Police responded to an alleged attempted kidnapping of a 7‑year‑old tourist at Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park after a series of 911 calls reported a naked man running through the area.
The first call, made shortly before 7 p.m. on Saturday, described the suspect attempting to punch a bystander. About 12 minutes later, a second call reported the man grabbing the child and trying to pull her away from her mother.
Officers later arrested 31‑year‑old Daniel Vasey, who was found swimming in the nearby Willamette River. He faces charges that include first‑ and second‑degree attempted kidnapping, custodial interference, assault and harassment.
Investigators said Vasey seized the girl’s arm while her mother held the other, lifting the child off the ground. The girl’s father and several witnesses intervened, using physical force and pepper spray to subdue the suspect.
Police did not reach the park until an estimated 30 to 40 minutes after the initial calls because patrol units were engaged with a barricaded suspect in the Old Town neighborhood.
Deputy Chief Brian Hughes noted that the department lacks sufficient officers to meet the high demand for police services, and major incidents quickly consume the limited resources available.
Sgt. Matt Jacobson added that resource‑intensive situations, such as the barricaded suspect, drain patrol capacity citywide, not just within a single precinct.
That night the bureau operated with 41 patrol officers, supplemented by 10 officers working overtime, representing a roughly 24 % shortfall from planned staffing levels. No reserve patrol officers are available for immediate deployment during multiple simultaneous incidents.
The department employs 809 sworn members, including 572 officers, with 328 assigned to patrol duties across three precincts. Because of rotating schedules, court appearances, leave, training and ongoing calls, an average of about 59 patrol officers are on the streets at any given time.
In 2025 the bureau handled approximately 221,000 service calls, averaging 605 calls per day—or one call every 2.4 minutes.
Response‑time data show that high‑priority calls average 19.5 minutes from dispatch to arrival, including roughly 10.9 minutes spent waiting for an available officer. Medium‑priority calls average 46.7 minutes, while low‑priority calls can take nearly 95 minutes.
Officers are frequently forced to triage calls because the limited number of patrol units cannot address each request immediately.
The staffing dashboard indicates 68 sworn vacancies, leaving Portland with about 1.26 officers per 1,000 residents, well below the national average of approximately 2.4 per 1,000.
