This content was published: April 29, 1998. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Cascade Campus Committed To Neighborhood Safety
Photos and story by Mark Evertz
Portland Community College is taking immediate action to ensure that the neighborhood surrounding Cascade Campus is safe for its students and for area neighbors. The campus is working closely with the Portland Police Bureau North Precinct, with the Humboldt Neighborhood Association and with local businesses.
"We will not tolerate any threat to our students, to our staff and to our educational environment," said Mildred Ollee, Cascade Campus executive dean, following a shooting that occurred on the corner of Killingsworth and Kerby on Monday in which no one was injured. The suspect was apprehended four hours later.
"Our presence in the community has always been honored and respected. We are part of this community, we are strongly committed to its success and well-being, and we will work very hard to keep it safe from these kinds of activities," she added.
Ollee stressed that no PCC students were involved with the recent shooting incident and that there have been no incidents of violence on the campus.
The Cascade Campus of Portland Community College serves 8,700 students annually. Many area residents turn to Cascade for job training, college transfer and self-improvement courses. It is the home of many top-ranked national medical career programs, including Medical Laboratory Technology and Ophthalmic Technology.
So far, the following steps have been taken to keep the neighborhood protected. Specifically:
- A mobile police unit was assigned to the area on Tuesday morning, April 28.
- Additional patrol cars have been assigned to the neighborhood for the immediate future.
- The Portland Police Bureau is also taking immediate measures to increase neighborhood safety and have said details can not be released at this time.
- PCC Executive Dean Ollee is calling a meeting with selected officials and school and community leaders to tackle the problems of increased crime and to devise strategies, she said, "to clean up the area."
- Ollee and other college staff are meeting with Portland Police today to discuss specific safety issues for the Cascade Campus.
The Cascade Campus has undergone extensive renovation in the last several years, due to voter approval of a $61.4 million bond levy for the college in 1992. A new library, classrooms, a remodeled cafeteria have been completed. Last fall, the $7.5 million student services building was completed, providing a new anchor for the campus. Plans for additional construction and renovation are also underway.
"We will work with Portland Police and with elected officials and community leaders to exert every pressure to keep Cascade Campus safe," said Ollee. "We will continue to maintain and enhance a high-quality education for the students at our urban campus," said Ollee. "We are here to stay."