Portland diversion plan includes jail for people caught with drugs after 8 p.m. and on weekends

Starting next week, people caught with small amounts of illegal drugs outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on weekends will be arrested and taken to jail, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said Monday.

The approach is an interim measure as Multnomah County officials continue to work on a plan to keep people suspected of low-dose drug possession out of jail.

Much of this approach revolves around a diversion centre to address health and addiction needs, but its opening has been delayed largely due to staffing issues.

Instead, the county will begin with a “mobile” response — sending peers to the scene to help the person arrested with drugs. These peers are trained and certified by the state and are themselves in long-term recovery from drug addiction.

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said she expects mobile response team members to conduct an intake process and identify the person’s immediate needs.

She said the process could lead people to a shelter or drug rehab if those services are available and the person wants to go.

County spokesman Ryan Yambra said a total of six peers from two outside organizations are expected to work between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. during the week, though they will make an exception for Sunday — the day House Bill 4002 goes into effect.

“Anyone contacted outside of those hours will be taken to jail,” Day said at a meeting of the Multnomah County Local Public Safety Coordinating Council.

Day said officers will also have the discretion to issue a ticket based on call volume and other demands on their time.

“But I expect first and foremost that we will reserve seats,” he said.

Earlier this year, the Legislature passed HB4002, a bill that would reverse Oregon’s drug decriminalization and make drug possession a misdemeanor. Lawmakers stressed that they expect counties to develop plans to help keep people out of the criminal justice system and instead direct them toward treatment and recovery, an approach known as deflection.

In Multnomah County, people arrested only on suspicion of low-level drug possession are eligible for early release under a court order that specifies factors for holding people in custody until arraignment.

A spokeswoman for Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell did not immediately respond to a question Monday about whether the agency would arrest someone solely on suspicion of drug possession.

Multnomah County Chief Judge Michael Greenlick called the disparate treatment of people after hours “very problematic from a simple equal protection or fairness standpoint.”

He explained to the other members of the coordinating council that time will determine whether a person will appeal to the judicial system.

“If you have an interaction at 8:05 p.m., you’re brought before the court,” he said. “But if it’s at 7:55 p.m., then you’re put aside. I don’t know, has anybody thought about that?”

Stephanie Howard, a public safety policy adviser to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, acknowledged the legal implications of “this kind of part-time diversion issue.”

“This is something we are really looking to address with the team led by Vega Pederson who is developing the county diversion plan,” she said.

“Given the amount of runway we have left, I think we all have a lot of concerns about how to manage a part-time field diversion program with only this small lead time,” she said.

Day said the bureau was still working out the details of what agents will do while they wait for their peers to arrive.

“We’re talking about what constitutes a reasonable wait time, not just on behalf of officers, but on behalf of individuals and case law, like how long can we sit there with someone in handcuffs or in the back seat of a police car waiting for behavioral health specialists to arrive?” he said.

Vega Pederson said county officials will track the times of day police encounter people with drugs so authorities can adjust their response during the first weeks of the program.

“I think all of those things will be really important in the early days and weeks as we build this system so that we can be responsive and bring the right resources to the times when they are needed most,” she said.

— Noelle Crombie is a criminal justice reporter. She can be reached at 503-276-7184; ncrombie@oregonian.

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.