South Parks blocks residents welcome Portland drug missions

Brandon Thompson
·2 min read
4

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — For the people living in the neighborhood between the South Park blocks and I-405, walking around doesn’t feel that safe between the mess, the assaults, the fires and the drug problems.

“I’ve never seen someone pistol-whipped until I moved to Portland,” resident Daniel Deveau told KOIN 6 News. “There are people who just burn their trash. … The open use of hard drugs and the sale of hard drugs has just been really crazy.”

Daniel Deveau is a longtime resident in the South Parks blocks in Portland, February 12, 2024 (KOIN)
Daniel Deveau is a longtime resident in the South Parks blocks in Portland, February 12, 2024 (KOIN)

Another resident, Rebecca, said there is “urinating and defecating in our public park … I’m very aware of it. You see it on the PSU campus, people shooting up.”

She added, “I can’t live here much longer like this.”

Deveau agreed. “I have never seen it like I have the last few months.”

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Both people have lived in the area for about 10 years and both reached out to KOIN 6 News after the neighborhood’s problems were highlighted last Friday.

That day, KOIN 6 News witnessed an emergency abatement because of problems in the area. On this day, just one block south, rapid response teams were cleaning up more tents.

“Those weren’t there yesterday,” Deveau said.

Last week Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office said Portland police and the Oregon State Police have been patrolling the area. PPB officials told KOIN 6 News they’re targeting the area around the Safeway on drug dealing missions, including one from Saturday, because it’s one of the latest hot spots in the city.

Three people were arrested for distribution of a controlled substance, including fentanyl and meth, authorities said.

PPB Officer Jerry Cioeta said drug dealers are “continually changing what they’re doing. They’re changing locations, they’re changing how they’re doing their drug deals. So, when they change, we change, too.”

Deveau hopes more of these drug dealing missions happen.

“Unfortunately, there needs to be persistent attention to this,” he told KOIN 6 News.

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