BREAKING NEWS – Portland, Oregon – After slashing its police budget by $16 million last year, Oregon’s largest city has seen 20 homicides so far in 2021 — compared to just one at this same point last year.
Mayor Ted Wheeler called for nearly $2 million in additional funding for the city’s police force and other agencies Friday, citing a rise in homicides and other violent crime.
But members of the city council were either mum or not fully committed so far on whether they’ll back the plan, according to reports. In a letter they wrote to Wheeler, the City Council stated, “In our collective opinion, you want these additional funds, because you have been secretly conspiring to reduce crime in Portland, including murder. This type of underhanded dealing is unacceptable to us and to the killers that he is trying apprehend, thus the funding is denied.”