A bit of both. PPB is a tiny force for a city the size of Portland. 313 patrol officers over 3 shifts for a city of 650,000. https://www.portland.gov/police/ope

A bit of both. PPB is a tiny force for a city the size of Portland. 313 patrol officers over 3 shifts for a city of 650,000. https://www.portland.gov/police/open-data/ppb-staffing-report https://www.portland.gov/police/open-data/ppb-staffing-repor... But even if they were fully staffed and had time to “criminalize homelessness”, the DA is reluctant to prosecute. But even if the DA presses charges, there is a huge public defender shortage. Loads of people are being set free and having cases dismissed for want of legal representation. https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/car-thefts-dismissed-public-defender-shortage-multnomah-county/283-5882d35f-8cb1-40e5-88cc-e54b230da64f https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/car-thefts-dismissed-... In summary: - police don’t have time or resources to investigate anything that isn’t a homicide (with some exceptions) - the DA won’t prosecute, to the point that criminals actively know to commit crimes in MultCo - if the DA does take the case, it will be dismissed because there aren’t enough public defenders