Rolling with the Portland Police Gang Unit
Let’s start by saying thanks to Portland police gang unit Sgt. Tony Passadore, his partner Dan, and gang outreach worker Purnell Brown. I tagged along with Tony and Dan during their shift Tuesday night and I got a real sense of Portland’s gang problem. On the surface North Portland seems to be often tranquil and boring, but if you know what to look for, you’ll see a lot of gang activity. The problem, according to Tony, Dan and Purnell: a lot of impressionable young men who turn to the wrong role models.
During my ride along with Sgt. Tony Passadore we got a call about a shooting at the Safeway on NE Simpson and MLK. I don’t have any photos of the high-speed drive from 122nd and Halsey to the MLK because I was securing my gear and holding on tight. officer Dan Chastain is a phenomenal driver, and although I was scared, it’s important for officers to respond quickly to increase their odds catching a perpetrator.
08/04/2010 – A .45 caliber bullet casing is circled with yellow chalk at the scene of a gang related shooting at the corner of NE Simpson and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
.45 caliber bullet casings where all over the street when we got onto the scene. The idea of a full-blown gunfight playing out during a busy part of the day next to a neighborhood and a Safeway parking lot is scary. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured. With any luck the PPD will have a handle on the gang problem, but I don’t expect things to settle down any time soon.
08/04/2010 – Gang outreach worker Purnell Brown, right, talks with Sgt. Tony Passadore, center, of the Portland Police Department’s gang unit, at the scene of a gang related shooting Tuesday evening at the intersection of NE Simpson and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
After I got a handle on the shooting, and took a few photos to go with the story, I hooked up with gang outreach worker Purnell Brown. You can read all about Purnell and how he interacts with Portland gang members in Thursday’s edition of the Portland Tribune. But basically his job is to keep at-risk youth out of trouble. I rode with Purnell to McCoy park in North Portland and watched him do his thing. Subtle as it was, I could see he was having a real impact on the community.
08/04/2010 – Gang outreach worker Purnell Brown, left, pulls aside a young man, Ron Drey, who has been in and out of foster care most of his life, to check in with him about staying out of trouble. During National Night Out in McCoy Park in north Portland.
