Portland City Council Community & Public Safety Committee 06/02/26

The Portland City Council Community & Public Safety Committee met on June 2, 2026, to discuss several public safety initiatives. Key procurement-related discussions included a detailed presentation on the Portland Ceasefire gun violence reduction strategy, highlighting coordination among law enforcement and community organizations to reduce shootings through focused intervention and community violence prevention. The committee also reviewed a public safety call allocation study recommending the reallocation of approximately 14,000 welfare check calls annually from the Portland Police Bureau to Portland Street Response (PSR), aiming to improve response times and resource deployment. This transition involves significant staffing, training, and labor negotiations, with a phased implementation over several years. Additionally, the committee considered an ordinance to add a psychedelic health and safety code and establish the Portland Psychedelic Advisory Commission, which would prioritize law enforcement resources away from non-commercial personal use of natural psychedelics and create an advisory body to guide policy and education. Public testimony supported the ordinance, emphasizing harm reduction and community health benefits. The discussions included considerations of budget impacts, training needs, and inter-agency collaboration for these initiatives.