Now that winter is about over, it’s time for spring cleaning. This is especially true downtown, where Portland Police are giving it a scrub-down. There’s a cleansing going on!
For the last week or so, police agencies have been focusing on the drug trade in the downtown area. After undercover stings last week, cops moved in and arrested 53 people over the past few days. They have been using the mobile precinct, currently parked at SW 4th & Washington in front of the abandoned City Nightclub. One observer, after witnessing an arrest of nine people in one spot, said, “It looked like it had hailed; there were little crack rocks all over the sidewalk!”
The police have been walking in groups of 4 or 5, and the horse patrols are out. One merchant was told by police that “if you see anything going on, call 911. We want to know.”
A group of officers walked past me last night, very pleasant. I said, “This isn’t the usual gang I see rolling down the street. Something going on?”
One officer said, “Just giving the neighborhood some much-needed love.”
After dark, the mobile precinct disappears and the real fun begins. Saturation patrols move in, bubble-tops rush up and down the mall. Wait for one too many buses? An officer will approach you and ask you what bus you’re taking. If you have an open beer, or a warrant? Congratulations! You now have legal troubles! It’s poetry in motion, watching them zoom back and forth.
I looked through county booking photos, but didn’t see a lot of regulars arrested. (I can only surmise that the locals are smart enough to move their business indoors.) Anyone new trying to work downtown is about to get a civics lesson.
Bottom line, if you’re heading downtown, behave yourself! Do your drugs at home. Do your drinking in bars, or at a friend’s house before you go wandering. And for heaven’s sake, don’t pee in the alleys and parking garages. Do you really want to explain to your boss why you had to go to court for indecent exposure and offensive littering? Community service isn’t fun, those orange vests are so unflattering, and 40 hours of picking up cigarette butts (while everyone you know watches) is humiliating.
But just think, one way or another you’ll be helping clean up downtown. Thank you for your support!
Comments on this entry are closed.