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Public Safety

Public Safety Committee Session Recap

By CSG West

Areas of focus include drug trafficking and threat assessment, human and labor trafficking, and recent federal activity on gun safety policy.


Drug Trafficking and Threat Assessment
Top takeaways:
  • There is an overproduction of marijuana in Oregon and inadequate resources for monitoring compliance with state marijuana laws.
  • Overproduction of marijuana has resulted in an increase in human and labor trafficking. Living conditions for these individuals is neither safe nor sanitary.
  • Gun violence is on the rise, but gun violence prevention legislation is slowly making it through legislatures.

Chris Gibson, Executive Director at Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), gave an overview of HIDTA’s mission: to facilitate, support and enhance collaborative drug control efforts among law enforcement agencies and
community-based organizations, thus significantly reducing the impact of illegal trafficking and use of drugs throughout Oregon and Idaho.

Threat based approach that begins with a threat assessment moves to strategy development and funding of intelligence and enforcement initiatives to address the threat. The primary strategy is to conduct intelligence led investigations with the goal of reducing drug supply by disrupting and dismantling DTOs.

Methamphetamine will remain highly available, inexpensive, and, along with fentanyl, will be the most serious drug threat in the Oregon-Idaho HIDTA region.

The proliferation of fentanyl has likely created a decrease in the demand for heroin. Heroin demand, and accordingly supply, will likely continue to decrease in the coming year.

The overproduction of marijuana in Oregon, coupled with inadequate resources for monitoring compliance with state marijuana laws, will continue to contribute to illegal sales of excess marijuana and marijuana products trafficked across the United States.

Based on the continued increase in cocaine seizures in the region, the availability of cocaine in the region is likely to remain stable. Cocaine use in the HIDTA will remain low in the near term based on user cost and the high availability and low cost of methamphetamines.

Resources:

Presenter:

Chris Gibson
Executive Director
Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area (HIDTA)

Public Safety Session Moderator:

Representative Matt Bundy
Idaho House of Representatives


Human and Labor Trafficking
Top takeaways:
  • There is an overproduction of marijuana in Oregon and inadequate resources for monitoring compliance with state marijuana laws.
  • Overproduction of marijuana has resulted in an increase in human and labor trafficking. Living conditions for these individuals is neither safe nor sanitary.

Representative Lily Morgan (OR) described the dire situation of human and labor trafficking related to harvesting marijuana in her Southern Oregon district. Laborers are subject to unsanitary eating conditions and unhygienic sleeping and storage areas. endemic to her district in southern Oregon. Marijuana growing sites are being discovered everywhere – in some cases next to schools. Representative Morgan shared this video to illustrate the magnitude of the situation.

Presenter:

Representative Lily Morgan
Oregon House of Representatives


Gun Rights and Gun Violence: What States Can Expect and Pursue Following Recent Federal Activity on Gun Safety Policy

Gun violence is on the rise, but gun violence prevention legislation is slowly making it through legislatures.

Peter Vujovic and Sarah Sumadi, Everytown for Gun Safety, gave a brief overview of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Changes to federal law include: enhanced background checks for buyers under the age of 21, addressing the dating partner loophole, clarity about who under federal law is required to conduct a background check, and stricter scrutiny on interstate gun trafficking.

New Funding for states includes $750 million to implement extreme risk laws, $250 million in grants to combat gun violence in our cities and communities, and new investments in mental health services and access, and school safety funding.

S. Sumadi reviewed executive actions state administrators can take to improve gun safety. Recommended actions included (1) removing illegal guns promptly with a statewide program to identify prohibited gun owners and ensure they are disarmed, (2) distributing public materials through the schools and other channels to educate gun owners on the dangers of unsecured guns at home and in vehicles, (3) launching an education strategy and a government task force to increase the use of extreme risk orders, and (4) establishing an Office of Violence Prevention.

See how your state state stacks up: everytownresearch.org/rankings

Assemblymember Mike Gipson (CA) concluded the session by reviewing his bill (AB 1621) regulating ghost guns which was recently signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. AB 1621 further restricts ghost guns – firearms that are intentionally made untraceable – as well as the parts used to build them. Ghost guns have been called an “epidemic” by the Los Angeles Police Department, contributing to more than 100 violent crimes in Los Angeles last year alone.

Assemblymember Gipson noted that “no region or demographic is exempt from gun violence – hospitals, grocery stores, schools, and even places of worship, are no longer safe. The proliferation of ghost guns, which are intentionally untraceable weapons to evade law enforcement, has only worsened the issue.”

Presenters:

Peter Vujovic
Associate Regional Director
Everytown for Gun Safety

Sarah Sumadi
Associate Regional Director
Everytown for Gun Safety

Assemblymember Mike Gipson
California State Assembly