6A — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
STATE
Governor seeks review of police protest response in Oregon
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Crit-
icism of the law enforce-
ment response to a protest
in Portland, late Saturday
into early Sunday, Sept.
26-27, prompted Gov. Kate
Brown to ask authori-
ties to review “any alleged
incidents” involving their
offi cers.
The governor said in
a series of tweets Sunday
evening that she was com-
mitted to building trust in
the community. She asked
Oregon State Police Super-
intendent Travis Hampton,
Multnomah County Sheriff
Mike Reese and Portland
Police Chief Chuck Lovell
to take another look at what
happened during their joint
operations that night.
“Journalists and law
enforcement offi cers have
diffi cult jobs to do during
these demonstrations, but
I do still believe that we
can protect free speech and
keep the peace,” Brown
tweeted.
Videos from the
demonstration in down-
AP Photo/John Locher
Portland police arrest a man during protests, Saturday, Sept. 26, in Portland. The pro-
tests, which began over the killing of George Floyd, often result frequent clashes be-
tween protesters and law enforcement.
town Portland showed
police a news photogra-
pher and pushing him to
ground as he was trying to
document them tackling
and detaining a person on
a sidewalk, The Orego-
nian/OregonLive reported.
Freelance photographer
John Rudoff was wearing
a helmet with “PRESS”
stickers affixed to it. He
told the outlet on Sunday
that he’s “physically OK
but am quite annoyed.”
One video appears to
show an offi cer push a jour-
nalist into a tree, causing
the journalist to drop the
camera. Oregon Public
Broadcasting Editor Anna
Griffi n retweeted the video,
writing, “I’d also love to
hear elected offi cials explain
why a reporter from my
organization was subject to
violence at the hands of law
enforcement when judges
have made it very clear this
is not acceptable.”
Another online video
showed an offi cer appar-
ently deploying a chemical
spray in the face of a man
who was yelling at police
and waving a sign toward
them.
The American Civil Lib-
erties Union of Oregon late
Sunday called on Brown to
appoint a special, indepen-
dent prosecutor to investi-
gate and prosecute police
abuses that have occurred
in Portland over the last
several months.
“Police abuse of pro-
testers, journalists, legal
observers, medics, and
bystanders must be
stopped,” said Kelly Simon,
the group’s interim legal
director.
Several arrests were
made and an unlawful
State police academy reports no shortage of recruits
By Garrett Andrews
EO Media Group
SALEM — Law enforce-
ment leaders around the
country have said in recent
years that fewer people want to
be peace offi cers, a trend that
was reinforced after the death
of Black man George Floyd in
police custody in May. But in
Oregon, the number of people
taking the state’s 16-week
basic police training remains
largely unchanged.
At the start of September,
363 people had been through,
or were in the process of
taking, basic police training,
along with 152 corrections
offi cers and 158 emergency
dispatchers, according to the
Department of Public Safety
Standards and Training.
This is similar to 2019, when
437 people enrolled in basic
police training, 180 enrolled
in training to become a cor-
rections offi cer and 118
to become an emergency
dispatcher.
Those fi gures are down
from 2017, however. That
year, 482 people sought to
become police offi cers and
211 to become corrections
offi cers.
As for retirements, 478
offi cers were scheduled to
become eligible to retire in
2019-2020.
Due to the recent eco-
nomic slowdown, some
Oregon police agencies
have stopped hiring, leaving
vacant positions unfi lled,
according to Eriks Gab-
liks, director of the state law
enforcement agency, which
oversees the state police
academy. Some have begun
layoffs, as the North Bend
Police Department did in
June.
At the Bend Police Depart-
ment, there are two vacan-
cies, although recruitment
numbers for 2020 are about
level with last year, according
to spokeswoman Lt. Juli
McConkey.
The Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Offi ce has four
vacancies in its patrol divi-
sion, and four job candidates
going through the hiring pro-
cess to fi ll them, said sher-
iff’s spokesman Lt. William
Bailey. On the corrections
side, there are three vacan-
cies, and the offi ce is inter-
viewing three job candidates
this week.
Though the state’s public
safety agency isn’t seeing
fewer recruits, it is worried
its funding allotment won’t be
approved by the Oregon Leg-
islature in the next biennium,
Gabliks said.
The state budget is already
stretched thin due to the
COVID-19-caused economic
slowdown and now massive
wildfi res around the state.
Gabliks said if the agency’s
latest funding request isn’t
approved in December, newly
hired offi cers would have to
wait until July 1, 2021, for an
open class when the agency’s
2021-2023 budget begins.
“There is no guarantee
that our request for scarce
budget dollars for additional
basic police and basic classes
will be approved as we know
other state agencies also will
have similar important needs
that need to be evaluated for
funding,” Gabliks said.
COVID-19 infections at prison continue to climb
Snake River Correctional Institution officials
report cases nearly double in one month
By Aidan McGloin
Malheur Enterprise
ONTARIO — The coro-
navirus continues to spread
through the Snake River Cor-
rectional Institution, with the
number of inmates infected
almost doubling in the past
30 days.
The prison remains a
major source of COVID-19
cases in Malheur County and
has one of the highest infec-
tion rates among Oregon’s 14
prisons.
As of Sept. 24, the Oregon
Department of Corrections
reported a total of 394 inmate
cases since the fi rst one
was detected in the Ontario
prison in July. Four inmates
have died.
The department also
reported a total of 139
employees at the prison have
tested positive.
“We don’t have a specifi c
reason to link the cases from
this last month,” said Amber
Campbell, Snake River
spokesperson.
Among Oregon prisons,
Snake River’s COVID-19
case rate is high.
Six prisons have reported
no cases, and the average
inmate infection rate across
all prisons is 4%. Snake Riv-
er’s infection rate among its
2,700 inmates is 14%, second
only to Eastern Oregon Cor-
rectional Institution in Pend-
leton, where 18% of inmates
have been infected.
The outbreak adds to Mal-
heur County’s designation as
the county with the highest
infection rate in the state.
Although he prison cases
won’t be counted in any deci-
sion to open schools, the out-
break counts in the county’s
total case load.
As of Friday, Sept. 25, the
county reported 1,613 cases
dating back to March.
An Aug. 6 assessment by
the Department of Correc-
tions and obtained by the
Malheur Enterprise through a
public records request found
the majority of employees and
inmates at Snake River wore
face coverings, and managers
at the prison appeared to take
COVID-19 seriously.
The agency sent a special
inspection team to the prison
last month as part of its effort
to track COVID-19 in the
state prison system.
They found during
the August tour that two
employees didn’t have a face
covering available and one
pulled down their face cov-
ering to talk to an inmate.
One employee’s face cov-
ering wasn’t over his
nose, and two of the three
employees in a prison tower
weren’t social distancing or
wearing face coverings.
Seven employees assigned
to transporting inmates
weren’t wearing masks while
eating together in an area too
small for social distancing,
the auditors found.
The auditors found
Argus Observer fi le photo
Snake River Correctional Institution, outside the Ontario city
limits, remains a major source of COVID-19 cases in Malheur
County and has one of the highest infection rates among Ore-
gon’s 14 prisons.
employees coming through
a back entrance at the min-
imum facility weren’t
screened. Since then,
the prison has directed
employees to get a complete
screening before reporting to
their work stations.
The assessment also noted
the diffi culty of preventing
COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour
correctional facility where
the employees live in coun-
ties which have such high
COVID-19 case rates.
“Even if these controls are
implemented as well as can
be reasonably expected, pos-
itive cases are still likely to
occur as long as COVID-19
is prevalent in the out-
side community,” said the
assessment.
While the assessment
shows the majority of
employees and inmates wear
masks, the masks provided
to inmates are not up to
CDC’s COVID-19 prevention
standards.
The masks provided to the
inmates at Snake River are
single-layer polyester and
cotton masks, according to
Zachary Erdman, DOC oper-
ations and policy manager.
The Centers for Disease
Control’s guidance directs
people to wear masks with
two or more layers to stop the
spread of COVID-19, and an
April 3 newsletter from San-
tiam Correctional Institution
in Salem said “it is important
to note that these masks will
NOT take the place of appro-
priate personal protective
equipment (PPE) for those
with, or in close contact with,
COVID-19.”
Agency offi cials said it
would not have been appro-
priate to provide PPE to
inmates.
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STATE BRIEFS
Associated Press
OSP: Man dies after cliff fall at
Oregon coast
TILLAMOOK — A man died after
plunging off a cliff into the surf Sunday,
Sept. 27, at the Oregon coast, Oregon State
Police reported.
Steven Gastelum, 43, of Seaside climbed
a tree on the cliff’s edge along the Dev-
il’s Cauldron Overlook Trail in Oswald
West State Park to pose for a photograph,
according to initial information from Oregon
State Police.
A limb broke, and Gastelum fell about
100 feet into the Pacifi c Ocean, The Orego-
nian/OregonLive reported.
Authorities in a helicopter and on per-
sonal watercrafts worked to fi nd Gastelum
and bring him to shore. The state police said
he was taken to a Tillamook hospital, where
he was pronounced dead.
Fire damages Portland church
PORTLAND — A fi re at a church in
downtown Portland damaged the building
and drew a heavy response from city fi re-
fi ghters but caused no injuries.
KOIN reported crews responded to the
blaze at about 9 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27. Port-
land Fire and Rescue said crews were able
to knock down the fi re within 30 minutes
of arriving at the three-story building. It is
unclear what caused the blaze.
The building was previously home to the
Portland Korean Church, which moved out
and sold the building in 2015. It has a for-
lease sign hanging outside.
Crews searching for hiker near
Mount St. Helens
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assembly was declared
overnight after objects
were thrown at offi cers,
including full drink cans,
fi recrackers and rocks,
authorities said. One man
broke away from offi cers
and ran two blocks with
his hands in zip-tie cuffs
before he was recaptured
by police. Police also seized
bear spray, a baton and a
drone in separate stops or
arrests.
Sheriff’s spokesperson
Chris Liedle told The Ore-
gonian/Oregon Live that
anyone who believes offi -
cers acted unjustly or
excessively can fi le a com-
plaint with the agency
or corresponding review
board.
Nearly nightly protests
have gripped Portland since
the police killing of George
Floyd in Minneapolis in
May.
The unrest late Saturday
came just hours after a
right-wing rally and coun-
terprotesters largely dis-
persed without violence
Saturday afternoon.
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MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. —
Search and rescue crews are searching for
a 16-year-old hiker near Mount St. Helen’s
Spirit Lake trail.
The boy had been hiking with his
family early Sunday, Sept. 27, and vanished
after leaving the trail to use a restroom,
KATU-TV reported. He had no phone or
supplies with him at the time, authorities
said.
He was wearing a navy blue shirt, black
shorts and black shoes. Any hikers who
think they see or have seen the teen are
asked to call 911.
Oregon couple wed at dialysis
center so dad can attend
WYOMING, Mich. — A couple in masks
and protective gowns exchanged wedding
vows outside a western Michigan dialysis
center so the bride’s father could attend.
Ernest Gee was receiving treatments
Saturday, Sept. 26, before a return to hos-
pice care. Connie Gee and Matt Tsuchiya
of Portland were married at a Fresenius
clinic in Wyoming, a Grand Rapids suburb,
WOOD-TV reported.
Visits with her father in hospice have been
restricted because of COVID-19.
“I know when Matt asked if he could
marry me, my dad through the nursing
room window said, ‘Whose going to give
you away?’ and that to me made it very
important to me that he was there,” Connie
said. “I knew we had to fi gure out how to
have him be able to give me away.”
They moved up the wedding after a two-
month engagement.
“We were able to make this happen, and
I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Tsuchiya
said.
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