While headlines tend to focus on falling clearance rates in large liberal cities, the decline occurred nationwide in both red and blue cities, counties and states. The violent crime clearance rate, for example, fell considerably between 2019 to 2022 in big cities, which tend to be led by Democrats, as well as in small cities and suburban and rural counties, which tend to be led by Republicans.
Portland Police collects 1/4 of a billion dollars every year.
For that:
They don’t respond to 911 calls:
https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2022/08/31/mayor-calls-rebukes-portland-police-bureaus-claims-of-understaffing-bullshit/
They don’t do traffic enforcement:
https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2022/08/31/mayor-calls-rebukes-portland-police-bureaus-claims-of-understaffing-bullshit/
They don’t have a gang/gun violence taskforce:
https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/06/09/mayor-ted-wheeler-agrees-to-disband-the-portland-police-bureaus-gun-violence-reduction-team/
Even the bike theft team is gone (after having one of their own bikes stolen).
https://www.kgw.com/video/news/local/the-story/portlands-bike-theft-task-force-eliminated/283-7de1f9a1-6f89-40b0-99c9-cb3f54125c89
So what are they doing with 1/4 billion a year?
Stockpiling tear gas in case people complain.