The Portland Police Department has hired three new people to help it improve community relations.The new hires for alternative response liaison, substance use disorder liaison, and media and community relations liaison were announced Monday.Andrea Taatjes is the first alternative response liaison in the department's history and will help with "proactive efforts to provide critical response capacity," the city said in a news release.Taatjes, who has 10 years of clinical experience, will work closely with patrol officers and will co-respond or respond in lieu of police response in certain situations, officials said.William Burns is the department's new substance use disorder liaison, a position that was created in 2015 to help address the opioid crisis. Part of his role will be to provide education and awareness to the police department about substance abuse in the community.The department also hired former local reporter David Singer to be the media and community relations liaison.