VIKINGS ROAR INTO BIG SKY SEASON Portland State hopeful going into conference action — SEE SPORTS, B10 PortlandTribune THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPER • WWW.PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED THURSDAY ‘Sweet deceit’ cigars tempt teens Tobacco companies School, several students can gar than a whole pack of ciga- of the boys. have introduced a Tobacco fi rms target be spotted hanging out smok- rettes, they say. And the cigars “You mix tobacco and weed fl urry of fl avored youth market with ing next to the Plaid Pantry a are more fun for blowing smoke and it gets you higher,” explains small cigars half-block away. tricks and come in handy for one girl. packaged like candy, fl avored products Though all the LEP students rolling large marijuana joints. As cigarette smoking across a trend that grew interviewed Friday say they pre- “If I don’t have enough for a the United States has dropped to after Congress By STEVE LAW fer cigarettes, most have tried pack, and I really want some its lowest level since the 1930s, The Tribune banned most fl avored the new generation of small, fl a- nicotine, then I’ll buy one,” says tobacco companies have intro- cigarettes in 2009. vored cigars being marketed to one of the girls. duced a slew of fl avored cigars Most days before classes young smokers. “We cut them open, and we TRIBUNE PHOTO: JONATHAN HOUSE start at LEP Charter High It’s cheaper to buy a small ci- put weed inside them,” says one See CIGARS / Page 9 ■ Police chief wants bigger force to head off crime before it begins Cop numbers low — but so is crime rate ast week a man while he lay on the ground. stepped out of Kell’s Again, Portland police are not Irish Restaurant & Pub investigating the crime. L downtown and was There simply aren’t enough robbed at gunpoint in the bar’s detectives to investigate all the parking lot. The robber took crimes, even violent crimes, the man’s cash and left. There committed in Portland, says were no wit- Sgt. Joe Santos, nesses, and no responsible for obvious clues, Story by Peter Korn assigning rob- such as stolen Photos by Jaime Valdez bery cases in credit cards, the police that might easi- bureau’s detec- ly lead police to the robber. Po- tive division. As Portlanders lice say it’s possible that if have come to recognize in re- someone were to pull video cent years, most cases involv- footage from surveillance cam- ing theft, including stolen cars, eras in the area, the crime and do not get investigated by de- traceable clues might show up. tectives anymore. But nobody’s looking at that Santos says he wishes he footage. No detective is as- had a detective to assign to the signed to the case, and no in- North Maryland robbery, but vestigation is taking place. he doesn’t have the staff to in- Also last week, a pedestrian vestigate most crimes unless on Maryland Street in North the evidence is readily appar- Portland was beaten and ent or the crime clearly con- robbed by two men who took nects to other crimes. his wallet and, according to “I’m balancing this case witnesses, punched and kicked the victim for 30 to 40 seconds See POLICE / Page 2 PDX: Fewer cops, lower crime ALL FIGURES PER 1,000 RESIDENTS OFFICERS VIOLENT CRIME PROPERTY CRIME Portland 1.7 5.1 51 Oklahoma City 1.8 9.1 59 Austin 2.0 4.1 52 Seattle 2.2 5.9 51 Denver 2.4 5.7 37 Minneapolis 2.3 9.9 50 San Francisco 2.8 7.0 47 Portland Police Lieutenant Chris Davis hands a citation to a motorist who was speeding in a school zone along Southwest Capitol Data source: FBI 2012 Uniform Crime Reports Highway. Police Chief Mike Reese says traffi c violators are less likely to get caught because staffi ng has been reduced. In-depth survey will shape future housing Longtime foes join forces to gather public input, guide growth By JIM REDDEN kinds of developments. sity with assistance from DHM The Tribune Many of the battles have Research, a local polling fi rm. played out at Metro, the regional “In the past, we’ve argued Two longtime opponents government that manages the over the assumptions that have on land-use issues are work- Urban Growth Boundary that gone into Metro’s decisions. If ing together on a ground- determines where growth can we can make sure the assump- breaking study on where and occur. Clashes have frequently tions are based on objective da- how people in the Portland occurred over where Metro ta, we should be able to reach area want to live. should expand the UGB to allow agreements easier,” says HB- The Home Builders Associa- new subdivisions. AMP CEO Dave Nielsen. tion of Metro Portland repre- Now the two organizations Mary Kyle McCurdy, the poli- sents companies that prefer to are working with Metro to craft cy director and staff attorney for build single-family homes on a survey to help determine the 1000 Friends of Oregon, is not large tracts of land. The group kind of housing Portland-area yet sure the results will be all TRIBUNE PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ 1000 Friends of Oregon has re- residents want. The Housing that signifi cant, however. Metro is working on a survey to determine where people want to live in the region, including apartments like peatedly fought to preserve Preference Survey will be con- these being built in St. Johns. farm and forest lands from those ducted by Portland State Univer- See SURVEY / Page 9 “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune deliver balanced news that refl ects the OREGON MUSIC HALL OF FAME WELCOMES STARS stories of our communities. Thank you — SEE LIFE, PAGE B1 for reading our newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, September 26, 2013 Police: City on record-low homicide streak ■ fi cers as Seattle’s would mean From page 1 an extra two or three dozen of- fi cers, and Reese says he’d use against a Plaid Pantry case them to beef up gang enforce- where there’s a video and a se- ment, add offi cers assigned to Portland Police rial pattern where people have schools, and increase the num- Lieutenant Chris done multiple robberies,” he ber of offi cers assigned to work Davis uses a says. domestic violence cases. radar gun to Portland police chief Mike All three of those assign- track motorists Reese frequently comments on ments create opportunities for on Southwest the leanness of the police force what Reese calls “creative en- Capitol Highway. he heads, and he’s right. Port- gagement,” the type of commu- Though the land has only 1.7 nity policing that number of traffi c police officers allows officers to offi cers has been per 1,000 resi- “We have very establish commu- reduced, Police dents. That’s low nity relationships little capacity to Chief Mike Reese compared to that can lead to says with a most cities Port- lower crime rates: do traffi c larger force he land’s size, or any Gang enforcement would fi rst other size. Min- enforcement. officers, for in- devote more neapolis has 2.3 You can watch stance, working offi cers per 1,000 proactively with offi cers to gang residents, Seattle for a short gang members, or and domestic has 2.2. period of time at youth who might violence work, But here’s Re- be dissuaded from and school ese’s problem. any controlled becoming gang patrols. Even with an in- intersection, members. TRIBUNE PHOTO: credibly small Reese says his JAIME VALDEZ police force, vio- you’re (seeing police force is lent crime here is drivers) running missing too many cities doesn’t make sense, says most crime, and the percentage incredibly rare. opportunities to East vs. West Fewer detectives, fewer Northeast Portland resident of the population comprised of And Reese’s red lights and head off crime be- John Campbell, a consultant to young men has been declining. small police force talking on cell fore it happens. Police departments east of the followup investigations cities across the country on po- For what it’s worth, 14.5 per- is still effective. phones.” “The leaner you Mississippi River historically CITY DETECTIVES licing matters. One of Camp- cent of Portland’s population For instance, become, the more maintain larger police forces, bell’s specialties is helping are men between 18 and 34 — Mike Reese, Portland has only reactive you are regardless of their city’s crime Portland 95 cities fi gure out how many po- years old. That’s a lower per- Portland police chief 95 detectives, forced to become,” rates. Oklahoma City 200 lice they need. Campbell says centage than Denver, Minne- which translates he says. Seattle 234 cities rarely get it right. City apolis, Austin and Seattle, to 1.6 detectives Basically, police crime rates rarely correlate which all have higher violent for every 10,000 city residents. involvement comes in two East: Police offi cers per Milwaukee, Wis. 250 with the number of police on crime rates than Portland. But Other, similar-size cities have forms. Either people call a 1,000 population San Diego 344 the street, Campbell says. On Oklahoma City has a lower per- two or three times as many crime in to 911, or police fi nd Austin 353 the other hand, he says, it’s ob- centage of young men than detectives investigating crime on their own.