Portland Street Response (PSR) is a part of Portland’s 911 response system that assists people experiencing mental health and behavioral health crises. PSR launched in February 2021 in the Lents neighborhood and expanded citywide in March 2022. It currently operates from from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week. As of October 2025 hours of operations expanded to 6a.m to 12a.m.

Understood in context, this metric helps us understand both the underlying need for PSR's service, and the city’s capacity to respond.

This is the number of times Portland Street Response is dispatched by a 911 operator.

The Bureau to Emergency Communication tracks the number of times 911 operators dispatch Portland Street Response.

Currently, Portland Street Response will be dispatched when a caller reports:

• A person who is possibly experiencing a mental health crisis; intoxicated and/or drug affected. This person is outside of a publicly accessible space such as a business, store, public lobby, etc.
• A person who is outside and down, not checked.
• A person who is outside and yelling.
• A person who needs a referral for services, but does not have access to a phone line.

The call meets the previous criteria - AND

•  There are no weapons seen.
•  The person is not in traffic/not obstructing traffic.
•  The person is not violent towards others (physically combative, threatening violence, assaulting).
• The person is not suicidal.
• The person is not inside of a private residence.

More information on Portland Street Response can be found at the PSR website , and additional data can be found at the PSR Dashboard.

You can call 911 to request Portland Street Response. Our 911 dispatchers will have a list of questions they will ask to determine which responder is most appropriate to send: Police, Fire, Portland Street Response, or AMR ambulance service. If the call fits the criteria for Portland Street Response, dispatchers will alert the team and send them to the call.