Residents near Dawson Park demand ‘more resources’ to reduce violence

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Another deadly week at Dawson Park is renewing residents’ calls for action and accountability after a stabbing in broad daylight over the weekend and a shooting days earlier.

The park, a longtime cultural hub for Portland’s Black community, has been at the center of safety concerns for years. Neighbors and even police told KOIN 6 News promises to make it safer have failed to bring lasting change.

While some progress has been made, parents said the city needs to show the same boldness it once used to reshape this neighborhood through harmful eminent domain — this time, to help it heal.

One of those parents, Lynne Randall, says last Thursday’s shooting brought back painful memories of gunfire that erupted outside the Arc-En-Ciel preschool her child attends last summer.

“I was again at work, and my husband texted, ‘there were shots fired at the park. We’re in the car, we’re getting away,” she said. “Again, I’m safe at work — and my husband is running away from gunfire, picking up our four-year-old child.”

According to Portland Police, no one was hurt in last week’s drive-by shooting, but bullets tore through a picnic shelter near the playground.

Just three days later, officers say 57-year-old Talmage Ellis was stabbed to death in broad daylight. The suspect, 50-year-old Jermaine McKenzie, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder Monday.

The back-to-back incidents are the latest in a string of violence at the North Portland park, which has struggled for years with gunfire, open drug use and chronic safety concerns.

Between 2020 and 2024, police data show there have been 16 shootings at the park — three of them deadly.

Sergeant Thomas Namba, who leads the Portland Police Bureau’s Neighborhood Response Team, said he understands families’ frustration.

“I think that’s a fair feeling. It’s scary,” he said. “Based on the violence you just talked about, and the fear and legitimate concern neighbors have — it’s appropriate that we reprioritize and refocus Dawson Park as our top priority.”

Namba said his team will increase visibility in the coming weeks, while continuing to launch targeted missions to reduce crime following several recent drug busts, including one tied to the nearby Stop-&-Go-Mini-Mart.

But he admits much of their work remains reactive — limited by staffing and a lack of city and county support.

“I do think there’s room for other organizations to be more helpful. This is a city park that the County Behavioral Health team could be at more often,” he said. “You have people hanging out here that are impacted by their addiction and their suffering, and there’s not resources brought here. If you were in Downtown Portland, I think you’d have resources thrown at you.”

“Here in Dawson Park, you don’t see City resources, you don’t see County resources, you don’t see those sorts of things here. And I think there’s room for that,” he added.

For Randall, who’s worked alongside the neighborhood association and staff with the City’s Environmental Management Office to “activate” the park through community events, progress has been slow.

“It just feels like four steps forward, three steps back. We need to have more city presence and more resources every day — it can’t just be once a month” she said. “I would like to see the park rangers here, I would like to see Multnomah County Behavioral Health here, I would like to see police occasionally doing a drive by.”

In response to renewed calls to action, Deputy City Administrator Bob Cozzie, who oversees the Portland Police Bureau, Portland Fire & Rescue, BOEC and the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management provided the following statement:

“Each act of violence at the park is tragic and deeply painful to both the community and city staff. As the Deputy City Administrator for Public Safety, I am committed to working toward creative solutions alongside community members and city employees. The City of Portland has worked across bureaus to provide various around-the-clock services to Dawson Park in recent months. These services include social gatherings in the park, patrols and focused missions from Portland Police officers, as well as ongoing resources and support to unhoused individuals in the area, just to name a few.”

Last year, city officials pledged to lower permitting fees to encourage community events at Dawson Park. Of the seven permitted events this year, two were discounted, according to Portland Parks & Recreation.

Portland Parks & Recreation told KOIN 6 News rangers have stopped by Dawson Park nearly 180 times over the past three months — But Randall disputes that.

“If the park rangers are saying they’re here every day — that’s not true. I don’t see them,” she said. “I’m here twice a day dropping my kid off, and I’ve never seen a park ranger here outside of the play date that I organized with Safe Blocks.”

She said she’ll keep pushing for consistency — and for the city to follow through on promises made after last year’s violence.

“I see the work that’s been done, but I also see that we just need to keep doing it,” she said.  “It is a little challenging that we have to just keep doing it and keep being there, but it’s hard work. So, we can’t stop because my kid is in there.”

KOIN 6 News reached out to Multnomah County to ask if the Behavioral Health team could commit to deploying outreach workers to Dawson Park but did not immediately hear back.

Although Dawson Park is located within the City of Portland and falls under the jurisdiction of the Portland Police Bureau, a spokesperson for the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office shared the following statement:

“While MCSO does not have a direct role in the day-to-day policing or enforcement efforts in that area, we understand and share the community’s concerns and remain committed to supporting public safety across the county and collaborating with our partners when appropriate.”