Portland police chief talks public safety, camping enforcement, protest response and staffing challenges

It's been less than two years since Chief Bob Day took the reins at the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), but he says the city has made meaningful progress in that time on some of its most pressing issues, with substantial declines in homicides, gun violence and car thefts, even as public safety remains a top-of-mind issue. Serving as chief was an unexpected new chapter for Day; he had retired in 2019 after nearly three decades with PPB, having worked his way up to the role of deputy chief. But he agreed to come back in late 2023 when former Mayor Ted Wheeler asked him to serve an interim replacement for former Chief Chuck Lovell. He was initially only supposed to hold the role until June of this year, to give Wheeler's successor the chance to select the next permanent chief, but last year, Wheeler changed his mind and made Day's appointment permanent. New Mayor Keith Wilson still had the option to make a change but chose to keep Day in the top job. Day returned as a guest on this week's episode of "Straight Talk," where he discussed Portland's ongoing crime and public safety challenges, drug recriminalization, camping enforcement, a new wave of anti-Trump protests, the impact of Wilson's tighter proposed budget and PPB's priorities for the next year.