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Portland Police Acting Chief Donna Henderson met with command staff and police supervisors Tuesday for a four-hour brainstorming session to find ways to move officers from specialty units to fill vacancies in patrol. (Maxine Bernstein|Staff)

Portland police are considering eliminating certain specialty units to shift officers to fill patrol vacancies as they struggle with a staffing shortage.

Acting Chief Donna Henderson informed bureau members that she met with police command staff and unit managers Tuesday for a four-hour brainstorming session to figure out where to find officers to fill the patrol shifts.

"We want to get to 400 positions on the street and fully staff detectives,'' Henderson wrote in a memo. That means finding 75 officers to move into patrol, she said.

Talk of discontinuing specialty units sent immediate ripples through the police community. But it's not the first time that the bureau has floated the idea in the midst of efforts to drum up financial support during budget seasons or other negotiations.

The city is continuing to negotiate a new contract with the Portland Police Association, which would increase officer salaries and offer signing bonuses to new recruits in an attempt to attract more applicants and retain current officers. City officials haven't identified how to pay for the increases, but one suggestion is a proposed tax on pot.

Rosemary Brewer, executive director of the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center, said Wednesday she's extremely concerned about any proposed cuts to the bureau's Family Services Division, including its Domestic Violence Reduction Unit, Elder Crimes Unit and a new team of officers dedicated to ensuring guns are removed from people facing domestic violence restraining orders.

One proposal circulated calls for the elimination of these units, meaning all officers and sergeants assigned to them would be moved to patrol. Domestic violence felony cases that these units now investigate would instead be assigned to the downtown detective division at Central Precinct.

"The units are greatly needed, and I think the community should be aware of the possible cuts,'' Brewer said. "Portland has had several high-profile domestic violence homicides in the last few years. Cutting these divisions would be a disaster.''

Brewer and the Oregon Attorney General's Office, seeking to hire an elder crimes prosecutor for the state, are among the advocates who have expressed worries about potential cuts.

In a memo to staff this week, Henderson cautioned that no decisions have been finalized.

"We made many proposals and scenarios of what positions would be moved back to the street,'' she wrote. "At this time, things are really fluid. We are still taking in feedback in each branch about the repercussions of proposed cuts and reassignments.''

Any changes will be presented to the mayor, who serves as police commissioner, and City Council, Henderson told officers.

"First, let me be clear that none of this is easy -- each assignment we talked about brings value and makes significant contributions to the community -- that's why we do it!'' Henderson said in the memo. "In the end, we have to staff our core services and that's what today was about.''

Henderson was named acting chief after Chief Larry O'Dea was placed on administrative paid leave in late May, about a month after he shot a friend in the back while camping in Harney County. O'Dea claimed to a Harney County sheriff's deputy that his friend's wound appeared to be from a self-inflicted accident. The state police and the Oregon Department of Justice are conducting a criminal investigation.

Aside from retirements, Portland police officers have been jumping to other agencies, such as Gresham police, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and Port of Portland police.

There are now 65 vacancies in the bureau, which has an authorized strength of 948 officers, bureau spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said.

Officer Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, said the changes the Police Bureau is considering making -- beefing up patrol by cutting out some police specialty units -- will "only postpone the unacceptable, inevitable outcome which is fewer resources to protect the communities we serve.''

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian