<p>The mayor of Portland, Oregon, and city commissioners have reached a deal on proposals intended to stem a spike in gun violence over the past year.</p>
<p>The Oregonian/OregonLive <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2021/04/portland-mayor-commissioners-reach-deal-on-police-and-gun-violence-prevention-plan-to-vote-with-limited-public-input.html">reports</a> the compromise, expected to be approved Wednesday, would re-establish a proactive team of uniformed police officers tasked with preventing shootings.</p>
<p>The team would operate with greater civilian oversight than its disbanded predecessor.</p>
<p>The move represents an about-face after city leaders in June voted to cut nearly $16 million from the police budget, reductions that included the elimination of the gun violence unit. </p>
<p>The cuts came amid racial justice protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.</p>
<p>Under the deal, the council would also provide millions of dollars to community organizations for anti-violence work and authorize the hiring of two dozen unarmed park rangers, as a trio of commissioners proposed last week, according to the proposals.</p>
<p>“We agree that the immediate spike in gun violence is a public health threat that requires a public health response that invests in community-based organizations working to change the conditions and environments that foster violence,” Mayor Ted Wheeler and all four commissioners said in a statement Tuesday evening.</p>
<p>There have been at least 284 shootings this year that have left 91 people injured, Lt. Greg Pashley, a Portland police spokesperson, said Tuesday. Firearms have caused 18 of the city’s 25 homicides since Jan. 1.</p>
<p>Statistically, the city is on track to experience 100 homicides if the pace does not slow in the remainder of the year.</p>
<p>Portland recorded 55 homicides in 2020, the highest number in 26 years. Forty-one were fatal shootings, with people of color representing more than half of victims, police statistics show.</p>
