PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland police deployed a large number of officers to clear out the empty Washington Center building in downtown Portland on Wednesday, targeting a site that has become known in recent weeks as an open-air fentanyl market.
Portland police responded to 11 overdoses during the first weekend in April, three of which became fatal, and a majority of them were near the vacant property at Southwest 4th Avenue and Washington Street.
"I've seen a lot of drug use on this building and I mean a lot," said Bob Williams, a man who has been photographing the building for years. "I have pictures of spoons, broken glass, stolen prescription pill bottles all over the place here."
The Portland Police Bureau confirmed Tuesday that officers had begun to patrol the block 24/7, and the PPB Central Bike Squad posted an Instagram story Wednesday morning detailing the broader operation inside the building.
Photos and video included in the Instagram story show officers getting ready for the operation (described as a "13 hour day") at around 7 a.m., then gathering at 4th and Washington and entering the front doors of the building.
The caption in one of the images indicates that the operation's goal was "clearing out and boarding up" the building. In an email to KGW, PPB said the building owner has contracted a company to board it up and secure it, and the police operation was to make sure it was empty and no one became trapped inside.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler's office issued a press release Wednesday afternoon saying that a contractor "further secured and hardened the building and its perimeter" after police made sure there were no trespassers inside.
"There have been a couple of efforts over a couple of years here," neighbor David Mitchell said.
Additional photos on Instagram show the officers searching through the inside of the building, much of which appears dilapidated and heavily mold-infested, with a lot of graffiti on the walls. Multiple videos show officers having to use a battering ram to break down locked internal doors.
The sidewalks outside the building and a block of the adjacent street could be seen roped off with caution tape Wednesday morning, with both police and Portland Fire & Rescue personnel walking outside.
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