Hello Mayor and council members. Let me start off with apologies for not keeping current with my report the last couple of months. I will get all of you up to speed in this report and maintain them in a timely manner moving forward.

The last few months have been challenging to say the least. With all the civil unrest and the novel coronavirus pandemic, we have been more busy here at the police department. In July of this year, the city police department had two members at an incident in the Welches area that resulted in an officer involved shooting. I’ve had an incredible amount of phone calls, emails etc. regarding this terrible traumatic event. As of this time, Officer William Wetherbee is back to work after completing the necessary protocol including our own Sandy Police Department internal investigation. Officer Michael Boyes is still on non-punitive paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation conducted by the Clackamas County Major Crimes Team. This is all standard procedure for an incident of this nature. With that said, Officer Boyes and Officer Ling started the basic police academy today, August 3rd. Both officers were scheduled to start the academy in June of this year but that got pushed back when the academy closed for a period of time as a result of the pandemic.

This has been a very difficult time for my entire department. We are a close family here as are many of our departments in the City of Sandy and all were affected by this traumatic incident. My thoughts and prayers are with the officers involved as we try to work through this difficult time. I’ve been in contact with both officers involved from the beginning and can say they are both doing well but will need our continued support and guidance as they deal with the effects of such an incident. Their physical and mental well being is my highest priority.

I have also been watching very closely the governor’s special session, including the upcoming session that is supposed to be scheduled in August. Their are a number of bills on the agenda that are concerning to say the least. Some of these bills it seems were written with very little thought of how they could effect law enforcement. The Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police and the Oregon State Sheriffs Association have been heavily involved in these sessions. I’ve had regular meetings to develop talking points for presentation on these matters. Last week, representatives from both groups had the opportunity, albeit a very short time span, to make suggestions and explain why some of these bills will be devastating for our law enforcement officers and agencies. I will have those talking points and summaries soon and will send them to all of you. I encourage each of you to read through what is being proposed and contact our local legislators to weigh in on these items that are being pushed through at a truly short time span and alarming rate. I completely understand and see the need for change on many issues but I do not believe this is the way to make that change happen. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime after you see these bills and we can discuss what they will mean for our police department.

The police department is still short one position from an officer that recently retired. I have made a conditional offer to the top candidate and we will begin the background investigation later this week. I look forward to all of you meeting our newest officer soon.

That is all for now. I hope all of you and your families are doing well during these unprecedented times and thank you all for your continued commitment to our wonderful community.