Posted on 08/07/2023 7:07:15 AM PDT by SJackson
For several years, Portland was the pinnacle of artistic community. Its oddball style appealed to many and drew thousands to the city. There was even a comedy series, Portlandia, that celebrated its diversity.
But…those days are gone. And you can blame anyone that supported the “defund the police” campaign.
A new report from Fox News reveals that the city, which was one the “crown jewel of the West Coast,” has now fallen into hard times, mainly due to rising crime within the communities.
In fact, police data shows that crime has dramatically increased over that of other states – including Chicago and New York.
Speaking with Fox News, Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton explained, “Each area has different challenges, but what we’re seeing in the metro area is absolutely rising crime.”
Spread across Multnomah County, Washington County and Clackamas County, the crime has reached astronomical levels, forcing both citizens and businesses to flee elsewhere.
“The increases that we’re seeing are nothing like the increases that we’re seeing in our neighbors,” Barton explained.
“What’s happening is with our de-carceration and elimination of bail culture, we’ve got all these people running around,” Kristin Olson, a trial attorney and host of the Rational in Portland podcast, added. “And it’s really scary because we also have this anti-police culture.”
So how did it come to this? It’s simple – Portland succumbed to those rioters that believed defunding the police would be the answer.
You may recall this heinous campaign that launched in 2020, following the death of George Floyd. Thousands got the insane idea that taking funding away from the police would be the definitive answer for his death, and would make this nation great.
But what happened from the fallout of that? Thousands of officers have left their jobs, either by retirement, simply being tired of their job or, in some extreme cases, suicide; millions of dollars have gone into other campaigns that have since failed to launch off the ground; and some politicians have become jaded, still believing that police officers are the problem even as their cities erupt into criminal chaos.
The biggest thing, however? The rise in criminal activity. It’s ravaged a lot of cities over the past couple of years, including Denver, Los Angeles and several others. And yet, these politicians still don’t have an answer when the clear one is sitting right in front of their faces – restore the police budget.
Oregon State Police data made it very clear that crime is increasing due to a lower police presence, with an increase over nine percent compared to the previous year.
So…why aren’t city officials doing anything about it? Because they refuse to admit that they’re wrong. They refuse to admit that “defunding the police” was the incorrect answer. Even as their Portland-based businesses fall apart and citizens move away for greener pastures, towards people that actually care about them.
It doesn’t help that President Biden is twiddling his thumbs as well. A while back – sorry, a long while back – he vowed to “fund the police” with a new campaign, after months of supporting “defund the police.” But you might notice that there’s been nothing introduced to Congress or the Senate, despite the best efforts of our Republicans to get something going. (You can thank the middling Democrats who still believe in “defunding the police” for that.)
Something needs to be done. Someone in the Biden administration (or perhaps someone who actually cares about what’s happening) needs to take a closer look at Portland and let it serve as an example of what will happen to these states if they don’t give the police the proper support they deserve. Otherwise, I fear where the next turn in this country will take. Imagine every city ending up the way that Portland is. Scary thought, isn’t it?
My heart goes out to the police working in the streets of Portland, as well as the citizens and businesses that continue to support them. They’re fighting a good fight when the people that can actually get anything done refuse to. And that has to be the most frustrating aspect of all.
Michael Letts is the Founder, President, and CEO of InVest USA, a national grassroots non-profit organization that is helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs. He also has over 30 years of law enforcement experience under his belt, hence his pro-police stance for his brothers and sisters in blue.
The worst part is, the people who voted for this s___t simply pack up and move to another city to turn it into a wasteland.
I’ll say it again. We need a national holiday just for cops.
Need a new TV Show....Idiots of Portland. (It is very sad...I once lived in Portland)
Going for a weekend next month for a wedding. Can’t wait.
How's that for hard-hitting analysis? Just peel the onion one layer and you will find a City Council filled with radical socialists, communists and other assorted far-left wingers who radically cut police funding. That, combined with very attractive ultra-liberal policies that attract bums and druggies and decriminalization of dope made Portland the perfect toxic stew to create a totally lawless city.
I am constantly amazed that citizens and city politicians are so brain-dead that they cannot forecast the outcomes of their misguided policies. Every normal person who can connect Cause and Effect saw this coming.
Will the pendulum EVER swing back to law and order, getting rid of Soros DAs, the police busting heads, mass arrests, making drugs illegal, building prisons, tough sentences and long incarcerations?
This crap is why I don’t want to hear anything about Trump’s personality or anything else. We need a leader at the top and fast.
Vigilantism may be just around the corner.
... and when you point this out to other Democrat/Communists who have moved into your town they become highly offended ... especially when you tell them to leave their Democrat/Communist Party “values” behind so as not to destroy their new home.
Americans are getting what they deserve. Good and hard.
I never understood that sentiment — especially after the COVID fiasco when those cops dutifully obeyed orders from their Nazi leaders to enforce totalitarian lockdowns and mandates.
And the parasites invading our country are loving it.
Why is this a FED problem?
If the local and state gov refuse to do anything to fix it? then why is the up to the feds?
As the saying goes, “You get the gov you deserve and vote for.”
If the voters keep voting for these people. This is obviously the way they WANT portland to be.
*We need a national holiday just for cops.*
*I never understood that sentiment — especially after the COVID fiasco when those cops dutifully obeyed orders from their Nazi leaders to enforce totalitarian lockdowns and mandates.*
It’s simple. The people need to appreciate the cops more. Those who stand on the sidelines while the SHTF are the problem.
Unfortunately, when it's time to pay the Piper, these people move to a red state and continue to vote blue.
> Vigilantism may be just around the corner. <
And that’s when the city will crack down. On the vigilantes, that is.
Remember that Sikh worker who recently beat a thief in Stockton, California?
He’s now under police investigation for possible assault charges.
I’ll bet you a dollar that when he called about shoplifters in the past, the cops were too busy to show up. But they will certainly find the time to arrest him.
I don't think the politicians are the least bit surprised. I think it is their intention.
This is a fluffy look at Portland or substitute Seattle, both are the same. The author skips over the real problem, communists, by calling Portland “the pinnacle artistic community” nonsense.
Portland and Seattle are not artistic communities, they’re filthy hotbeds of radical communist agitprop’s. No amount of flowery spin can illustrate it any other way.
Trustafarian’s rule the downtown core of dystopian Portland, Seattle too. Their rhetoric attracts the attention of every undereducated angry Godless mentally deficient reprobate, and stupid aging hippie Hipsters too, worldwide to come to their utopia.
I for one think we should sequester these cities and encourage more communistic migration to both Portland and Seattle and let them enjoy their dystopian utopia while most of Oregon, Washington and the rest of the sane world can watch, wonder and be thankful they are there and we are not. Of course, there should be no way out if you commit to those places.
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