Some questions about justice and law enforcement in Bend don’t go away.

Is Bend less safe?

What changes did Measure 110 create?

Does the Bend City Council direct the police to not enforce some laws?

Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels, Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Beth Bagley and Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz, were before the Bend City Council Wednesday night and addressed many questions.

Is crime up or down?

Gunnels said if you look at the overall numbers of cases filed in Deschutes County it looks like the county is heading back up to levels it had before the pandemic. The cases filed were 5,374 in 2019, 3,897 in 2020, 3,755 in 2021, 3,997 in 2022 and the projection is maybe 4,590 for this year.

The county continues to have a striking problem with people driving under the influence of intoxicants. It’s steadily been greater 1,000 cases a year except for a precipitous drop in 2020 due to the pandemic when bars were closed.

The rate is about three cases a day. “That’s another statistic that really is kind of embarrassing and should be shocking to people,” Gunnels said.

Drug possession charges have fallen off dramatically, because Measure 110 decriminalized possession of minor amounts of drugs. For instance, there were 663 cases filed in the county for methamphetamine possession in 2019. The projection is for 62 cases in 2023.

That’s not because law enforcement has been able to stamp out the supply. Small possession amounts are just no longer treated as a crime under Measure 110.

Bagley said the court system has had to deal with a spike in cases involving mental health. For instance, its caseload of “aid and assist” cases — when a defendant can’t help their own defense — have doubled since 2021. One example: There were 20 cases in January 2021. There were 50 cases in January 2023.

A recurring concern in Bend is that the city or the Bend City Council might be directing the police department not to enforce laws against people who are homeless. Krantz said that is not true.

“With all due respect, City Council doesn’t have the authority to tell us how to enforce a law,” Krantz emphasized.

A knotty piece of Oregon law is the difference between possession of a controlled substance and use of a controlled substance.

“Use of a controlled substance was never a crime in Oregon,” Gunnels said. “Only possession was. So I think there was actually case law that said it was not unlawful for a person to use controlled substances only to possess it. Which creates some — angels on the head of a pin.”

The Legislature should upend that distinction as it is working on proposed changes to drug treatment and enforcement for the 2024 legislative session.

You can find additional statistics from the presentation before council here: tinyurl.com/Bendcrime