Leaders Respond to Allegations of Harassment by Clean and Safe

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Brendan Murray, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Cameron Whitten

Community leaders are reacting to allegations of harassment and the seizing of property by Clean and Safe, a security district operated by the Portland Business Alliance.

Homeless advocates and organizers with the Right 2 Dream Too homeless camp in Portland told GoLocal that Clean and Safe officers had been harassing homeless people and forcing them to clear the sidewalks after previously being told they would not be disturbed overnight during the cold winter months. They also said that homeless people had their property seized by Clean and Safe Officers and were not able to retrieve it.

Cameron Whitten, Executive Director of Know Your City and a longtime activist in Portland, told GoLocal that public safety personnel like Clean and Safe officers are not actually helping to improve safety when they force homeless people out of their camps.

“How we can we have public safety that doesn’t have a lens that looks at safety and how to help people,” Whitten said. “Currently, public safety really isn’t helping more making anyone more safe. They just make the problem go from one place to another, rather than trying to solve it.”

Other homeless advocates in Portland agreed with Whitten.

“That’s really tough and something we’ve heard a lot of stories about from members of our community,” Justin Hufnagel, manager of communications at Sisters of the Road, a resource center and social justice advocate group for the homeless located in Portland, told GoLocal. “I know that some people feel sweeping the streets keeps things safer, but we don’t agree. These people have nowhere to go, and you’re making them move, all while harassing them and taking their things. That is frustrating.”

Justin Hufnagel

“A Really Strange Double Standard”

Whitten said that the while he is glad to see city and political leaders have made the issue of homelessness a top priority, he believes the strategy towards solving problems associated with Portland is flawed.

“We all understand what a serious issue homelessness and housing is in Portland,” Whitten said. “Just last week, the Portland Business Alliance hosted a forum on it, we have a state of emergency surrounding it and the city is putting funding in, so I’m still scratching my head. The strategy in Portland is just to push people from doorway to doorway, from sidewalk to sidewalk without really ever addressing the issue. I think personally, it doesn’t make sense for our city, whether it’s Portland or another city, to address the issue of homelessness that way.”

Whitten said that that flawed strategy is causing adverse effects for not just Portland’s homeless population, but for businesses and residents all over the city.

“It’s seems like a really strange double standard,” Whitten said. “People’s lives are being affected. At the system level, people are losing their property, and they are losing the willingness to find a way to keep going. We have record numbers of homeless and people who are homeless now that have never been homeless before. We need to find a way that actually addresses homelessness and doesn’t just create costly inconveniences because this situation is hurting everyone, not just the people who are homeless."

Hufnagel agreed. He said that he and many others are frustrated that the city’s rhetoric on homelessness does not seem to match up with their actions.

“It’s contradictory,” Hufnagel said. “It reminds me of when they declared the state of emergency and that same day a lot of people in our community were served eviction notices and had to move back out on the streets. What they’re saying and what they’re doing doesn’t seem to match up.”