After spate of gun violence at schools, community leaders vow to collaborate

Published 12:45 pm Friday, January 13, 2023

In the wake of a spate of recent shootings outside high schools, Portland school, city and county leaders are pledging to work together.

But they stopped short of specifying how.

A shooting outside Franklin High School in Southeast Portland during a basketball game on Jan. 7 marked the fourth gun violence incident involving Portland Public Schools students since October.

Since then, Portland Public Schools leadership has called on local police and city leaders to help reduce shootings near schools.

During a joint press conference Friday, Jan. 13, following a meeting among multiple agencies, PPS leaders, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell each vowed to work together to find solutions to the rising violence near schools.

“Despite many proactive efforts as a school system to improve the physical safety and security of our schools, the city’s gun violence, unfortunately, has now reached our doorsteps,” PPS Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said. “With a sense of shared responsibility, the Portland Public Schools stands ready to collaborate on exploring all potential strategies and proactive solutions aimed at addressing this crisis.”

“When it comes to public safety, there is no group of individuals in our community who deserve safety in their environment more than our children,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said, noting the collaboration among agencies that’s taking place is what’s needed to successfully tackle the issue.

While PPS has reopened discussions with the Portland Police Bureau about whether to reinstate school resource officers — armed officers in schools — no concrete decision has been made. Board members said they want more community feedback before deciding whether to bring such officers back. PPS ended its school resource officer program in 2020 at the request of students and community members.

An officer already was on campus during the most recent shooting, at the basketball game at Franklin High.

The school district said it’s ramped up school-based programs, especially during the summer, when gun violence is typically higher, but the district didn’t mention any specific education programs around gun violence or drug prevention.

Timeline

October 2022: A student was fired on by a drive-by shooter in a stolen Hyundai while standing outside Jefferson High School in North Portland. Another student reportedly was grazed in the hand by a bullet. Other students ran for cover inside the school’s gym when shots rang out.

November 2022: Students were shot at shortly after leaving Jefferson High School in North Portland. The district said Jefferson High would soon get security upgrades. Traffic calming cones also were placed in front of the school, in an effort to deter drive-by shooters.

December 2022: A student was shot outside Cleveland High School in Southeast Portland. The student was driven to a local hospital for care and the school was placed temporarily on lockdown.

Jan. 7: A student was shot at in the parking lot at Franklin High School in Southeast Portland as a basketball game was held inside on a Saturday evening. Police found a semi-automatic hand gun nearby and arrested a 15-year-old in connection with the shooting.

‘Comprehensive plan’

Most recently, Guerrero called on city and law enforcement leaders for a “comprehensive neighborhood safety plan,” to help protect kids and families from gun violence.

But when asked by Pamplin Media Group what that would look like, Police Chief Chuck Lovell said he considered Guerrero’s recent statement more of a gesture than a request for a specific community safety response.

“We’re having conversations with them regularly, but I think it was more of a call in general,” Lovell said. “I don’t think it was a task to put together a plan for all the schools and neighborhoods.”

PPB has a Focused Intervention Team and Enhanced Community Safety Team that have been tasked with investigating the recent shootings at and near schools, Lovell noted. The police chief declined to say whether any of the recent shootings are being investigated as gang-related, or whether there are connections between victims or suspects in any of the cases. He mentioned arrests that were made, but another officer said charges have yet to be filed in connection with any of the four recent shootings.

Lovell indicated PPB has yet to take a proactive approach, noting police response has been mostly reactive to the needs and requests of schools.

“I’ve reached out personally to other principals at Cleveland, Jefferson and Franklin (high schools), after these incidents and offered any support and resources,” Lovell said. “The stuff we’ve done there has mostly been in the form of extra patrol and presence. For us, we’re really just here to figure out what our role could be. We’re here to be a good partner. We want to keep our kids safe.”

Lovell said PPB has a full-time liaison sergeant who works with the school district on a regular basis, to tackle issues like threats to schools, drugs, weapons and other school-specific issues that arise.

Portland Public Schools takes a look at the negative aspects of school discipline responses. See story, Page A7.

“When it comes to public safety, there is no group of individuals in our community who deserve safety in their environment more than our children.”

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler