Portland is bleeding businesses, thanks to years of soft-on-crime policies
Zachary Faria
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Residents in Portland, Oregon, have continued to learn the hard way that the soft-on-crime approach they permitted their leaders to institute has consequences as businesses continue to depart the city.
Walmart is closing its last two locations in Portland just months after CEO Doug McMillon warned that rampant thefts would lead the company to raise prices or close stores in some locations. Residents in the neighborhoods of those two locations will have to shop elsewhere, and 580 employees will also be affected by the closures.
PORTLAND THROWS OUT HUNDREDS OF CRIMINAL CASES DUE TO PUBLIC DEFENDER SHORTAGE
Violence has also caused trouble for businesses, with one real estate developer and lifelong resident of the city preparing to move out after discovering his office was riddled with bullet holes. And stealing has been a problem for residents outside of business closures and departures, with 2022 seeing a record increase in car thefts.
Portland police are now finally taking this seriously. Officers are conducting anti-shoplifting “blitzes,” arresting 64 people in a December operation that led to 10 stolen vehicles being recovered alongside three firearms and almost $9,000 in stolen merchandise. A February operation led to another 40 arrests, with officers recovering $2,000 in merchandise and handing out 32 felony charges and 28 misdemeanors. Another of these operations was carried out on Sunday.
Jordan Zaitz, a member of the police department’s Neighborhood Response Team, explained just how important these measures are now. “For a long time we kind of let everybody get away with it, we just didn’t have the resources to actually touch on it. Now it’s good to actually be able to arrest people and hold them accountable and hopefully get them the help they need,” Zaitz said.
But the damage done by years of enabling criminals to do what they like can’t be erased so easily. Walmart is leaving, joining over 2,500 downtown businesses that moved out since 2019. The city has burned the trust of business owners and must now begin the long process of rebuilding that trust. Portland is now associated with riots, homelessness, and rampant thefts, and it will be for years to come. With fewer options for both shopping and employment, Portland residents will (quite literally) be paying the price.