PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After leaders of Oregon’s capital approved further funding to address homelessness, crime and mental health crises, the city will see more emergency responders.
On Monday, Salem City Council unanimously approved spending another $626,200 on its Safe, Clean, and Healthy Salem initiative aimed at improving public safety — particularly in the downtown and northeast areas.
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The city’s Chief Financial Officer Josh Eggleston revealed that about $275,000 will go toward adding two officers to the Salem Police Department’s Homeless Service Team starting in November.
“This, in turn, will reduce unmanaged encampments and increase outreach and referrals for services and provide improved safety in public areas,” Eggleston said.
Also in November, the city will spend $151,000 on overtime, disposal and contracting fees for the Community Services Department‘s Outreach and Livability Services Team who will work for seven days a week instead of four.
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Another $200,000 will go toward the launch of Salem’s Capitol Area Response and Evaluation Team in January. The pilot program will include two seasonal employees, an Emergency Medical Technician and paramedic, who will work alongside mental health professionals to divert non-emergency behavioral health reports away from police.
City councilors weighed this alternative model, as well as several others, at a work session earlier in July. At the time, Chief Strategy Officer Courtney Knox Busch reported that Downtown Salem saw a 61.2% increase in “person” crimes such as aggravated assault, murder and non-negligent manslaughter from 2020 to 2024. Northeast Salem neighborhoods experienced a 35.8% increase in that same timeframe.
More recently, during Monday’s meeting, Busch revealed the results of a community satisfaction survey conducted in September. DHM Research found that 59% of Salem residents believe the city is heading down the “wrong track,” compared to just 23% of participants who said the city is heading in the “right direction.”
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Homelessness and poverty were identified as the “most important issue” that community members want city leaders to address, at 43%. Crime and drugs were the second-most important issue at 15%, while affordable housing ranked in third place with 8%.
The funding that Salem officials have approved in an effort to address these issues has been added to the budget for the current fiscal year. They are slated to reconsider the additional expenses when discussing the budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
