Our Priority: Safe streets, compassionate support, and a city that works for everyone.

We cannot fix a problem we refuse to measure. Having spent months alongside unsheltered neighbors and years working with first responders, I know that District 4 (comprising the Westside, Downtown, Old Town, South Waterfront, and Sellwood) is carrying a disproportionate share of Portland’s public safety burden.

Below is a deep dive into the official Portland Police Bureau crime statistics for our district (July 2025 – June 2026), compared against both citywide totals and major national benchmarks.

We need solutions that don’t overburden taxpayers with new taxes. We need innovation from within.

Property Crime: Big-City Volume in a Single District

District 4 doesn't just have Portland's highest property crime numbers—it generates a volume of theft and property destruction that matches entire major U.S. cities.

• The Local Reality: District 4 absorbs 28% of Portland's total property crime, logging 12,771 offenses in a single year.

• The National Benchmark (Miami, FL): With a population of just 165,000, District 4 endures as much total annual property crime as the entire city of Miami, Florida (pop. ~450,000), which records roughly 13,000 property offenses annually.

• The Solution: We must address property crime with effective, immediate enforcement. We need to eliminate bureaucratic permitting delays in creating activity in our neighborhoods and prioritize rapid vandalism cleanup to end the "crime tax" on our local small business and retailers.

Drug Enforcement: Ground Zero for the Addiction Crisis

Our district is bearing the overwhelming weight of the region's addiction crisis.

• The Local Reality: District 4 carries 55% of Portland’s total drug offenses (764 out of 1,389 citywide incidents).

• The Regional Benchmark (Spokane, WA): A single Portland council district generates more recorded drug enforcement activity than Washington's second-largest city, Spokane (~700–800 annual offenses).

• The Per-Capita Impact: With ~463 drug offenses per 100,000 residents, District 4 sees active drug enforcement density at levels exceeding major urban centers like San Francisco.

• The Solution: We must help our neighbors leave the streets and transition directly into medical treatment facilities—using existing health insurance coverage (OHP and commercial plans) to address drug addiction, mental health issues, and PTSD without creating new local taxes.

Vehicle Break-Ins: An Everyday Tax on Residents

Street parking and commercial garages on the Westside have become high-risk zones for auto theft and prowls.

• The Local Reality: District 4 absorbs nearly half (43.8%) of all car break-ins in Portland, averaging over eight vehicle prowls every single day (3,015 total incidents).

• The National Benchmark (Boston, MA): District 4 suffers as many car break-ins in a single year as the entire city of Boston (~3,000–3,200 annual larcenies from vehicles).

• The Solution: We must restore safe public spaces and transit corridors. Commuters, families, and residents deserve to park their cars without the daily guarantee of shattered glass.

Violent Crime: A Crucial Distinction

While our property and public-order crimes are remarkably high, it is important to accurately categorize violent crime.

• The Local Reality: District 4 accounts for just 19.1% of Portland’s homicides (9 out of 47 citywide).

• The Context: Our severe violent crime baseline remains lower than both Portland's outer districts and national peer city averages. The crisis in District 4 is heavily driven by unmanaged addiction, behavioral health emergencies, and massive property theft—requiring a response tailored to medical recovery and property enforcement, rather than traditional violent crime task forces.

“We need to address property crime and public disorder with effective enforcement, while fast-tracking mental-health treatment, addiction treatment, and Portland Street Response. Public spaces must remain safe, clean, and accessible to everyone—and help must reach people who need it.”

Joshua Leake
Candidate, Portland City Councilor, District 4
TEXT US: 971-435-VOTE

The figures above are based on Portland Police Bureau reported-crime data and should be independently rechecked against the applicable dashboard filters, reporting period, offense definitions, and Portland City Council District 4 boundaries. Reported offenses are not equivalent to convictions, and preliminary data may be revised.

Data Sourced from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) Open Data Portal (July 2025–June 2026) and FBI NIBRS municipal crime databases.