Portland's Chief Lovell, FBI's Ramsey look to curb gun violence in joint effort

PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell spoke on the joint effort to curb gun violence in the city this weekend during a Saturday afternoon press conference.

The police bureau said its officers will be working with the FBI, the Portland Office of Violence Prevention, and the Multnomah County district attorney to stop gun violence.

Police said the effort started Friday night and will run through the weekend. It will be highly visible with the aim of “deterring those who are considering committing crimes,” the bureau said.

READ MORE | Portland police, FBI, DA join forces this weekend to curb gun violence

Lovell said the bureau received alarming information that groups are coming into Portland from out of town to engage in violence and that people are pursuing retaliatory shootings.

PPB has already responded to 31 homicides this year--23 involving gunfire. At this time last year, the homicide count was four, and there were just three at this date in 2019.

KATU News asked Lovell if the bureau feels equipped to handle the current level of violence in the weeks and months ahead.

“You know, the bureau is pretty lean, just in general. As you know, we moved a lot of our resources to address gun violence: our partnership with MOU, with the FBI is one step in that effort," he said.

PAST COVERAGE | Portland officers have responded to 355 shootings so far this year, police say

PPB said eight officers and three FBI agents will focus specifically on the community safety team over the weekend.

"Immediately, we’re following up on these leads, being intelligence-driven, and then hopefully, circling back around to that person or persons that were either involved in the previous shooting or perhaps are maybe involved in planned, retaliatory acts of violence," FBI Special Agent Kieran Ramsey said.

Chief Lovell said over the weekend the goal is to de-escalate and provide safety.

“For us at PPB, we look at it as some of the most important work that we do. I’ve been in a lot of conversations with elected leaders, community folks and I’ve always said that keeping people in our community alive and safe from gun violence is important. I will shift resources as needed to make sure we can address it as best as possible," he said.

Lovell was joined by Ramsey to speak more about the joint effort and to answer questions at the press conference. You can watch it in full here: