Police Investigate Weapons At Occupy Portland Site

Portland Oregon Police officers assigned to the Occupy Portland encampments were contacted Friday by people inside the camps about improvised weapons being found. Officers also received information that a man was going to damage police cars parked outside the encampments.

Officers made contact with the man and he relinquished his six foot long bamboo pole. No damage was done to any patrol cars and no arrests were necessary.

The Portland Police Bureau said it appreciates the ongoing efforts of people within the encampments to share information with officers about people committing crimes and stockpiling improvised weapons.

“Anyone with this kind of information should immediately share it with a police officer,” the Portland Police department said.

Officers continue to see people packing up and leaving the encampments and officers are sharing information about shelter options with people in the encampments.

Teams of outreach workers continue to walk through the encampments and are providing information and assistance to homeless adults and youth in locating safe shelter space. Groups from Janus Youth Programs, JOIN, Transition Projects, Yellow Brick Road, Cascadia, and Can We Help have all been actively working with city officials and police to insure that people in need of services know where to go and how to obtain them.

The Portland Police Bureau said it anticipates that cooperation will continue with many people at the encampments and is encouraged by efforts to have a peaceful transition out of Chapman and Lownsdale Square parks. The Portland Parks Bureau is onsite and assisting people with clean up efforts of debris and unwanted property.

Relatedly, Friday afternoon at approximately 4:30 p.m., officers and medical personnel assisted a man suffering from a drug overdose in the middle of Lownsdale Square. The man was revived and transported to an area hospital for treatment.

This morning, Saturday November 12, at approximately 8:30 a.m., officers and medical personnel assisted a young woman suffering from a drug overdose. The woman, believed to be in her 20s, was revived and has been transported to an area hospital for treatment.