An encampment in the Glenfair Neighborhood that has been plagued by violence was the target of a search warrant this week, where arrests were made and connections to services were offered.
On the morning of Tuesday, February 13th, East Precinct Neighborhood Response Team (NRT), combined with East Precinct officers, the Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) served a search warrant at two adjoining vacant lots located at 46 Northeast 148th Avenue and 23 Northeast 151st Avenue. The location, privately owned vacant lots, has been subject to numerous community-based calls for service including open drug use complaints, assaults, and two recent shootings.
One shooting involved at least 2 dozen shots fired on the evening of January 28, 2024, no one was reported hurt. However, on the evening of January 30, 2024, a man was shot twice. Officers applied a tourniquet to stop bleeding before the man was transported to the hospital by ambulance. He was seriously hurt but survived. SERT and CNT were involved due to the information that there were people armed with guns.
Working with the neighborhood Deputy District Attorney from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office, a Multnomah County judge signed a search warrant for the location. On-scene, 30 people were contacted, identified, and given notices of trespass from the property.
Twelve people were taken into custody on active arrest warrants ranging from Robbery in the First Degree to Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree. Some were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC), others were served citation-in-lieu-of-custody (in cases where the warrant specified a citation was to be issued with a new court date).
Officers estimated up to 20 people were not identified as they ran away from the property once police arrived on scene. Also on scene were multiple services including housing outreach resources with the City of Portland and Multnomah County’s Street Services Coordination Center. All 30 people were offered service referrals. Eight indicated an interest in assistance.
The owners of the property are committed to developing the location into housing and are currently working with the city for permitting purposes.
The warrant service is not the end of the effort. East Precinct has already done multiple follow-up patrols, and made at least 2 additional arrests. One was for Criminal Trespass in the First Degree for returning to the property. Another was arrested on a nationwide extraditable U.S. Marshals felony warrant.
