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Leaders of the city of Portland and Multnomah County unveiled a new operations team today to improve safety around the Central Library, which has been plagued by violence and drug use, culminating in the murder of Douglas Ivers, allegedly by a library patron on July 1.
The seven-member team includes library director Annie Lewis, director of workplace security Dorothy Elmore, and interim deputy chief operating officer Stacey Borke from the county. Anne Hill, director of the Public Environment Management Office, will represent the city at bimonthly meetings, along with Portland Police Cmdr. Brian Hughes.
Formation of the new team comes after weeks of finger-pointing among city and county officials over who should be held accountable for unsafe conditions in and around the Central Library. The Police Bureau is a city agency, and the library system is run by the county. Leaders from the city and county had previously stressed that collaboration was key to mitigating illegal activity, but the operations team marks the first concrete plan by the two governments to work together since Ivers’ murder.
“I really appreciate seeing the city and the county move past what was some initial finger-pointing,” County Commissioner Shannon Singleton said after officials unveiled the new team at a meeting of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. “This is what it looks like when the city and the county work together.”
New measures include lower book shelving inside to improve sightlines, more surveillance cameras, and lighting improvements. Exterior Wi-Fi—a boon to Portlanders during the pandemic— has already been turned off to discourage loitering outside the library after hours.
Not included in the improvements are metal detectors at the doors to screen for guns and knives, a suggestion made by the Police Bureau and the Portland Metro Chamber after the Ivers killing. The alleged murderer, Hassan Muse, was captured on video inside the library before following Ivers across Southwest 10th Avenue and shooting him twice in broad daylight.
There are many “risks and implications” to be considered before installing metal detectors, library director Lewis said during the presentation of the new operations team at Multnomah County headquarters today.
Policymakers must “consider the equity impacts and the reduced access that these security measures would create for patrons, particularly patrons that are unhoused and bringing their belongings with them,” Lewis said. “In order to effectively introduce weapons detection, we would likely need to limit the number and size of bags that come into the Central Library, which has very significant implications for our unhoused community, many of whom use our public library every day very successfully and peacefully.”
Singleton raised concerns about metal detectors creating lines, the longtime bane of air travelers. Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards countered that she had recently visited the Central Library in Atlanta, which has a metal detector, and saw no lines. More importantly, she argued, the existing lack of safety is more of a deterrent to visiting the library than any lines would be.
“If our library isn’t safe and welcoming, then that actual state of not being safe reduces access,” Brim-Edwards said. “People will just choose not to go.”
Money is also a hurdle, Lewis said. Any weapons detection system would cost about $750,000, she said, an estimate that includes the hardware and the personnel needed to operate it. The board of commissioners would have to pass an ordinance to set it up because use of metal detectors is considered an “administrative search” under Oregon law.
Lewis backed away from criticism leveled at Portland police by County Commissioner Meghan Moyer, who last month called it “unacceptable” that calls from the library went unanswered and urged officers to be “more engaged” at the library and in its environs.
“We do get effective response times from Portland police,” Lewis said. “We’ve looked back at our data.”
Lewis said she expects to have a full report on Central Library security to the board in September, with an analysis of the safety measures that are under review, including performance of Inter-Con private security officers, weapons policy, staff training, and emergency procedures.
Safety measures beyond metal detectors that are under review include wanding, bag searches, restrictions on personal belongings, vapor sensors in restrooms, and the removal of exterior benches at the library.
