Old Town drug sting take a swipe at dealers, users

Portland Police, business groups hail effort, warn about the future

By Daniel Savickas

LocalNewsDaily.com, Nov 20, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (13 Reader comments)

Portland police and the Downtown Public Safety Action Committee Tuesday morning hailed a recent Old Town drug enforcement effort, but warned that a lack of officers would make similar efforts difficult in the future.

A two-week undercover drug sting operation during September in the several-block area north of Burnside Street resulted in 68 felony warrants issued for suspected drug dealers. A separate two-week “zero-tolerance for criminal activity” in November turned up 158 arrests, 34 citations, six warnings and five park exclusions.

Officers from all five city precincts participated in the sting.

Portland Police Bureau Commander Mike Reese said Old Town had seen a significant increase in drug trafficking, possibly due to bus mall construction and other downtown construction, which pushed drug dealers and buyers into the area around Northwest Third and Fourth avenues and Couch and Davis streets.

Reese said the mission was a result of numerous reports from district officers and downtown neighborhood and business groups warning that area drug trafficking was on the rise.

He warned, however, that since the city dropped Old Town’s drug-free zone designation, the Police Bureau could have a hard time mounting a similar sting.

“We can’t sustain this enforcement effort,” Reese said, calling the drug-free zones “effective tools to keep people out of small geographical areas.” “We need community support with this.”

One reason that enforcement efforts could be curtailed is staffing problems, he said. The Police Bureau is still trying to fill 50 open positions.

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