Portland Rise In Crime Leads Police Bureau To Suspend Cold Case Squad

PORTLAND, OR — With Portland on pace to surpass last year's record of 92 homicides, the police bureau is shifting resources to deal with the increasing number of homicides. One of those being shifted is the head of the cold case squad.

That means that the squad's work will be temporarily shut down.

Police Chief Chuck Lovell made the announcement to staff in a recent email, calling it "a difficult decision," adding that the bureau hopes to get the squad up and running "as our resources increase,"

The bureau said that it currently has 18 detectives assigned to two separate teams of nine, according to the bureau. Lovell's plan would create a third team of six detectives and would be headed by the sergeant from cold case and consist of two detectives from that squad as well as four others from the property crime squad.

Through April 30, there have been 33 have died in homicides. Two of them were killed by law enforcement officers.

Of the 31, all but one was killed by gunfire.

There have been arrests in nine of the cases, meaning that less than one third of the cases have been cleared.