Police Equipment

     As mayor I will make several upgrades to police equipment.

1. Bolawraps - BolaWraps are a new restraint device that can fire a cord that wraps around a subject. I would like to improve upon this design and work to make the devices multi-rounded and semi-automatic, making them more effective and realistic for police use. 

2. Equipping Police With Tranquilizers - Tranquilizers can be used at short range to jab a suspect that’s struggling or possibly long range with a dart gun. Often times police have to wrestle suspects and resort to tasing and strangulation. Sometimes suspects are able to resist and flee, and sometimes police end up killing them. With tranquilizers a police officer can quickly reach to their waste, grab a tranquilizer and jab a struggling suspect, leaving them quickly sedated with limited struggle.

3. Installing Video Cameras - Various types of video cameras can be used to help increase the efficiency of policing and deter crime. Surveillance cameras, ideally with facial recognition, could be installed at every intersection in the city.  This will help police identify suspects arriving and fleeing the scene of the crime more efficiently, as well as help decrease profiling as police will be able to better identify the correct suspect. There are currently around 25,500 intersections in Portland, at $5,000 a camera this would cost $128 million total. Red light Cameras could be put on every red light in Portland. There are currently around 1,100 traffic lights in Portland, at $100,000 a camera this would cost $110 Million. Speed cameras can be placed on busy streets, and freeways as well. If 5,000 cameras were placed on busy streets and freeways at $10,000 a camera this would cost around $50 million. Red light and speed cameras will allow all traffic crime to be dealt with automatedly as well as indiscriminately, saving the city money and eliminating potentially discriminatory policing. Requiring private businesses and residents to notify the city if they have video cameras on their property, can help make it more efficient for police to investigate as well.

4. Collecting Fingerprint and DNA samples - This can be done at schools, doctor appointments, homeless shelters, airports etc. If police have DNA and fingerprint samples of every resident on file, it will be much easier to identify suspects and solve crimes.

5. Building New Prison and Jails- I will work with the state and county to build new Prisons and Jails along the lines of the state initiative I am working on. These prisons and jails will have single cells with kitchens and bathrooms in them. These new designs will decrease prison crime and operation costs.

6. Installing Gates at Intersections - High speed chases cause around 300-600 deaths a year.3 Installing gates at all intersections on busy streets could be an easy solution to safely capture fleeing suspects in high speed chases. The costs of this isn't estimated at this time, but I will work on creating a plan of installation, it will probably be a long term plan. The gates will essentially be like gates entering parking lots. 

Potential Gates

References

1a  Number of deaths related to vehicle pursuits by law enforcement agencies in the United States between 1996 and 2015, by state. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/727008/vehicle-pursuit-related-deaths-by-state/

1b   F P Rivara, C D Mack. Motor vehicle crash deaths related to police pursuits in the United States. Retrieved from https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/10/2/93