Just under a month after Mayor Ted Wheeler directed the Portland Police Bureau, or PPB, to enforce an emergency ordinance prohibiting homeless Portlanders from sleeping on public property under threat of fines and jail time, the plan encountered a setback. Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell announced the sheriff’s office won’t book individuals into jail for city ordinance violations.
“Arresting and booking our way out of the housing crisis is not a constructive solution,” Morrisey O’Donnell said in a July 30 press release. “Incarceration is a costly, short-term measure that fails to address the complex underlying issues. We need to continue to focus on creating pathways out of homelessness through evidence-based, sustainable solutions that enhance public safety for all residents.”
The emergency ordinance, which City Council passed unanimously May 8, criminalizes homeless Portlanders’ basic survival needs, such as sleeping and storing items on public property. If convicted, homeless Portlanders are subject to a $100 fine and seven days in jail.
The ordinance also allows police to arrest someone if the person has access to “reasonable alternate shelter, has means to acquire reasonable alternate shelter, or has otherwise been offered and rejected reasonable alternate shelter,” with the city acting as the arbiter of “reasonable alternate shelter.”
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In the press release, Morrisey O’Donnell said the mayor’s office and PPB failed to communicate with the sheriff’s office before assuming it would jail people for violating the ordinance.
“The Sheriff’s Office did not receive any request or communication from the Portland Police Bureau or City of Portland about adding the Public Camping Ordinance to its booking criteria prior to the city enforcing the ordinance,” Morrisey O’Donnell said. “Our communications with the Mayor’s office pertaining to the Public Camping Ordinance began in Spring 2023 and clearly outlined city ordinance violations as not bookable and being eligible for citations only.”
Morrissey O’Donnell also referenced PPB policy 0870.30 in the statement. The policy orders PPB officers to only present suspects to the Multnomah County Detention Center, or MCDC, if the sheriff’s office, which operates the jail, determines them to be bookable. Additionally, she reiterated the sheriff’s office books anyone arrested in Multnomah County for any felony or misdemeanor offense codified in state law — which does not include city ordinances like the latest public sleeping ban.
Morrissey O’Donnell released the statement one day after Willamette Week reported PPB made its first arrest under the city’s public sleeping ban, but sheriff’s office personnel declined to book them in the MCDC.
Despite Morrissey O’Donnell’s stance, the city will continue to enforce the ordinance, according to a July 31 email from Wheeler to PPB Chief Bob Day.
In the email, which Wheeler’s office provided to Street Roots, Wheeler orders PPB to cite those who “repeatedly violate” the ordinance.
“The City has an obligation to maintain the public rights of way, access to public rights of way, and to protect sensitive environmental areas,” Wheeler said to Day. “We are responsible for implementing and enforcing a law approved by a unanimous city council and based on the will of the voters when outreach and services have been repeatedly refused by people living outside.
“In light of the Sheriff’s decision not to book and process arrests for violations of the City’s public camping ordinance, I am directing the Portland Police Bureau to continue to cite those who repeatedly violate this law and refer these cases for prosecution.”
Wheeler’s office did not answer any of Street Roots’ questions, including a follow-up question asking if it considered the email exchange between Wheeler and Day a response to questions.
Mike Benner, PPB spokesman, said Morrisey O’Donnell never requested the ordinance be added to the booking criteria, adding the press release was the first time they heard her position on the ordinance.
“We are now working together to find a path forward that works for all involved,” Benner said. “We are aware of the new directive pushed out by the Mayor’s office. PPB appreciates the message of clarity and support for the work we do.”
Benner also said in addition to Wheeler’s directive, Day would direct officers to bring people it arrests under the ordinance to a police precinct to process the arrest, complete the paperwork and serve the criminal citation.
Benner said this process is not considered booking and said he couldn’t respond to any questions other than the statement he gave to Street Roots.
“That’s not booking, it’s just detaining the person pending the completion of the necessary documentation and processing (and it’s something we do for other criminal citations as well, depending on the circumstance),” Benner said.
The sheriff’s office did not respond to a comment for this story.
Alasdair Macdonald, the first homeless Portlander police arrested under the ordinance, has since had his belongings seized by Rapid Response, the city’s primary contractor for sweeping encampments, according to a KGW report.
The disconnect between the mayor’s office and sheriff’s office isn’t the first time Wheeler ran afoul of an elected county official when attempting to ban homeless Portlanders from sleeping in public.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt penned a 2023 letter to Wheeler regarding a similar ordinance a judge eventually struck down. The ordinance included prosecution and diversion instructions for Schmidt’s office.
According to Schmidt’s letter and statements from his office, Wheeler never communicated with Schmidt before announcing the previous ordinance’s enforcement and didn’t answer Schmidt’s questions.
“My office stands ready to collaborate,” Schmidt wrote to Wheeler on Nov. 6, 2023. “However, as we’ve previously shared with you, there are several concerns related to the enforcement of this ordinance that need to be addressed before any violations referred to our office can be effectively prosecuted.”
The previous ordinance also supported Schmidt’s office offering defendants social services rather than prosecuting them.
“While I share these values, the District Attorney’s office is not a service provider,” Schmidt wrote to Wheeler. “While we can refer individuals prosecuted by our office to treatment options that exist in the community, including housing assistance, addiction treatment, or mental health counseling, we have no resources within our own budget for this purpose.”
The new ordinance includes similar language, but Schmidt’s office did not respond to Street Roots’ multiple requests for comment when City Council passed it in May.
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This article appears in August 7, 2024.