Portland FINALLY launches crackdown on crime as crimewave rips apart city 

Portland authorities are set to launch a renewed effort to crack down on the blue-run city's out of control crime wave. 

Two new task forces intended to specifically tackle car and retail theft are being prepared by Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt and Democrat Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who have previously been slammed for the city's crime epidemic. 

Portland has one of the worst crime rates in America, with over 63,000 property thefts littering the city over the last year, per official police statistics. 

Schmidt entered office in 2020 as a non-partisan candidate after running on an uber-progressive platform of opposing minimum sentences, avoiding charging juveniles as adults, and using specialty courts as alternatives to prison sentences. Ahead of his re-election bid in 2024, he is seemingly attempting to shake his soft-on-crime image. 

Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt pictured speaking at a press conference in August 2020

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has come under fire for the city's rampant crime wave

In 2020, Portland became one of the first regions in America to fall foul of the 'defund the police' movement, slashing $15 million from its budget. 

The move led Mayor Wheeler to issue a desperate plea to renew the department's funding after it led to a disastrous crime spike. 

But two years on, with rampant crime continuing to rip apart the city including a surge in homelessness and serious offences including homicides and robberies, officials are again attempting to stop the bleeding. 

The twin task forces are expected to be bolstered by the introduction of new deputy DAs and investigators, who are reportedly tasked with building and prosecuting cases, according to Oregon Live. 

However, Portland residents have slammed officials for their lack of effort to prosecute criminals in recent years. 

Schmidt faced severe backlash in 2020 after his decision not to prosecute large numbers of protestors during the BLM riots. Despite demonstrators causing millions in damage, Schmidt said his office would decline to prosecute cases of disorderly conduct, interfering with a peace officer or rioting.

And Portland's population is over three times more likely to be the victim of property crime than the national average, per Neighborhood Scout. 

Faced with accusations of being soft on crime, Schmidt's crackdown on property thefts has reportedly been in the works by Portland authorities for several months. 

However, residents are still reeling from the city's worst year ever for car thefts, with 2022 setting a new record with roughly 11,000 vehicles stolen in the city through the year. 

Crime in Multnomah County, a more populated, progressive region, increased 9 percent last year 

Car theft rates have almost doubled from two years ago, according to Portland Police Bureau data, while prosecution rates have plummeted. 

Theft prosecution referrals by police in Multnomah County, which includes Portland in its constituency, have continuously declined in each of the last three years. 

In 2019, roughly 3,100 thefts were referred to prosecutors, compared with just 900 sent by police in 2022. 

Schmidt's public attempt to prosecute cases also comes off the back of a decline in prosecutions subsequently pursued by his office, which declined to just 47 percent in 2021 and 58 percent in 2022. 

Despite announcing the push to halt Portland's rampant crimewave, residents have raised questions over the ability of city officials to turn the crisis around. 

Dan Lavey, co-founder of political action organization People for Portland, told Oregon Live: 'Portland politicians are very good at making announcements and very bad at getting things done.' 

'People want to feel safe, and they want to see prosecutions for property crimes.' 

The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to request for comment when contacted by DailyMail.com. 

With rampant crime taking over the city, numerous businesses have already begun to flee the area amid a soft-on-crime approach by Portland officials. 

Since the pandemic, public data found that over 2,600 businesses filed changes of address with the US Postal Service after leaving their downtown Portland zip codes. 

Major businesses including Nike and Walmart have cited a spike in shoplifting and property theft as part of their reason for shuttering locations in the area. 

Dan Lavey, co-founder of political action organization People for Portland, questioned whether the crackdown would have any effect on Portland's crime epidemic 

PORTLAND: Business owners are fleeing Portland in droves amid a pronounced rise in crime and homelessness, officials in the Democratic stronghold have revealed. A major issue in Portland is how accessible the drugs are

Walmart also reportedly directly appealed to Mayor Wheeler's office for help dealing with the rise in retail theft, as it underscored poor financial performance in its Portland stores as the reason for closing two of its locations. 

Wheeler previously came under fire after he was accused of laughing at a woman when she confronted him about Portland's untamed homelessness crisis. 

Over 700 homeless encampments have littered the city in the downtown radius of just 150 square miles, leading to a surge in crimes across the city. 

After the police was defunded in 2020, before $5.4 million was returned from the $15 million slashed from the budget, the police also suffered a series of retirements and resignations, many of whom blamed officials for the crisis. 

Portland’s woke DA: Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt

Hundreds of police officers have retired or quit Portland's force over the last two years.  

In exit interviews released to local journalists, officers who resigned in Portland often cited Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt as one of the reasons.

Schmidt, an outspoken progressive and police critic, came into office during the height of the riots in the summer of 2020 and promptly enacted a policy decriminalizing most riot-related offenses. 

Schmidt ran as a progressive and won 77 percent of the vote just days before George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in May 2020.

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt ran as a progressive and won 77 percent of the vote just days before George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in May 2020

Just ten days into his tenure Schmidt announced how his office would decline to prosecute protesters over the majority of misdemeanor charges they were being arrested for, including criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, and interference with a police officer.

At the time, the pandemic coupled with a spike in violent crime had already bogged down court proceedings, and most of those arrested at protests would have to wait months for their hearings - so it was simply easier not to prosecute in the first place. 

Instead, Schmidt's office was to focus on more serious protest-related crimes, including  property damage, theft, and the use or threat of force. 

Schmidt explained his policy as a desire to 'focus on the cases that are actually going to have a positive impact on public safety.' 

But with the pandemic in the rear view mirror, little appears to have changed. 

His successful 2020 campaign was supported by Real Justice, a political action committee co-founded by radical anti-police activist Shaun King.

Over 90 percent of those arrested at the riots in 2020 in Portland for crimes ranging from arson to assault had their cases effectively dropped.

Although the police budget was cut in 2021, it was restored for 2022, but by then the damage had been done with efforts seemingly too little, too late.

In 2021, Portland surpassed its all-time record for murders at 90 homicides with things looking equally as bad for 2022 with 66 murders as of September 15.

For a city of 650,000 residents, Portland had more homicides in 2021 than larger cities on the west coast like San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

Compounding the problem is that the number of sworn officers in the Portland Police Bureau is at its lowest since the 1980s despite the city experiencing surging population growth for the last 30 years.

Currently, there are around 800 sworn officers in the city - about 230 down from full staffing.

A lack of policing coupled with leniency when it comes to prosecutions  is making Portland attractive for all the wrong reasons.