Administration – The year 2011 was not a good year in law enforcement. According to the International Assoc. of Chiefs of Police (IACP), we saw a 13 percent increase in police officer deaths in this country from 2010 to 2011. Even scarier is that from 2009 to 2011 the increase in officer deaths rose by 42 percent.
Because of these statistics, the Chiefs have renewed our commitment to a program called Below 100. Our goal is to reduce officer deaths to no more than 100 per year nation wide. We are taking a multifaceted approach to the problem, and addressing officer safety skills and training, in addition to tactics and training, we are enforcing the mandated wear of bullet resistant vests and seat belts.
On a more positive note, the Clackamas County Chiefs attended a presentation put on by the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) group. These folks monitor our drug and gang problems around the state and then report federally. While the information presented was in a draft format (the research is not quite complete) and is anecdotal, the numbers do look good for the City ofSandy. Overall, there are approx. 250 known gang members in the county. Very little to no gang activity is directly related to Sandy. As I stated, this information is very anecdotal, so in an effort to get a more precise view of what is or is not occurring the Chiefs are working on a uniform method for identifying, reporting and tracking gang activity in the county. I will keep you posted as this program progresses and we start to see real numbers.
Of the 120+ accreditation standards that have to be met, we comply with all but about thirty. We are working on processes, procedures and forms that will allow us to get into compliance on these remaining areas. Once those are areas are addressed, we should be ready for our first site visit. The first visit is a courtesy visit where the inspector will come along and give us an idea if we are on the right track. It is possible that we could pass this initial inspection, but if we do not pass the courtesy inspection there is no harm/foul and we will have the remaining pieces of the puzzle we may need to pass the official inspection. We should have accreditation completed by the end of 2012.
Diane Reed, Sgt. Burns, Karen Evatt and I sat on an oral board for reserve officers. We have eight very good candidates that will be moving forward into the background check process. I hope to be able to hire as many of these applicants as possible and get the program back to adequate staffing levels before the summer.
With the New Year, came new laws and updates to existing ones. Diane Reed spent a great deal of time in December working on the ramifications of the legal changes as they relate to our electronic databases and ticketing software. This included a visit to the PD at midnight on the 31st to convert some files for the electronic ticketing program. Thanks Diane for giving up your New Years Eve to solve this problem.
Investigations – Det. Bickle has been working a very active caseload this month. He has closed several DHS referrals, a few sex abuse cases and is working with OSP and the Secret Service on a counterfeit bill problem that is county wide.
Det. Bickle was assigned to get the department signed up for a program called RAPID, which will allow us to look at all pawned items in the Metro area (including all counties and cities). Additionally, we have become member of WSIN (Western States Information Network). WSIN will allow officers to submit information regarding drug activity, informants and other key investigative bits of information. WSIN acts as a clearinghouse, de-conflicts cross investigations, and helps agencies put similar cases together.
He currently has about a half dozen open investigations.
Code Enforcement – Officer Moody, with the assistance of Reserve Code Enforcement Officer Brett, continue to work hard. They have been working specific neighborhoods, sending out letters and tagging cars in an effort to clean up properties and neighborhoods. Officer Moody has also worked with the building department after catching several contractors without the proper licensing.
School Resource Officer – Officer Way had a slow month given all of the holiday time this month. He did however; follow up on graffiti in Meinig park case. He Officer Moody located the two juveniles and interviewed them, getting confessions. He and Code Enforcing then arranged for both of them to work in the park with Joe Preston for two hours in lieu of getting charged with a crime.
Patrol – In order to save some money and avoided purchasing radios that will need to be upgraded in a few years, we found and are utilizing a source for refurbished radios. This should get our two new officers equipped. Speaking of the two new officers, both Officers Steffanson and Hodges are doing great. They have both finished a full week of the FTO program. Hodges has already made his first felony arrest and Steffanson was involved in his first vehicle pursuit. Both performed these tasks very well.