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News Release

Press Conference: Portland Street Response Pilot First Dispatch Day Feb 16 (Photo) - 02/16/21

PRESS CONFERENCE GOING ON AS PLANNED IN-PERSON TODAY

There will be a press conference marking the first day that the Portland Street Response (PSR) team responds to calls.

Who: Mayor Ted Wheeler, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, Portland Fire & Rescue Division Chief Ryan Gillespie (Chief Boone is on vacation), Bureau of Emergency Communications Director Bob Cozzie, and PSR Program Director Robyn Burek.

When: Tuesday, February 16 at 2 pm.

Where: Fire Station 11 in Lents (PSR’s pilot area) 5707 SE 92nd Avenue

The pilot for Portland Street Response (PSR), an innovative non-police response to assist people experiencing houselessness or a behavioral/mental health crisis, hits the streets for the first time on Tuesday, February 16th. Beginning at 10 am, the team will start taking calls dispatched from 911 to offer an alternative to police for people suffering mental and behavioral health challenges.

The team includes a program manager, a firefighter/paramedic, a mental health crisis clinician, and two community health workers. Each team member trained for the past month to prepare for calls. The team has been walking the Lents neighborhood, the pilot location, to introduce themselves to business owners and community members and to explain how they will aid Lents neighbors in crisis.

Lents was designated as the pilot location because it is not supported with many existing resources and services; additionally, the volume of mental and behavioral health calls in Lents is outpacing the growth of similar calls in other parts of the city. The team initially will be available Monday through Friday from 10 am to 6 pm. After six months, a second team will be added to cover the same area and to expand services to nights and weekend. By 2022, the program will ramp up to include more teams and coverage to locations across the city.

“We all agree we need new and better responses to people suffering mental health crises. Portland Street Response embodies and implements that agreement,” said Mayor Ted Wheeler. “People in crisis and people who call 911 will be better served by this new option. Every call the Street Response team answers allows Police to respond to other high priority calls. The launch of Portland Street Response is a win for Portland,” he said. 

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, Portland’s fire commissioner and an early champion of the Portland Street Response concept says: “The community asked for a non-police response to calls that don’t require an armed police officer on site and we’re delivering. I couldn’t be more excited to see this team in action and to learn from this pilot period about how to make this program the best it can be.”

She adds: “It’s rare in modern times for a new branch of a public safety system to be created from scratch. It’s rarer still for a city department to be built by the people who will be beneficiaries of the program. After many months of methodical outreach, consultation, and construction: we’re ready. For community members living on the streets, this program could not come soon enough. People caught in the trap of a criminal justice system that ensnares them for simply trying to survive demand change, neighbors and family members demand change, and the first responders who need to be focused on high-level calls for service demand change. This first step toward change is here.”

Fire Chief Sara Boone says that the fire service has had to be nimble over the years to respond to the ever-changing needs of the community. “Portland Fire & Rescue is proud to help launch Portland Street Response and we’re thankful for the hard work put in by our staff on this vanguard program. We’re excited to learn more from this pilot period and see how this much needed service can serve the whole city. This latest chapter of the first response story is historic, and we thank all of our partners who joined together to make this moment happen.”

Media:

We are not offering ride-alongs at this time but we are supplying B-roll of the team doing outreach in Lents here: https://vimeo.com/511731483

All media must wear masks and space themselves six-feet apart while on City property.

An ASL interpreter will be on site and we ask all tv stations to please include the interpreter in their footage.

Attached Media Files: PSR team doing outreach in Lents, PSR team training,

Press Conference: Portland Street Response Pilot First Dispatch Day Feb 16 (Photo) - 02/16/21

PRESS CONFERENCE GOING ON AS PLANNED IN-PERSON TODAY

There will be a press conference marking the first day that the Portland Street Response (PSR) team responds to calls.

Who: Mayor Ted Wheeler, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, Portland Fire & Rescue Division Chief Ryan Gillespie (Chief Boone is on vacation), Bureau of Emergency Communications Director Bob Cozzie, and PSR Program Director Robyn Burek.

When: Tuesday, February 16 at 2 pm.

Where: Fire Station 11 in Lents (PSR’s pilot area) 5707 SE 92nd Avenue

The pilot for Portland Street Response (PSR), an innovative non-police response to assist people experiencing houselessness or a behavioral/mental health crisis, hits the streets for the first time on Tuesday, February 16th. Beginning at 10 am, the team will start taking calls dispatched from 911 to offer an alternative to police for people suffering mental and behavioral health challenges.

The team includes a program manager, a firefighter/paramedic, a mental health crisis clinician, and two community health workers. Each team member trained for the past month to prepare for calls. The team has been walking the Lents neighborhood, the pilot location, to introduce themselves to business owners and community members and to explain how they will aid Lents neighbors in crisis.

Lents was designated as the pilot location because it is not supported with many existing resources and services; additionally, the volume of mental and behavioral health calls in Lents is outpacing the growth of similar calls in other parts of the city. The team initially will be available Monday through Friday from 10 am to 6 pm. After six months, a second team will be added to cover the same area and to expand services to nights and weekend. By 2022, the program will ramp up to include more teams and coverage to locations across the city.

“We all agree we need new and better responses to people suffering mental health crises. Portland Street Response embodies and implements that agreement,” said Mayor Ted Wheeler. “People in crisis and people who call 911 will be better served by this new option. Every call the Street Response team answers allows Police to respond to other high priority calls. The launch of Portland Street Response is a win for Portland,” he said. 

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, Portland’s fire commissioner and an early champion of the Portland Street Response concept says: “The community asked for a non-police response to calls that don’t require an armed police officer on site and we’re delivering. I couldn’t be more excited to see this team in action and to learn from this pilot period about how to make this program the best it can be.”

She adds: “It’s rare in modern times for a new branch of a public safety system to be created from scratch. It’s rarer still for a city department to be built by the people who will be beneficiaries of the program. After many months of methodical outreach, consultation, and construction: we’re ready. For community members living on the streets, this program could not come soon enough. People caught in the trap of a criminal justice system that ensnares them for simply trying to survive demand change, neighbors and family members demand change, and the first responders who need to be focused on high-level calls for service demand change. This first step toward change is here.”

Fire Chief Sara Boone says that the fire service has had to be nimble over the years to respond to the ever-changing needs of the community. “Portland Fire & Rescue is proud to help launch Portland Street Response and we’re thankful for the hard work put in by our staff on this vanguard program. We’re excited to learn more from this pilot period and see how this much needed service can serve the whole city. This latest chapter of the first response story is historic, and we thank all of our partners who joined together to make this moment happen.”

Media:

We are not offering ride-alongs at this time but we are supplying B-roll of the team doing outreach in Lents here: https://vimeo.com/511731483

All media must wear masks and space themselves six-feet apart while on City property.

An ASL interpreter will be on site and we ask all tv stations to please include the interpreter in their footage.

Attached Media Files: PSR team doing outreach in Lents, PSR team training,