Safety Committee
Instructions on how to report illegal camping to the city can be found here.
A contact list of city officials for sending letters of concern can be found here.
All of the monthly Safety Committee Tips & Resources can be found here.
The City's Crime Prevention page also has many specific safety documents.
LNA Safety Summit: May 17, 2022, 7:00 pm
The recent LNA Safety Survey revealed anger, frustration and fear regarding the perceived decline in safety and livability of Laurelhurst. We hear you. The LNA Safety Committee has found city representatives who can answer your concerns and provide knowledge and tips to enhance your safety. Due to the volume and complexity of these issues, one meeting is not sufficient. Topics covered at the LNA meeting, May 10th include problems with 911, Fire Bureau response and parking enforcement.
The Safety Summit, May 17th will focus on police response, encounters with people suffering mental health crisis and crime prevention. Our guest speakers will be Matt Jacobsen, Neighborhood Response Team Sargent, Police Officer Chase Bryson with the Behavioral Health Unit and crime prevention specialists. We encourage all to gather with neighbors both nights and learn what we can do to reduce crime and fear in our beloved neighborhood. The Safety Summit is Tuesday, May 17th at 7 PM at the Laurelhurst Club, 3721 SE Ankeny Street.
By TJ Tunley, LNA Safety Chair, 2022
Safety Zone Ordinance & Letter of Support
The Laurelhurst Public Safety Committee has spent substantial time and effort in creating the Safety Zone Ordinance
regarding unlawful camping near places children congregate. Please read the ordinance here. After reading the
ordinance, you can download a letter of support, copy and paste (adding your name and address at the bottom) and
then send to Mayor Wheeler and all of our City commissioners.
Join the Laurelhurst Foot Patrol - We now have a trained group of volunteers patrolling our neighborhood. They are recruiting additional volunteers. Click here to learn more.
Reporting Unlawful Camping
Significant and sustained public pressure, not just from the LNA but also from as many Laurelhurst residents as possible, will be required to cause the city to address this problem. We encourage all Laurelhurst residents to report tent and vehicle camping to the City as often as possible, even daily. The more reports, the higher priority the city assigns to the problem.
The One Point of Contact online form is the primary way to report tent and vehicle camping.
You can also report illegal camping activity to phone number 503-823-4000 and via email (reportpdx@portlandoregon.gov).
Please also write or call your elected officials, in particular Mayor Ted Wheeler (mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov and 503-823-4127) and Commissioner Hardesty who manages PBOT (joann@portlandoregon.gov).
Finally, Foot Patrols for Laurelhurst are being organized, you can learn more by contacting Mark Wells and reading about the program here.
Please send me your feedback and questions.
- Teresa Browning, LNA Safety Chair
Update May, 2017
Addressing Safety Issues in Laurelhurst
As unlawful campsites grow throughout the Laurelhurst neighborhood, so do the concerns of our residents. Homelessness is a complex problem. The solution is equally complex. The Laurelhurst Safety Committee has been hard at work for months meeting with city, county and state agencies, and sorting out the complaints, problems, players and possible solutions. Last month, Marc Jolin, Director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services, gave us an update on current homeless population trends in Multnomah County. The committee heard a very detailed assessment of the causes and the resources needed to address the homeless crisis. Marc emphasized that the number one complaint heard by the mayor is the negative impact of the homeless on neighborhoods. We have the Mayor’s attention. Keep making those reports to One Point of Contact.
Marc reminded us it is budget time for both the county and the city. He mentioned two critical underfunded areas that could help with our neighborhood’s homeless issues, public safety presence and cleanup resources. Currently the city funds only two trucks, each manned with two workers, for all the homeless camp cleanups. This is woefully short of what is needed! An increase in funding is vital to cleaning up all parts of Laurelhurst adversely affected by homelessness. An increase in public safety presence would mean funding more park rangers and reinstating and increasing homeless outreach police officers. Presently there are only two in Portland and they are assigned only to downtown.
Budget time is now so this is time sensitive. We encourage all residents to call or email our city and county commissioners and the mayor to demand more funding for these badly needed resources to address this issue.
The Laurelhurst Safety Committe is pursuing several avenues for both long-term and short-term solutions. Short-term solutions such as "No Parking between 10pm and 5am" signs posted in problem areas are under consideration. Hardscaping, such as rocks, planter boxes and/or bike racks to prevent tents are currently being investigated by the committee.
Suggested long-term solutions are both broad and time consuming, but the committee is willing to roll up their sleeves and go for it!This is a big project and the committee has reached out to other neighborhoods and SEUL to build a citywide coalition. The response from those contacted has been positive. Committee member and LNA Treasurer Mike Dubinsky has drafted guiding principles regarding neighborhoods and city engagement on homeless issues. A key provision of this document requires the city to get inputfrom neighborhood associations prior to implementing any homeless initiative within the neighborhood. Others are working on adraft ordinance prohibiting camping within 1,000 feet of a park, school, or playground.
The litany of complaints regarding needles, syringes, drug dealing, violence, toxic waste and human excrement has motivated us to think BIG! The creation of “safe spaces” is being pursued in response to your concerns about our children’s safety. Banning camping at and around playgrounds and parks, and effective enforcement on both public and private property, is the goal. We will need outreach to other neighborhood associations, and neighborhood and business coalitions. Everyone can help keep reporting safety concerns to the city and contact the LNA Safety Committee via email to report specific problem areas in Laurelhurst.
Whenever possible, include photos of illegal behavior or safety issues. Send reports to Teresa Browning.
LNA Communication with City of Portland
On February 22nd, the LNA sent a letter to City of Portland Officials, alerting them to our concerns regarding homelessness and public safety and how we would like to work with the City to curb this problem in our neighborhood.