Vasquez plans to expand theft task forces, addiction treatment in MultCo DA's office

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- After a contentious race, Nathan Vasquez will succeed Mike Schmidt as Multnomah County district attorney in January-- aiming to build community relationships, expand theft task forces, and find ways to address the drug crisis.

The race hinged on the perception of crime, homelessness, and open drug use, especially in Portland.

As of Friday, May 24, Vasquez led with 53% of the vote, more than 13,000 votes ahead of Schmidt with 91% of votes counted.

When it became apparent Vasquez would win the race on election night, Schmidt told KOIN 6 News, “You look at the downtown crime rates the last six months, we're back to where we were pre-pandemic, and a lot of the different crime rates are coming down, but what I’m hearing from people is that even when you say that to folks, they say, ‘Well, I don't believe that.'"

Vasquez said he doesn’t necessarily agree.

“I think there’s been some improvements,” Vasquez said. “However, there are still a lot of struggles that I know that people feel and see every day in our downtown and we need to really chip away at that.”

Among his top priorities: Addressing the drug crisis.

“Certainly, looking to end open-air drug dealing in our community is going to be a top priority. And then, how do we connect individuals -- who are suffering with substance abuse disorder --how do we get them to treatment and support them through that process?” Vasquez said.

Once he takes office, Vasquez explained there will be some changes in the office's philosophy behind prosecuting certain cases and plans to build upon the auto and retail theft task forces created under Schmidt.

“It will be more of an emphasis of looking to build out and collaborate with local partners to really get a lot of the different areas that we’ve struggled in. Certainly, it's going to be to build upon some of the good work that’s been done in the areas of the auto theft task force, the retail theft, but then, I think there’s a lot that needs to be done on the everyday experience Portlanders have and Multnomah County with a feeling that a some of the small crime goes unchecked," Vasquez said.

“Throughout my career, but particularly in the last five years, I’ve been really working at how do we work out in the community to deal with some of the most important problems and one of the areas that I developed is what we call strategic prosecution; it’s where we use data to be efficient in how we look at areas of crime that are out of control and really, the Auto Theft Task Force and the retail theft, those ones really fall squarely in that," Vasquez explained.

He added, "while they weren’t placed under my unit during this campaign, this is going to be an area that I’m going to expand greatly. I know the officers that work on this, I know the DAs that work on this and it’s going to be a time where we take that base that’s there and we grow it so that we can really deliver that component of public safety.”

When asked during an interview with KOIN 6 News about finding solutions to jail alternatives for low-level crime, Vasquez explained, “It really does come down to being an advocate out there, identifying those gaps where we need to improve, working with – whether it’s the county commissioners or state legislatures, to make sure we’re filling those gaps and then as hopefully we’ve seen there’s been a change in the laws around Measure 110 and there is additional funding for treatment that continues to grow, that resource base continued to grow, and we can get people connected there.”

During his time with the district attorney's office, Vasquez said he's built strong relationships with staff and attorneys, which he says will help him manage around 300 attorneys in the office and its $50 million budget, adding, "when it comes down to it, it is going to be working with those individuals but also, when we talk about this transition, it’s going to be hearing the voices from the community. I want them to have a real voice and input in this process as well.”

As he transitions into the leadership role, Vasquez is focused on building community relationships with agencies such as the U.S. Attorney's Office, police bureaus, and community-based organizations.

Another goal during the transition: boosting employee morale in the district attorney's office.

“It comes in a few ways, first and foremost, I’ve seen an uptick in morale already with this election and what it comes down to is celebrating those employees and actually supporting them,” Vasquez said. “And then from there, it is going to be a bit of a shift in the culture in that from here on out, there is going to be an office that hopefully is functioning well but is more focused on the accomplishments of the individual attorneys inside the office and less about who is at the head of the office.”

Ahead of Vasquez's term beginning in January 2025, both Schmidt and Vasquez stated they will work towards a smooth transition.

“I think we’re both professionals and I really appreciated [Schmidt's] service and I expect we will have opportunities to sit down and have some conversations about how we can make this a smooth transition, how we can support our attorneys in the office and how we can best deliver public safety to our community,” Vasquez said.