Administration

Sgt. Burns sustained an off duty injury (lost a fight with his chain saw) and has been off for two weeks.  He is expected to be off for another two weeks before he can come back to a light duty assignment.

Diane Reed has been working on several projects, including a means to streamline and make the fraud reporting easier on staff.  She came up with a form for victims to complete.

I made a conditional offer to Jeff Argubright for the position of Patrol Officer.  We will be conducting his background check over the next few weeks.  He is a lateral from the Clark County SO so he will not need to attend the police academy.  He will go through our Field Training Program, but I suspect it won’t take him any time at all.  He will be a good fit.  More on him when the position becomes final.  I will also bring him to a Council Meeting for his swearing in and to provide Council an opportunity to meet Jeff.

Patrol

The vehicles and uniforms were updated to include “Estacada” and all necessary equipment items purchased.  We started on 09-01-13 and the first few days have gone great!

Officer Olmos started at the OTSD High School as the new School Resource Officer.  Officer Ways in now on Patrol.

Investigations

We took over 200 Fraud reports all related to the case we are working.  It still appears that the common thread is the Dairy Queen, but we still don’t have an absolute answer on how it happened.  We continue to work with the Secret Service and both Dairy Queen and Fred Meyer are being great about helping!

Jason Bickle finished his tour as the detective (three years) and has passed on the job to Jason Coates.  It must be a “Jason” thing.  Det. Coates hit the ground running and I expect great things from him.  “Officer” Bickle is now assigned to swing shift patrol.

Evidence/Property Room (Juli Smith)

Number of Items Submitted:  8                   Year To Date:                     85

Sales:   The Property Room had  sales of $49 this month.  Yearly sales total $16,378.00

Set up account with Fortes Labs in Wilsonville for cases not handled by OSP.

Oil change in the Escape and fixed a low tire issue.

Worked on multiple firearms cases to clear guns that are in Safekeeping.

Some Property hours were devoted to the Fraud cases and hiring process this month.

Items Received:             52                Year To Date:               522

Items Purged:                  16               Year To Date:               310

Total EOQ Items Since Inception 2012:  1,394

Total EOQ Purged:  557

Total EOQ Items In Inventory: 837

(Numbers for items received and purged include only cases logged into EvidenceOnQ. Purging  on ClassWeb cases continues but is not included in the count)

Admin

On July 27th we conducted the written and physical testing necessary for the police officer hiring process.  We tested approx. 40 applicants and I am happy to report there seem to be some great candidates.  We will use this applicant pool for any hiring needs for the next year, including reserve officers.  Diane Reed did a great job organizing everything and the testing was done in just a few hours.  Rebecca Ginter, Juli Smith, Sgt. Roberts, Officer Coates, and Sgt. Burns were all there to lend a hand.

Diane Reed was asked by the Camas Police Department to participate in an oral interview process for a new records clerk.  They recognized her experience and expertise and wisely used her to help select their next employee.

Patrol and Training 

As usual, July is a very busy month.  We managed the 4^th of July fireworks without a hitch.  Sgt. Burns was in charge of the fireworks security and safety and did a fantastic job.  Also on the 4^th, Officer Wetherbee, Sgt. Roberts and Chief Yamashita set up a booth at the Estacada Timber Festival for a few hours.  We used this time as a “meet and greet” just getting to know the neighbors.  Lastly, we assisted Molalla PD by sending four officers over to help with crowd and traffic control during their Molalla Days Parade, also on the 4^th of July.  Whew!

Mt. Festival went off without a hitch.  The planning and execution of the parade went well thanks to Sgt. Roberts and his hard work.  We also had several officers from Molalla PD helping out that day on either the parade or patrol.  The remainder of Mt. Festival was pretty uneventful.

All sworn staff (including reserves) has received new and updated training in the “Active Shooter” discipline.  The new techniques are smart, intuitive and adaptable to many situations.  I think these new techniques will really save lives.

Property/Evidence

Items Received:                 40                                                            Year To Date:     470

Items Purged:         56                                                            Year To Date:      294

Total EOQ Items since Inception 2012:                                                                      1,345

Total EOQ Purged:                                                                                                          515

Total EOQ Items in Inventory                                                                             830

(Numbers for items received and purged include only cases logged into EvidenceOnQ. Purging  on ClassWeb cases continues but is not included in the count)

Trips to Crime Lab:                                      2

Number of Items Submitted:               15                          Year To Date:                   77

Sales:   The Property Room had no sales this month.  Yearly sales total $16,329.00

• New form created to present to the Juvenile department in order to document closed cases and purge juvenile property more quickly.

• Checking into how EvidenceOn Q can handle the new Estacada contract and track their evidence separately for City Council and budgeting purposes.

Admin

Selecting officers for the Estacada contract was made on June 26, 2013.  The selection was done by way of a panel interview.  The panel consisted of members of the Estacada council, the Estacada City Manager and myself.  Officer’s Sam Craven and Bill Wetherbee were selected to represent the Sandy Police Department in Estacada.  I have great faith in these two officers and know that they will do a great job.

School Resource Officer – Officer Kevin Way

Here are the activities and eventful incidents that occurred:

I had approximately 7 people (teachers, students and parents) contact me seeking advice or referrals and conducted 1 background check for the school district.

I investigated a possible criminal mischief to a student’s vehicle.  The student reported someone had slashed her tire.  Upon further investigation, and review of the surveillance video, it was determined the tire was not damaged at school.  The tire was damage elsewhere, but coincidentally happen to go flat while parked in the lot.

CRIME STATS FOR MAY – Chief Yamashita

As you will see from the graph below the number of arrests are a little higher this month.  We had a total of 133 arrests (our average has been running about 120)

PATROL/ADMIN – Chief Yamashita

May was a busy month for prep work.

• We have met with Hood to Coast officials to start preparing for the race in August.
• We started work on the 4th of July fireworks.
• Prep for the parade, Mt. Festival and wine/beer/music is underway.
• Also started worked on the Estacada project after the award of the contract on 05/13 by the Estacada council.
• I was asked by the DOJ to participate in a Federal/State grant review process.  The Grant is designed to promote projects that aid in decreasing violence against women (particularly, domestic violence, date rape etc).  My participation was preparation for the next round of the grant.  I will be better prepared to apply, and hopefully receive grant funding that could be used to off-set some employee and program costs.
• I participated, with several others, in the Economic/Business Rapid Response Team Training.
• We are prepping and staffing for multiple events coming up in July.

RECORDS – Diane Reed

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER – Officer Kevin Way

I had approximately 21 people (teachers, students and parents) contact me seeking advice or referrals and conducted 3 background checks for the school district.

I cited three high school students for MIP- Alcohol (by consumption).  The students arrived to school on the school bus, then preceded to walk off campus were they consumed several beers.  The students were released to their parents.

An OTSD employee contacted me to report someone had applied graffiti to the ticket booth near the high school athletic field.

I contacted several transient types, on separate occasions, on the walking trails behind the high school.  I attribute the increase to the improving weather.

EVIDENCE/PROPERTY ROOM – Juli Smith

Trips to Crime Lab:                                2

Number of Items Submitted:             14                Year To Date:                   55

Sales:   The Property Room had sales of $0 this month.  Yearly sales total $3,425.00

• Malibu is currently in midst of auction and sealed bids are being accepted.  In the first week of auction, over 107 people viewed the online listing & photos. We have a reserve of $8500.00 set for the minimum bid.
• Checked into Fred Meyer Pharmacy bag program to promote drug drop box; decided free methods of publicity were adequately promoting the program.
• Added information for Oregon Trail School District to the Sandy Radio station. Checking into how EvidenceOn Q can handle the new Estacada contract and track their evidence separately for City Council and budgeting purposes.
• Purging continues!

School Resource Officer Report – Officer Way

I had approximately 18  people (teachers, students and parents) contact me seeking advice or referrals and conducted 39 background checks for the school district.

An outside agency contacted me requesting information regarding a homicide case they are investigating.

A high school teacher reported smelling marijuana coming from a student’s backpack.  Upon further investigation, a small amount of marijuana was located inside the backpack.  The student claimed it did not belong to him and stated “I was holding it for a friend”.  The student was charged with possessing marijuana within 1000’ of a school and transported to the juvenile department in Oregon City.

A copper theft was reported to me by an employee of a cell phone provider.  The employee reported sometime in the past six months someone removed several copper items from the cell tower site located behind the old high school.

Over spring break several power tools were stolen from the environmental science storage shed near the high school.  There was no sign of forced entry, it is unknown if the door was left unsecured or the suspect/s cut the padlock and took it with them.

I had a Clackamas County Sheriff’s office drug detection K-9 unit conduct a walk-through of the halls at the high school.  The K-9 “Hit” on several lockers, but no drugs were found.

On three separate occasions I encountered students from other high schools on our high school campus during school hours.  Each were waiting to either meet their girl friends for lunch or to meet them after school.  Each was polite and unaware they could not be on campus and left without incident.

The principal from Cedar Ridge Middle School requested my assistance with four unwanted juveniles at the skate park during school hours.  Officer Hodges and myself responded and contacted the juveniles.  Ultimately, the juveniles were advised they are no longer welcome at the skate park (mainly due to their poor attitudes and respectfulness) and their parents were contacted and informed of the situation.

Property Room – Julie Smith

Items Received:          137                                    Year To Date:               291

Items Purged:                  55                                    Year To Date:               180

(Numbers for items received and purged include only cases logged into EvidenceOnQ. Purging  on ClassWeb cases continues but is not included in the count)

Trips to Crime Lab:                               1

Number of Items Submitted:             13                Year To Date:                   41

Sales:   The Property Room had sales of $0 this month.  Yearly sales total $3,425.00

• Over 100 items were processed for burglary case #13-0406.  Evidence was logged in and released back to victims in Redmond and Reno in 10 days time.

• Professional photos of the Malibu are scheduled for second week of May. Info packets along with link to car details will be blasted to every potential buyer.

Work with the Juvenile Department to update case adjudication practices continues.

Purging continues

Patrol

Officer Steffanson saw an abandon unlicensed vehicle in the undeveloped housing area behind the theater.  Upon investigating, he found the vehicle was stolen and filled with stolen property.  We found ID and possibly DNA evidence inside the vehicle leading to a suspect.  Further investigation found our suspect is wanted in several other jurisdictions for burglaries and other crimes.  Some of the recovered stolen property was from a commercial burglary in Redmond Oregon.  Here is a photo of what was recovered.

• Revenue generated this month was from participation in a joint Drug Take Back Program held at the Sandy Senior Center.  The Property Room had sales of $250 this month.  Yearly sales total $3,425.00

• Best practices were updated for the Property Room regarding the preservation of Biological Evidence.  All retained urine specimens will now be frozen instead of refrigerated for long term storage and DNA swabs, to include Rape Kits, will no longer be refrigerated, but rather held in storage at room temperature.  These updates are a result of several years of research by the Technical Working Group on Biological Evidence Preservation and adopted by the International Association of Property & Evidence.  A matrix chart is now posted on the evidence room refrigerator for easy reference and future Property Room employees.

• Plans underway to get professional photos of the Malibu in order to ready it for sale.

• Ongoing work with the Juvenile Department in order to try and implement changes so that police agencies are notified when juvenile cases are adjudicated.  Juvenile is not amenable to making any changes to the way they conduct business.

In an effort to improve our customer service, we now take credit cards at our front desk.  Traditionally we accepted check or cash only, for fee for service charges.  Using the “Square” and an I-pod  we were able to get up and running.

As another customer service feature were are able to procure a drug take back box for our lobby.  This was done through a grant so there were no out of pocket expenses for this project.  The box is located in the lobby and allows citizens that need to dispose of old medications to walk in and drop them off.  No paperwork, no having to wait for assistance and no hassle!

This month we saw 132 arrests, most of which were warrant or drug related.  The graph below shows the types of arrest by category to give you an overview of thecrime occurring here in Sandy.

I have also included an arrest clearance report below.  This graph shows you that we are averaging about a 73% clearance rate on cases taken in February.

From the Property Room – Juli Smith

Sales:   The Property Room had sales of $0 this month.  Year-to-date sales total $3,175.00

• Unclaimed backpacks were purged, usable clothing was removed, laundered and donated to the Sandy Action Center.
• Drug box was installed, article written for publication in the Sandy Post, information given to Records Manager for inclusion on the City website.
• Flyers were created for distribution to the public relating to the new Drug Drop Box and taken to a 3 hour event (March 1^st) held at the Senior Center.  We will also bring in approximately $300 of revenue from this event.
•  Funds from the Property Room totaling $1,650 were transferred to Finance at City Hall.
•  The Property Room is working with the Juvenile Department on a better way to receive notification when a Juvenile case has been adjudicated.

From the School Resource Officer – Officer Kevin Way

I had approximately 16 people (teachers, students and parents) contact me seeking advice or referrals and conducted 19 background checks for the school district.

A student reported his I-pod was stolen while he was at school.  He told me prior to reporting it stolen, he tracked it to a residential area in Sandy.  Two days later when he reported the incident, he attempted to get online to show me the location of the I-pod, but was unsuccessful.

A high school student was arrested for Possession of Marijuana within 1000’ of a school and Delivery of a Controlled Substance when he brought marijuana laced cookies to school and shared them with another student.  Campus security captured the incident when they were reviewing the school surveillance video for another incident.  The student was transported the juvenile department in Oregon City.

An OTSD employee reported unknown suspect/s slashed the wall of the recently constructed green house behind the high school.  The incident occurred sometime over the weekend.

Sales:   The Property Room had sales of $3,175.00 this month.  Yearly sales total $3,175.00

• Property Room sold $3,050.00 of guns and gun related parts. Snowboard was sold for $125.00

• Preparations underway to sell the 1968 Chevelle

Commendations and Letters

We received two letters from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.  The first was a thank you letter for the assistance that the Sandy PD provided during the Clackamas Town Center Mall Shooting incident.  The second letter was a letter of commendation for Officer’s Olmos and Coates.  They assisted the Sheriff’s Officer with a short pursuit and capture of three suspects that had been in a stolen vehicle.

Schools

I completed a school security audit on the new high school and presented my findings to the OTSD Superintendent, Mr. Bayer.  I have also been collaborating with the school district on their lock down procedures and other emergency response documents.

Officer Way had a fairly busy month conducting 10 more background checks for school employees/volunteers, providing counseling for seven staff and students as well as investigating several crimes.  He made a few drug related arrests and assisted outside agencies on two other investigations.

Emergency Management

We met with folks from the Sandy Fire Department and finalized some plans for the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).  We also finger printed all of the SFD employees we anticipate will be assigned to work in the EOC if activated.  The fingerprints were used to complete a Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) background check.  This allows anyone with an approved CJIS background check to come and go from our building (with the issued proximity card) without an escort.

Fleet Maintenance

Our aging patrol fleet needed a lot of repairs and maintenance in 2012.  We hit just over $30,000 in repair bills.  Sgt. Roberts and I are looking into new vehicle lease programs and the numbers look pretty promising.

Reserve Academy Graduation

We have three new reserve recruits graduating on February 9th from the Reserve Academy.  The graduation ceremony is being hosted by the Sandy Police Department at the new Sandy High School  The graduation begins at 6:30 pm.

Policing in the Virtual World:

The Sandy Police Department is officially “Virtual”, at least our Grand Jury Testimony is virtual.  On Friday, December 14, 2012 we held our first “Facetime”  Virtual Grand Jury.  It took exactly 6 minutes from beginning to end.  No more driving to Oregon City and waiting for 20 to 60 minutes to testify and then driving back to Sandy.  We just come in, sign on and wait for their call at an appointed time. The entire Grand Jury can see us and we can see everyone and the entire Grand Jury Room.  It worked beautifully!

 Clackamas Town Center Shooting:

The Sandy PD had a small role in helping with the shooting at the mall.  Officer Way was nearby at a class, heard the call, and responded to the scene.  He was tasked with providing security for the medical staging area, and was there when they brought out victims.  He did a great job.  The rest of us that were on duty responded by back filling the county and taking calls from Damascus, Boring, Estacada, and on up to Timberline.  We lucked out as the call load was low and we were able to manage the workload.  We did call in a few extra officers to help out.

School Security:

In response to the Sandy Hook Elementary school tragedy, we have been working with Oregon Trail School District in ensuring the safety of the students.  Officers were assigned extra patrol at the schools (Sandy HS, Sandy Elementary, Cedar Ridge MS and Firwood Elementary).  We have been in close contact with OTSD and have scheduled additional training and exercises for both the OTSD and SPD staff.   We have been participating in exercises, training and planning for the last several years and want to make sure we are as ready as possible while praying the need never arises.