Chief Day says data from comparable cities shows Portland police are understaffed

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland Police Chief Bob Day is advocating for increasing the number of police officers in the Rose City, citing data that he says illustrates that they are understaffed.

In a post on the Portland Police Bureau’s website on Tuesday, Day says he asked analysts to provide data looking at similarly situated cities and PPB’s own historical staffing numbers.

The resulting Projecting Staffing Needs report says PPB would need 1,037 sworn officers to be in line with how robust other cities are staffing their police departments. That’s an increase from PPB’s current number of officers, reported to be 882 in 2023, the report says.

Day says the motivation for wanting to increase officers isn’t purely logistical but stems from what he says is community members voicing their want to have improved relationships with police.

“We must create a healthy agency where its members have time to connect with the community and problem solve—something I have heard repeatedly is needed. Community members want a relationship with their police and that takes resources,” Day says.

The data in the report compiles police staffing numbers from Seattle, Denver, Sacramento, Albuquerque, Fresno, Mesa and Oakland. PPB has the lowest number of sworn officers per 1,000 citizens, at 1.23 in 2023, compared to the other cities. The second-lowest is Seattle, at 1.41 officers per 1,000 people. Denver has the highest ratio, with 2.10 officers per 1,000 people.

“By increasing the number of officers, we can improve community outreach, be more effective and less intrusive with crime reduction strategies, reduce the reliance on overtime, provide a higher level of service and create a work environment where PPB members are thriving,” Day says.

The number of PPB sworn officers from 2021-2023 was lower than in years prior, hovering right around the 880 mark, on average. In previous years, PPB officers stayed consistently in the 900s and sometimes above 1,000, the report says. The data stretches back to 2005 when the number of sworn officers was at a high point of 1,035.

This all comes at a time when police are anticipating an election season that may be very active in terms of demonstrations, and potentially, a return of the civil unrest seen during the presidential elections in 2020 and 2016. On Friday, KOIN 6 News got a behind-the-scenes look at how PPB’s newly re-formed Rapid Response Team is preparing at the police training center in Northeast Portland, including implementing new crowd control shields and practicing formations.

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Danny Peterson

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