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Downtown Beaverton business owners urge action after repeated vandalism; sheriff highlights grant and response teams
Summary
Several downtown Beaverton business owners told council about repeated vandalism, threats and broken windows; the sheriff's office highlighted grant funding for cameras and interagency mental‑health response teams as part of a broader strategy.
Beaverton business owners told the City Council during public comment that a series of recent vandalism incidents have endangered employees and damaged storefronts, and they urged more coordinated solutions involving law enforcement, mental‑health services and business support.
"This kind of vandalism, act of vandalism, and in a way terror act against our employees, is not reducing," said Amy Sabirian, who identified herself as the owner of a downtown roastery and bakery. Sabirian described a recent incident in which a person broke and threw decorative rocks into shop windows and said employees had been threatened on other occasions. "I'm worried about the mental ... damage that our employees, while they're working, are experiencing," she said.
Amy's concerns drew support from the local chamber representative, who said the business community is willing to help find solutions. "We're willing to help ... get our business owners together and to get their input into it," the chamber representative said, urging a business forum and more training for crime prevention through environmental design.
Washington County sheriff officials said grants and county programs can help. In response to council questions about vandalism and retail theft, Sheriff Caprice Massey said a county grant allows small and medium businesses to improve lighting, signage and camera coverage and that law‑enforcement partners are working with the district attorney on theft and related grants. Undersheriff John Cook described the county's mental‑health response teams (co‑response teams pairing officers with clinicians) as an earlier example of coordinated services being deployed in the community.
Councilors discussed both enforcement and prevention, noting the need to connect criminal justice interventions with longer‑term solutions such as treatment and shelter transitions. One councilor suggested the new Center for Addiction Triage and Treatment (CATT) will help continuity of care for people moving between community programs and custody. Others urged the city and chamber to increase outreach to downtown businesses about available crime‑prevention services and grants.
Why it matters Business storefront safety affects worker safety, local commerce and perceptions of downtown vitality. Business owners said some incidents involve people with mental‑health or substance‑use problems; council and sheriff's officials discussed both enforcement tools and prevention programs, including grants for cameras and expanded mental‑health response teams.
