Business Owners Protest as Crime Spirals Out of Control in Portland

Frustrated business owners are reportedly now urging city and county authorities to do more to address escalating property crime in Portland Oregon as crime continues to spiral out of control in the left-leaning west coast city.

According to Portland Police Bureau data, property crime increased 16% between January and October of this year compared to the same time in 2021.

Shaoul recognized Multnomah County’s public defender shortfall, which has resulted in the dismissal of hundreds of cases. She is, however, tired of “opportunist criminals” shamelessly vandalizing and burglarizing companies.

Entrepreneurs are also reportedly facing an uphill struggle to stay in business in the face of the pandemic, riots, growing crime, and the ever-present homeless issue, according to Katherine Sealy, owner of Event Cosmetics.

Despite Portland’s historic anti-police rallies, Sealy, Shaoul, and other shop owners and citizens said they’d want to see more law enforcement personnel on the streets.

According to PPB data, police response times reached levels not seen in at least a decade, with the average high-priority call taking more than 20 minutes for a response in October.

During the same month, medium-priority calls waited an average of more than 51 minutes.

This year, one clothes business was forced to permanently shutter following its 15th break-in.

The business posted the following message on its door after the owners decided they had had enough: “Our city is in peril. Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business, in our city’s current state. We have no protection, or recourse, against the criminal behavior that goes unpunished.”