Mayor directs PPB to enforce camping ban after MultCo. sheriff declines

After the Multnomah County Sheriff announced her office would refuse to throw people in jail based on a Portland city camping ban, Mayor Ted Wheeler said he is directing the Portland Police Bureau to enforce the ordinance through citations.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After the Multnomah County Sheriff announced her office would refuse to throw people in jail based on a Portland city camping ban, Mayor Ted Wheeler said he is directing the Portland Police Bureau to enforce the ordinance through citations.

This all comes after the first person was arrested for unsanctioned camping on Friday, whom KOIN 6 News spoke to on Tuesday. That man, Alasdair McDonald, was not booked into jail as Multnomah County Sheriff Morrisey O'Donnell declined to enforce the city ordinance.

The mayor claimed on Tuesday that the sheriff's office lifted booking restrictions last summer. However, O'Donnell's team fired back using PPB's own policy definition of "bookable offenses" to highlight city ordinance violations are not eligible.

Given that each camp has been talking to each other since the spring of last year, it's unclear why this apparent miscommunication is only just now coming to light or what it means moving forward.

Todd Mylet, a Northeast Portland neighbor of the man who was arrested for illegal camping, told KOIN 6 News he's siding with the sheriff.

"Certainly everybody needs to be on the same page," Mylet said. "But I mean, I guess I kind of agree with the sheriff, I don't think we should be jailing people just because they're homeless."

In a statement on Tuesday, Sheriff O'Donnell defended her decision not to jail the man, saying accountability is still possible through citations and the court. That was a message she doubled down on Wednesday during a press conference.

"At this point, I'm standing by that statement in anticipation of having an opportunity to have further conversations with our public safety leaders and the City of Portland to again determine the best pathways forward to support community safety in all of our communities," O'Donnell said.

Mayor Wheeler issued a directive just 30 minutes after that press conference, in an email to Portland police.

He wrote in part, "In light of the Sheriff's decision not to book and process arrests for violations of the City’s public camping ordinance, I am directing the Portland Police Bureau to continue to cite those who repeatedly violate this law and refer these cases for prosecution."

KOIN 6 News reached out to the mayor's office for clarification on what "prosecution" would look like if most people cited can't afford to pay a fine or may struggle to make it to court. His office said PPB will issue a ticket with a court date and if the person doesn't show, a warrant could be issued for their arrest.

A PPB spokesperson said Chief Bob Day "is passing it along to the Bureau membership today with the added direction that officers have the option of transporting persons arrested on charges related to 14A.50.170 to a police precinct to process, complete paperwork, and serve the criminal citation. That’s not booking, it’s just detaining the person pending the completion of the necessary documentation and processing (and it’s something we do for other criminal citations as well depending on the circumstance)."

KOIN 6 also reached out to the sheriff's office to ask what her response is to the mayor's new directive to PPB to issue citations to enforce the camping ban. We also asked whether the sheriff spoke with the mayor about the "disconnect" in communication between the two. Below is Sheriff O'Donnell's response:

"Providing accountability through a citation and court date is the applicable avenue for these violations, and is what happened on Friday. I am in contact with the city of Portland and the Portland Police Bureau to continue meeting the public safety expectations of the communities we serve."