of violence.
This work must continue. Even if the numbers lower, the cycle of violence should not be allowed to perpetuate. The path to dismantling the injustice that fuels the rise in violence lies in each of us working together.
