The Portland Street Response campaign started with a special report in Street Roots on March 15, 2019. The following list contains that report, together with coverage of the campaign in other media outlets. Most recent articles are at the top.
Also included below are articles from outside Oregon about non-police response to homeless issues, as well as local news before the start of the campaign.
- Portland Mercury: Houseless Portlanders Suggest Mental Health Providers—Not Cops—Respond to Low-Level 911 Calls. Sep 19, 2019.
- Willamette Week: Portland Moves One Step Closer to A More Rational Emergency Response to Homeless People. Sep. 19, 2019.
- The Oregonian: Homeless Portlanders want mental health, crisis support instead of weapons in first responders. Sep 19, 2019.
- OPB Think Out Loud: Report on Homelessness and Portland Street Response. Sept. 19, 2019. (Third segment in the program).
- OPB: Portland Report Highlights Need For New Response To Homeless Emergency Calls. Sept. 19, 2019.
- The Oregonian: If not jail, hospital, then what? Portland aims to dispatch better first responders for some homelessness calls. Sep 14, 2019.
- Portland Mercury: Hall Monitor: Expert Feedback. Aug. 1, 2019.
- KGW8: When should police be present? Street Roots, other groups survey homeless about street response. July 18, 2019.
- KLCC: CAHOOTS At 30 Pt. II: As Services Expand, Other Cities Take Note Of Its Intervention Model. July 3, 2019.
- KGW8: A new answer to 911? Portland could soon send ‘street response teams’ instead of police. May 23, 2019.
- KATU: Portland mayor proposes half a million dollars for homeless response team, May 2, 2019.
- KGW8 Straight talk with Laural Porter: Rethinking how Portland responds to 911 calls about homeless people, March 27, 2019.
- KGW8 with Maggie Vespa: Street Roots pushing ‘Street Response’ teams, March 22, 2019.
- KBOO Voices from the Edge, with Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, March 21, 2019. Host Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty talks to Kaia Sand and Emily Green from Street Roots to discuss changing first responders from our 911 call center.
- OPB Think Out Loud: Street Roots Proposes Crisis Response Plan, March 18, 2019. (Third segment in the program).
- Street Roots special report, March 15, 2019
Local news before the start of the Portland Street Response campaign
- Willamette Week: Portlanders Call 911 to Report “Unwanted” People More Than Any Other Reason. We Listened In. February 6, 2019.
- The Oregonian: Portland homeless accounted for majority of police arrests in 2017, analysis finds. Jun 27, 2018.
Outside Oregon news
- Vox: Calling the cops on someone with mental illness can go terribly wrong. Here’s a better idea. Oakland may send mental health experts, not police, for some 911 calls, Jul 1, 2019.
- CBS 4 Denver: Denver Police Testing Idea Of Civilian Teams Responding To Some 911 Calls, June 10, 2019.
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Wall Street Journal: When Mental-Health Experts, Not Police, Are the First Responders. Program in Eugene, Ore., is viewed as a model for reducing risk of violence. Nov. 24, 2018. (Subscription required to read the full story).