APPENDIX II
FINDINGS – EXISTING SERVICES
Junction City, Oregon Police Department
(May 31, 2002)
[Community Interaction]
[Administration]
[Patrol]
[Traffic]
[Investigations]
[School Resource Officer]
[Communications and Records]
[Jail]
[Property and Evidence]
[Facilities]
[Equipment]
[Human Resources and Training]
[Regional Coordination and Cooperation]
The police department needs the opportunity to interact with the community other than in a law enforcement setting. Through positive community interaction, the department is often able to learn of issues and respond to them before they become problems.
The City Council has established a Public Safety Council Committee consisting of three council members to provide a close connection between the Council, the city administrator and the police department regarding fiscal and operational policy issues. The meetings are held the second Monday of each month or as required. The meetings are open to the public and are advertised in accordance with the public meeting law. Citizens may participate in discussion and may speak to any public safety issue they deem important.
The Department has a standard operating policy (SOP) based upon the Oregon Bar/Press guidelines for interacting with the media. As prescribed in this policy, the department is as open with the press as Bar/Press guidelines allow. The Department will withhold information that if released, could jeopardize an accused person’s right to a fair trial. The Department strives to deal honestly and fairly with media with regard to request for non-criminal information.
The Department has an established operating policy to insure any citizen complaint alleging misconduct by an employee of the department is received, investigated, adjudicated. The primary objectives of the policy are: (1) to ensure the public receives efficient, fair and impartial police service; (2) to review employees actions and department policy for the purpose of correcting deficiencies and improving services; (3) to ensure department employees have their actions judged fairly and objectively in terms of the conditions existing at time the citizen contact was made; (4) to protect employees from false or malicious reporting of misconduct; and (5) to provide sanction for employees of the department who have demonstrated through misconduct corrective action is necessary.
Many members of the Department participate in volunteer activities in the community. These activities range from serving children with disabilities to sponsoring Girl Scout troops to coaching youth sports.
The department has a reserve officer program designed to enable citizen volunteers to serve their community. The program is temporarily suspended due to concerns related to
the department’s resources and ability to provide the necessary training to reserve officers. A study is currently underway to determine the program’s future viability.
Police department, regardless of size, must be administered and managed using basic organizational principles. There are a variety of organizational structures found in various police departments comparable in size to Junction City Police Department. These structures are used to establish reporting relationships and to facilitate getting the work done. No one structure fits into every situation. The Junction City rank and organizational structure fits the situation in Junction City and is based on sound organizational principles. The following description of the administration and management of the police department provides an explanation of the need for the current rank and structure of the department.
The police chief is responsible for administration and management of the police department. These duties include planning, organizing the department, ensuring adequate staffing, directing department operations including the establishment of rules, policies and procedures, coordinating processes such as recruitment, selection, hiring and promotion, ensuring adequate staff training, administration of discipline and budgeting. The current police chief is serving an interim appointment that will end September 30, 2002. The City needs to recruit and select a new police chief by that date.
Due to staffing limitations, in addition to administration and management, the police chief must serve as the on-call supervisor three to four nights a week and occasionally work a patrol shift when other patrol staff are unavailable due to days off, vacation, injury, illness training, etc.
The police chief is assisted by a police lieutenant, the only other police command officer (supervisor/manager) in the department. The lieutenant is responsible for assisting the chief with administration and management duties and serves as acting police chief in the absence of the police chief. The lieutenant oversees the day-to-day operations of the department. The lieutenant also serves as the on-call supervisor three to four nights a week and frequently must work a patrol shift when normally assigned staff is unavailable.
Due to the 24-hour/7 day nature of police operations and workload, it is not possible for two supervisor/managers to adequately perform all supervisor/manager duties required for smooth operation of the department. For this reason, most officers and dispatchers have been assigned, in addition to their normal duties, duties normally assigned to supervisors/managers or professional staff such as scheduling, on-call supervisor, budget coding, etc. Because of shift work and different day off patterns, supervisor/manager oversight of these extra duties is less than desirable.
The department has a rules, policies and procedures manual to provide direction for its employees. The manual is comprehensive but there are several procedures that need updated and a standardized format needs to be established.
There are five police officers assigned patrol duties. At minimum, it requires 6 FTE to staff one shift 24/7. To fill the gap, the traffic officer, the lieutenant and the chief may be reassigned from their normally assigned duties to work patrol. The use of overtime is frequently necessary.
Patrol is the primary law enforcement function of the department and is defined in the broadest terms. Patrol officers perform a wide variety of duties including responding to non-criminal service calls, maintaining civil order, enforcement of city code, traffic law and the state criminal code, preliminary investigation of crime, follow-up investigation of crime, arresting offenders, testifying in court, relieving communications officers for breaks or to feed prisoners, etc.
The department responds to approximately 18,000 calls for service annually. In the course of a single shift, a patrol officer may handle something as mundane as a dog at large call and later in the same shift a very serious crime. The department dispatches a police officer to every call for service. This is not a service provided by most police agencies. In many agencies, callers are asked to provide information over the telephone so a report can be written by a call-taker or asked to respond to the department with their complaint. Much of patrol work is routine, but officers must be constantly prepared to respond to emergencies or danger. Such is the nature of police work.
Patrol officers are scheduled to work five days with two days off. The day off patterns are staggered to provide the best coverage. Officers are assigned to a shift for three months. Upon completion of the three-month shift assignment, officers are afforded the opportunity to rotate to a different shift. Officers select their shift by seniority.
Traffic law enforcement is the responsibility of every
patrol officer. However, calls for
service and other duties often significantly reduce the time available to
dedicate to traffic law enforcement.
The department has made an effort to dedicate one police officer to
traffic law enforcement. To facilitate
traffic law enforcement the department leases a police equipped Harley Davidson
motorcycle. The traffic officer is
responsible for maintenance and repair of the motorcycle. In addition to traffic law enforcement, the
traffic officer is primarily responsible for the investigation of vehicle
crashes and education of the public related to traffic safety.
In reality, due to staffing shortages related to vacancies, illness, injury, etc., the traffic officer has been used frequently to backfill patrol assignments and in recent times has been unable to dedicate the full measure of his time to traffic law enforcement responsibilities.
The Department does not have a full time detective. The on-duty patrol officer conducts follow-up investigation, when necessary. If the investigation requires more than one shift, the assignment is carried over to the next shift for as long as is necessary to complete the investigation. Depending upon the nature of the crime and its importance to the community, overtime may be approved to complete an investigation. The District Attorney has requested that a detective be assigned to all Measure 11 crimes (major crimes mandating certain penalties). While the department is unable to do this, the District Attorney’s Office has been complimentary regarding the quality of such investigations when conducted by the department.
The department conducts follow-up investigation of every crime in which there is an investigative lead. This includes misdemeanor negotiating bad checks, forgery and fraud cases which most departments have discontinued investigating several years ago due to lack of resources, limited district attorney resources for prosecution and limited bed space in the county jail for these type of offenses, etc. The reasons this is possible in Junction City are police resources, municipal prosecutor, municipal court, and available jail beds to provide sanction for offenders.
Follow-up investigation of major crime is most frequently assigned to the lieutenant. The initial response to a major crime often necessitates the call out of several officers including the chief to ensure a proper preliminary investigation. The department conducts follow-up investigation on approximately 400+ cases annually.
The Department is a cooperating member of the Lane County Major Crime Team. Other members are Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Cottage Grove Police Department, Coburg Police Department, Florence Police Department and Oakridge Police Department. The value of this interagency effort is that if Junction City experiences a major crime against person such as homicide, the department is able to draw upon resources from these other agencies. The drawback is that if any of the other agencies experience a similar crime, the department is obligated to send investigators to assist in the investigation of their crime that results in short-term patrol coverage problems in the department.
The Oregon State Police provides the department forensic
crime scene search and processing for major crimes against persons.
SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER PROGRAM
An issue for the city is whether to maintain its own communications center (dispatch) or to contract with another provider for these services. A detailed discussion of the issue is included in attachment #1 “Communications Issue Paper”.
An issue for the city is whether to maintain its city jail services or contract with Lane County for these services. A detailed discussion of the issue is included in attechment #2 “Jail Issue Paper”.
The property and evidence control function must provide for the security and control of seized, recovered, and evidentiary property as well as abandoned, lost, or found property in the custody of the police department.
The department has a written SOP for proper handling of property and evidence. It is currently being revised.
There is no dedicated property and evidence technician in the department. This responsibility is assigned to a police officer as a duty in addition to regular patrol duties. Recently, another officer has been assigned to assist. The lead officer has received 40
hours of certified training in the management and operation of a property and evidence facility. The assistant officer has received 24 hours of training.
Because normal property and evidence management functions such as inventory, tracking evidence, and disposing of property most often require the use of overtime these functions are not being performed as frequently as they should.
When it is necessary for evidence to be transported to the Oregon Crime Lab for processing it frequently requires the use of overtime due to conflicting work hours between the police officer/evidence technician and the hours of the crime lab.
There are several issues regarding the property and evidence storage facility. These are discussed in detail in the section dealing with Facilities.
The police facility is conjoined with city hall. The Office of the Chief has recently been updated with new paint, carpet and furniture. Other areas of the facility have also been recently painted. The facility is adequate for present needs.
The jail was upgraded in 2000 to meet the Fire Marshall’s requirement for a fire sprinkling system.
The police firing range is located .25 miles west of Oaklea Drive and .25 miles north of First Street immediately east of the sewer lagoons. The range is equipped with a tower built by Navy Reserves and police officers. It also has a 25-foot berm for safety purposes.
The range is maintained including cutting grass, weed removal, and target construction, by the department range masters. This is a burdensome extra task required of these officers.
The range is adequate to meet current firearms training needs. A future concern is the planned housing development of property close to the firing range. When this property is developed homeowners may consider the noise generated from the firing range an obnoxious nuisance.
The property and evidence storage facility is off site from
the police department. The facility is
located within a larger city facility to which numerous people have
access. Although the property and
evidence facility is behind a locked door, the lock and the door are inadequate
to prevent unauthorized entry. There
are no alarms or monitoring devices.
The facility is vulnerable to break-in.
Such a break-in would compromise any evidence that may be stored in the
facility and may result in arrested persons not being prosecuted for the crimes
they have allegedly committed.
All items taken into custody by the police department are stored in this facility including firearms, money and drugs. Because drugs are stored in the facility it must be properly ventilated. It is not.
The K-9 kennels in which officers must place dogs for up to two days before they are transported to Tri-agency animal shelter are not suitable and need to be replaced with kennels that are easy to clean and humane for the dogs.
The department’s office equipment is adequate for current use. Two of the computers in the communications center need hard drive upgrades.
There are sound clarity issues with the existing jail video cameras that need to be fixed.
The City provides officers with uniforms, firearms, protective vests and other required equipment. The only issue at present is that all of the officer’s protective vests are beyond the manufacture’s recommended 5-year replacement schedule. The Department is currently buying 4 replacement vests with LLEBG grant funds. This leaves three officers (chief, lieutenant, and corporal) with protective vests that are beyond the manufacturer’s recommended 5-year replacement schedule.
The vehicle fleet consists of four marked vehicles, two unmarked vehicles, two utility vehicles and one motorcycle. With the exception of one, all marked and unmarked patrol vehicles have in excess of 100,000 miles. In FY02/03, two of the marked vehicles will be replaced with new vehicles. The remainder of the vehicles will be serviced and maintained. These actions will stabilize the fleet through FY02/03.
The radio system consists of one base station console (there is a second console but it is not fully operational), fixed mount radios in patrol vehicles and hand-held portables for police officers. The system operates in the VHF frequency mode. There is area in town in which officers are unable to communicate with one another when using the portable radio. No such problem exists with the fixed mount car radios.
The
Base station console has the ability to monitor LCSO-1 UHF and patrol vehicles
are equipped with UHF radios that enable them to communicate car-to car with
LCSO deputies and OSP troopers when working together. They do not have this capability with portable radios.
The staff is competent and professional. There is a great deal of cooperation, cohesiveness, and teamwork.
Staff morale is slowly improving after the disappointment of losing a popular police chief who resigned from the department.
Police officers should receive in-service training in such areas as department rules, policies and procedures, new laws, court decisions, civil liability, etc. Officers should receive, at minimum, annual training in the critical skill areas of firearms, use of force, emergency vehicle operation and defensive tactics. The department currently has Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) certified instructors in each of the critical skill areas. These officers provide training to other officers. Training is scheduled for one 40-hour block of time each year.
Because the department provides jail services, we must provide training to at least one police officer to be a certified corrections officers in addition to police officer certification. This requires the completion of a five-week basic corrections academy and the completion of an on-site training manual.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the City and the Junction City Police Officers Association specifies the City shall provide police officers a minimum of 30 hours of training annually.
Communications officers must complete a 3-week basic academy plus on site field training manuals in the areas of telecommunications and emergency medical dispatch. Additionally, in order to maintain certification, communication officers must complete 4 hours of emergency medical dispatch training and 12 hours of telecommunications training each year.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the City and the Junction City Police Officers Association specifies the City will provide Communication Officers a minimum of 20 hours training annually.
In accordance with City Ordinance 966, the City collects an assessment on certain violations of ordinances for police training purposes. This assessment generates approximately $6,000 to $7,000 annually.
There is a long history of cooperation and coordination among the Lane County Law Enforcement agencies. The following represents the current efforts the Junction City Police Department is engaged in with other agencies:
1. Cooperative Policing Agreement: Parties to this agreement include all Lane County Law Enforcement Agencies. The basis of the agreement is that each agency agrees that the safety of the citizens of the State of Oregon, inclusive of Lane County, depend on each agency’s willingness to work together in an effort to enforce the statutes of the state of Oregon.
The purpose of the Agreement is to:
1. Increase Interagency efficiency
2. Avoid duplication of service
3. Identify agency law enforcement roles
2. Lane County Interagency Major Crime Team (MCT): Parties to this agreement include Junction City, Coburg, Cottage Grove, Florence, Oakridge Police Departments, Lane County Sheriff’s Officer and Oregon State Police.
The mission of the MCT is the cooperative investigation of most deaths by homicide or those of suspicious circumstances, for which its services are requested. The MCT is also available, on a case-by-case, basis, for investigation of other major crimes. This could include serial sexual assaults and serial armed robberies.
3. School Resource Officer Program: The City and School District 69 have entered into and an intergovernmental agreement that provides police protection services to the District in the form of a School Resource Officer program. The purpose of this program is, “ to work towards keeping schools a safe place for students, staff, and members of the community as well as to provide for youth advocacy.”
4. Lane County Parole and Probation: The department provides office space to a Lane County Parole and Probation Officer for the purpose of facilitating a more efficient and effective working relationship between the police and parole and probation. The cooperation between the two agencies has led to identification and apprehension of criminals who might have otherwise been free longer to victimize members of the community.
5. RIS/AIRS: The City contracts with the Lane County Regional Information Services Department (RIS) for information and technology services. The Agreement also provides the police department and municipal court with the Area Information Records System (AIRS), which is an automated public safety, and justice information system.
6. Public Safety Answering Point (911) Agreement: The City contracts with City of Eugene for the provision of a 24-hour communications facility automatically accessible in Central Lane County service area by a person dialing 9-1-1. These 9-1-1 calls are then transferred to Junction City Communications Center.
7. Lane Law Enforcement Interagency Pursuit Agreement: Lane County Law Enforcement Agencies have entered into an agreement to prescribe procedures for managing vehicle pursuits that cross jurisdictional lines.