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Unimpressed by the performance of Multnomah County’s drug-crime deflection center, District Attorney Nathan Vasquez today said he would bring criminal penalties for people who fail to complete the deflection process starting next year.
Under current rules, people stopped for possession of controlled substances are given the option to avoid the criminal justice system by agreeing to pursue treatment in some form. Those who choose deflection aren’t reported to D.A. and no charges are brought.
“Effective Jan. 5, 2026, when police take a qualifying individual to the deflection center, they will also submit all investigative reports and materials on the underlying charges to the district attorney for review,” Vasquez wrote to city and county leaders in a memo obtained by WW. “All individuals who walk out of the center without participating in an assessment will be prosecuted if the evidence supports it.”
Vasquez’s office will also track people in deflection for 90 days. If they “meaningfully engage” in treatment during that time, no charges will be filed, Vasquez wrote.
The changes reflect Vasquez’s belief, shared by many, that the requirements for successful deflection are too lenient and rarely lead to people becoming sober. In Multnomah County, completion is defined as seeking peer support, shelter, medical help, sobering services, detox, treatment for substance use disorder, mental health treatment or “insurance/basic needs.”
Deflection is Oregon’s latest attempt to keep people out of the criminal justice system when stopped for possession. Measure 110, passed in 2020, decriminalized most drugs, replacing penalties with a $100 fine that could be waived if a person sought treatment.
The Legislature overturned Measure 110 in 2024 but encouraged counties to keep people out of jail by setting up state-funded deflection programs. Lawmakers gave the counties lots of leeway to define their programs and to determine what constituted success.
Multnomah County elected to spend more than $3 million to turn an old print warehouse on Southeast Sandy Boulevard into the “Coordinated Care Pathway Center.”
During its first year of operations, officers brought violators to the center 606 times, the county said in a report to the Multhomah County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 13. Not counting repeat visitors, the center served 520 people. Using either figure, the number of visits works out to fewer than two a day for the year.
The results prompted an outcry among commissioners. Commissioner Meghan Moyer said she was concerned that Multnomah’s program “doesn’t fundamentally work.”
Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards said spending millions to offer deflection to 520 people—an average of two people a day in the year ended Aug. 31—”can’t continue.”
Commissioner Shannon Singleton put out a statement Monday describing changes she would make, mostly to connect deflection candidates with housing, because 92% of people who arrived at the Pathway Center had experienced homelessness.
In his memo to the team of local leaders who guide the deflection program, Vasquez described the one-year results that prompted his call for reform. Serving an average of two people a day was first among them.
To remedy that, Vasquez proposes to expand the cases that can be referred to deflection. He wants to include people charged with both possession and public order misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct, interfering with a police officer and trespassing.
Also damning, according to Vasquez: One-third of deflection seekers left the center before being assessed for treatment, and just 18% of people dropped at the center by police followed up with a service provider.
“Based on the current outcomes of the deflection system, change is needed,” Vasquez wrote.
Beyond his unilateral amendments, Vasquez said he looks forward to discussing other proposals with the team, led by Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, that meets regularly to assess the deflection program. Representatives from the city, law enforcement and the drug treatment community participate to hone the program.
As for meaningful engagement at 90 days, Vasquez proposes four items: completion of a substance use disorder assessment; enrollment in a substance abuse service; completion of all schedule monthly contacts with a peer- or care coordinator; and completion of at least one treatment activity.
“Multnomah County has the tools, funding, and collective expertise to build a deflection system that truly meets the needs of people struggling with addiction and fulfills the expectations of the community we serve,” Vasquez wrote. “The challenges identified in the first year of implementation make clear that we must act with urgency and focus.”
In response, Vega Pederson said the deflection program is at a “natural inflection point” where improvements can be made based on data.
“As we explore changes, we need to consider the impacts on our legal system partners, ways to maximize the number of people eligible for deflection who are actually brought into the program, and center the state-mandated goal of steering people away from our justice system and towards accountability through treatment, recovery, and long-term stability,” Vega Pederson said in a statement.
