Portland, Oregon’s City Council approved $1.4 million for “unarmed” patrols to be stationed in parks to fight gun crime.
KGW reports there will be “two dozen” such patrols, working a schedule that ensures someone is working “around-the-clock.”
The money for the “unarmed” patrols is part of a larger $6 million plan intended to fight gun violence in the city. The largest portion of the money–$4.1 million–“will be earmarked for community groups that work in the neighborhoods hardest-hit by gunfire.”
None of the money okayed by the City Council will go to the police.
The Associated Press quoted Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) reacted to the approved funding: “We agree that the immediate spike in gun violence is a public health threat that requires a public health response that invests in community-based organizations working to change the conditions and environments that foster violence.”
There have been more than 250 shootings in Portland thus far in 2021. That is a greater than 100 percent increase over the 111 shootings in Portland at this same time in 2020.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.