Sheriff reports 2025 service data as council weighs trimmed contract

Nicole Morrissey O'Donnell, Multnomah County sheriff, told the Troutdale City Council on May 26 that the sheriff's office values its long-running contract with the city and remains committed to public safety services for residents.

"I am proud of the work of our MCSO members and what they do for our Troutdale community every single day," Morrissey O'Donnell said as she introduced a report on the full-service law enforcement model the county provides.

Chief Deputy Lance Hemsworth walked council through operational data for calendar year 2025. "In 2025, MCSO handled 2,644 calls for service within the city of Troutdale," Hemsworth said, and he added breakdowns for how those calls were handled: thousands of dispatches and self-initiated activities, 516 criminal offense calls, and 440 arrests tied to those calls. Hemsworth also described one major response: deputies investigated a multiple-victim shooting at the Sandy River Delta on May 30, 2025, that required hundreds of investigative hours and a referral to the district attorney's office.

The presentation highlighted trends Hemsworth said the office uses to deploy staffing and specialty resources, including 34 high-visibility enforcement missions in 2025 that produced 151 arrests and 114 citations, a community outreach team called HOPE that made 224 contacts in Troutdale, and school resource and mentoring activities.

Council members thanked the sheriff's delegation but pushed for more detail on patrol frequency in downtown alleys after local business owners reported repeated thefts and property damage. Saul Pompeo, owner of Restaurante Pompeo, described multiple break-ins and asked, "How often you patrol the back street of the downtown?" Hemsworth replied that deputies are scheduled across three shifts with overlap during busy transition periods and said staff would review specific call volumes and patrol coverage for the area Pompeo identified.

Separately, council and staff discussed budget options for public safety. City manager Mike Weston said the sheriff's office returned with a revised contract proposal that trims roughly four full-time positions, including the community resource deputy, and reduces the previously projected escalator to an annual 6 percent. That proposal, Weston said, preserves 24/7 patrol coverage while lowering the city's near-term cost. Morrissey O'Donnell and Hemsworth emphasized the county's ability to surge specialized resources for critical incidents under the contract.

Councilors and the mayor agreed to a public work session to compare the city's limited-police proposal with the county offer and to gather public input; the council set that work session for June 16 and said it would present apples-to-apples numbers to the public.

The council took no formal vote on a new contract at the meeting; the work session will be used to refine direction and collect community feedback before any formal decision.