Portland police record highest number of death investigations in single month in more than three decades

Portland police are scrambling to respond to 15 homicides in the city so far in July. That’s the most killings in one month in more than three decades, they said.

So far this year, 24 people have died in homicides in Portland.

The most recent killing was Tuesday night, a 34-year-old woman who was stabbed at a Northeast Portland residence after returning from a vigil in memory of 27-year-old Tyrell Penney, who was killed in a shooting Saturday night at Southeast Division Street and 158th Avenue.

There have been a total of 63 shootings so far this month compared to 28 in July 2019, according to the Police Bureau.

While homicides, assaults, burglaries and vandalism are up this year compared to last year, total person-to-person and property crimes are still down from prior years, according to bureau figures.

Police Chief Chuck Lovell on Thursday said he’s very concerned about the heightened violence and is pulling officers from patrol to the detective division to help work on follow-up investigations.

He noted that the bureau was forced to cut its Gun Violence Reduction Team at the direction of the City Council. The 34-member team was disbanded July 1 as a result of budget cuts to police units that have targeted a disproportionate number of black people in traffic stops.

“What was really lost was the follow-up piece, picking up video , contacting people,” Lovell said.

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