[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6518441,"mediaKeyId","5392375-6de405dfa58946d6901fae7510cf455e","parentId",5392375,"title","Portland funds three PBEM positions aimed at updating plans, expanding training and improving alerting","audioSeconds",813,"startMs",632000,"endMs",1445000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5392375-6de405dfa58946d6901fae7510cf455e&start=632&end=1445","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5392375-6de405dfa58946d6901fae7510cf455e/thumbnail_632000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6518441/Portland/Multnomah-County/Oregon/Portland-funds-three-PBEM-positions-aimed-at-updating-plans-expanding-training-and-improving-alerting","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6518441-da1fdfd8e48b94faae7cdda1461cd87f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771118372&Signature=SRh6W3dbgT-E7iRPdyTWAClLM1jiFfIEdHf2TPGh-~uJdeh1ch3q9ySLwn2PPnQSJdUWIL8c~DgLCRMztfmI9gcvs8Dwfbkk-TEy5BnFODunP9iQaymXzhnX8DO5a9MVlfWli6A5UF4Z8ftOtWhAXB84B5AuSvp~OJuSC-vqcQv9W80gGf0xi5RGRQy5rtGXh0LaFgeDICg5ZTvVOgK9066pOHBn5-9zUuwA0Br1rXCq4iDzMjFKgjy-YEnOOkoUPR23dYr2~Z0WUSSdYl7~HohaxQZfVzuL1k9UbD76z8pCZIiPJKeWbV7iuY8Eqpfdbhonx8ZFK0QF2YAhSOV0Gg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City Council of Portland, OR","date","2025-07-15T23:13:04.673Z","article","Portland’s Community and Public Safety Committee on July 15 heard details about how three newly funded positions will be used at the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management to update emergency operations plans, expand training and exercises, and manage the city’s alert and warning systems.

The bureau’s chief resilience officer, Richard Narwal, told the committee the additions are intended to address critical capability gaps identified in an internal assessment that benchmarks bureau programs against Emergency Management Accreditation Program standards. \"Many of the plans that we currently have are out of date and require substantial revisions,\" Narwal said, and the new planner will focus on revising the city’s basic emergency operations plan and other operational guidelines.

PBEM presented the hires as a targeted step to make progress on multiple functional areas of emergency management: operational planning, training and exercise, and communications and warning. The city budget added roughly $483,000 to support two full-time positions the council authorized; a third position was in the mayor’s proposed budget, Narwal said. The bureau said the new training position will expand what it now runs at about 0.2 full-time equivalent into a full program to credential staff and exercise updated plans under National Incident Management System and National Qualification System standards.

PBEM officials emphasized the hires will not instantly close all gaps. Narwal said the alert-and-warning position will \"manage city’s emergency management alert and warning operations,\" including current systems such as Everbridge and coordination on state alerting templates, but he cautioned: \"We still will not have a 24 7 capacity to issue an alert. It's a position that will help us maintain the program better.\" He added that the hiring process will take a minimum of four months and could take four to six months before candidates start.

Council members asked for clarification about what would be required to move the bureau from a critical (red) rating on some functions toward an operational (yellow) level. Chris Carey, PBEM’s preparedness and response manager, said incident management improvements will require additional staff and administrative systems. Carey said, in rough terms, \"at least four to five positions\" would be needed in operations to reach a comfortably functional incident management level and that an ultimate green rating for a city the size of Portland would likely include a 24/7 watch capability.

Committee members and PBEM staff said the three positions were a partial recovery from years of cuts: the bureau’s internal exercise identified roughly 50 or more positions needed to fully restore capabilities, and the three positions represent a fraction of that total. Narwal said the bureau will use EMAP standards as a long-term benchmark and will report progress to the council.

PBEM provided a timeline and a side-by-side assessment showing where the bureau expects improvement by June 2027 in the functional areas funded by the positions. The bureau also said its work on the City’s continuity planning is unlikely to be a first priority for the new planner, because several higher-priority operational plans already need revision.

Committee Chair Christopher Kanal praised the comparative slide format and said the staffing topic will return to committee as hiring and program development proceed.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Portland City Council Community & Public Safety Committee 07/15/25","oneSentenceSummary","Portland’s Community and Public Safety Committee on July 15 heard details about how three newly funded positions will be used at the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management to update emergency operations plans, expand training and exercises, and manage the city’s alert and warning systems.","taxTitle","Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon","taxId",2765,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6518435,"Committee refers Portland Police Bureau 2024 annual report to full council amid calls for clearer racial-disparity and use-of-force data",4090,2089000,6179000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5392375-6de405dfa58946d6901fae7510cf455e&start=2089&end=6179","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5392375-6de405dfa58946d6901fae7510cf455e/thumbnail_2089000.jpg","/articles/6518435/Portland/Multnomah-County/Oregon/Committee-refers-Portland-Police-Bureau-2024-annual-report-to-full-council-amid-calls-for-clearer-racial-disparity-and-use-of-force-data","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6518435-7b784970c221c849cbb28c0dfb5cd9af/orig.mp4?Expires=1771118372&Signature=ZY0G3uVBo8vKpzkGgehts6TNhGB3THhHmR80cMRKOItD5WBsKwdDTJ-2wFnqszyqd3TlEUZlFr9R7IkNQYzqSdAtnADLar54NvfoEtPWTVy0O3CiKadcBGLr41XDzY9Ks4EXhIGiajXOuRJgqtKstAwab5zNjratb7Qvga6a5vbWKBONt~Nn2EtCTwTC28zRQjKmsxWSFYWCho4a~fokN3Gs0qQjd5HDwS2ALTRK1V0YMZcU4ccaON9TfBy2iKn0CMKSXF40GwSc0x0rrzkvDjD7avRTJMnLIMmOq3cEnRleXAdGeDKO8N4Qjsnrsf2kSoZKvVKoXg7TSN1mJBvYCQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Community and Public Safety Committee voted July 15 to refer the Portland Police Bureau’s 2024 annual report to full City Council for consideration after hearing a presentation from bureau leaders and public testimony urging greater transparency on race and use-of-force data.

Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan presented the report, saying the bureau has focused in recent years on \"transforming the dynamic between the police and the people we serve, reducing crime and the fear of crime, and organizational growth and development.\" The report highlights operational changes in 2024 — including the full deployment of body-worn cameras, expanded community engagement and data-driven enforcement missions — and statistical changes such as a 22% decline in shooting incidents from the prior year and a 12% decrease in reported property crimes.

The bureau also reported operational details and metrics: it recorded 209,000 calls for service in 2024 and said use-of-force incidents occurred in 0.17% of those calls. The presentation noted six uses of deadly force in 2024 (three fatal, three non-fatal), one in-custody death, and the bureau’s stated practice of providing video from recent deadly-force incidents within 14 days where appropriate. Assistant Chief McMillan said investigators and the district attorney’s office reviewed the deadly-force events.

McMillan and precinct commanders described reductions in some crime categories, highlighted seizure of more than 1,400 firearms in 2024 (a 17% increase from the prior year), and outlined mission-based policing that bureau leaders said contributed to declines in vehicle theft and other offenses. The bureau said staffing remains a challenge: it hired four sworn members and 35 professional staff in 2024, processed roughly the same number of separations, and reported about 87 vacancies at the time of the presentation. The bureau also reported increased recruitment activity in 2025, with higher monthly applicant averages and nearly 90 officers in training.

A recurring point of committee and public questioning centered on the bureau’s stops data and its choice of benchmarks. PPB’s strategic services division uses an \"injury collision\" benchmark and a crime-victimization benchmark, rather than a straight population benchmark, to analyze whether groups are overrepresented in stops. Several council members and community speakers said that choice is confusing and urged PPB to present stop data in additional formats — including veil-of-darkness analysis or simple population comparisons — to make disparities easier for the public to interpret.

Public commenters pressed for more data in the written annual report itself. Adelia Zuckerman (identified in testimony as a PSUP co-chair) and other witnesses urged the committee to include stop-data analyses in the document and to provide fuller explanation of how benchmarks are selected. Portland Copwatch and the Mental Health Alliance said the annual report lacked expected detail on discipline and internal-affairs outcomes and urged greater attention to deaths in custody and the needs of people experiencing behavioral health crises.

After public testimony the committee took a procedural vote. Councilor Christopher Kanal moved to refer the report to the full council; Councilor Smith seconded. The referral passed 3–1 with one member absent. Councilor Susana Murillo voted no and cited concerns that the report did not adequately address racial disparities and use-of-force accountability.

The bureau said it will present the document to full council, noting the requirement under a Department of Justice settlement agreement to move the report through the public process. Committee members said they expect follow-up briefings on clearance rates, more detailed stop-data presentations and additional information about deaths in custody and internal-affairs conclusions in future sessions.

","The Community and Public Safety Committee voted July 15 to refer the Portland Police Bureau’s 2024 annual report to full City Council. Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan presented crime and staffing statistics, including implementation of body-worn cameras and a decline in shootings; public commenters and council members urged clearer stop-data","actionData","errors"]

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Portland funds three PBEM positions aimed at updating plans, expanding training and improving alerting

Committee refers Portland Police Bureau 2024 annual report to full council amid calls for clearer racial-disparity and use-of-force data