Sheriff decides to enforce camping ban – for now

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrissey O’Donnell has done an about face on her refusal to arrest campers violating the City of Portland’s camping ban.

Mayor Ted Wheeler was caught by surprise when the Sheriff refused to arrest illegal campers when the ban took effect.

KGW-TV is reporting that the Sheriff’s office will now book violators into jail, at least for the next four months.  At that point they will study whether the arrests help move people into shelter.

The city’s ban prevents people who have access to housing or shelter from camping in public places in the City of Portland. Campers who are offered shelter but refuse to accept it will now be booked into jail.

Campers who do not have access to shelter can still camp as long as they do not block sidewalks or the public right of way, do not start any fires, or use gas heaters, and keep their belongings within two feet of their tent among other rules. To read more about Portland’s camping ban click here.

Anyone driving through Portland can see the chaos created by homeless camps we covered here Portland homeless cause 2,000 fires

And the massive amounts of taxpayer dollars that have been raised to solve Oregon’s homeless problem we covered here $1.3B in “new” homeless programs yielded 22% more homeless

Video Source: KGW-TV