Deflection begins in Oregon, law enforcement makes arrests and sends others to detox

Portland Police Bureau’s Central Bike Squad says their drug mission on Sunday resulted in four arrests and two deflections.

According to PPB, yesterday’s mission coincided with the creation of new criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of drugs such as fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine.

As a part of a new statewide drug law, House Bill 4002, Multnomah County created an optional deflection program, giving people the chance to choose treatment over jail, if they meet certain criteria.

Police are working with outreach workers to get people into detox services. The executive director of one of the outreach programs, 4D Recovery, tells us what he would like to see improved with the program.

“The people who do get arrested, we’d like to be there to catch them when they get released,” said Tony Vezina, who leads 4D Recovery.

One Oregon resident told KATU he has high hopes for the drug reinforcement to help direct people to rehabilitation resources.

"Before we recriminalized these types of things, people had less incentive… especially a person who’s suffering from addiction, I think they have to be compelled to, in many cases, to do something," Salem resident James Hitchin said.

On the other hand, some residents don’t think the police will enforce the new law.

"I haven’t seen much of a response from the police currently and so I expect that to continue and I assume there’s not going to be much response as well," Hannah Barows told KATU.

Between yesterday and today, Vezina says four volunteers with 4D met five people on the street who chose the deflection program.

Due to capacity issues, only one person was able to get into a detox center.

As for the rest of the state of Oregon, 28 counties accepted state funds to create programs that offer treatment instead of drug charges.

The counties in gray will not offer that option, but some may offer treatment after charges are filed in exchange for less jail time.

This map indicates 11 counties that already have operating deflection programs. The 17 counties in dark blue are still working to set up deflection programs.

https://katu.com/news/local/day-one-of-new-portland-drug-law-leads-to-arrests-and-deflections

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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: September 3, 2024, 3:02 am.

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