One Candidate Wants a Version of Portland Street Response Deployed to Public Schools

Derrick Peterson explains how the idea would work.

GOOD CHEER: Students head to a basketball game at Lincoln High School. (Blake Benard)
By Aaron Mesh

As WW reported in a cover story this week, Portland Public Schools is watching enrollment decline at more than twice the national rate. Some parents told WW they’re hesitant to send their children to schools amid a rise in gunfire on school property.

Underlying this concern is a heated debate over whether a lack of police presence in school hallways is contributing to the violence.

In 2020, weeks after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, local officials pulled cops out of Portland Public Schools. In recent months, the same officials who eliminated the school resource officer program are talking about bringing it back. That’s a reflection of a larger shift in attitudes toward policing in a progressive city experiencing a rise in homicides, car thefts and other major crimes.

Derrick Peterson has a unique vantage on the argument. He’s a former chief corrections deputy in the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office with a specialty in diversity and equity training. And he’s running for Portland’s school board in the May 16 election.

In an interview with WW’s editorial board last week, Peterson suggested a compromise: equip Portland schools with something closer to Portland Street Response, the city program that sends paramedics and licensed mental health clinicians to people in crisis on the streets, rather than police officers.

What would a school version of Portland Street Response look like? Listen to Peterson’s full response below:

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