OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2022
Audit: OSP should change metric on staffi ng needs
Analysts say a
simple ratio of
troopers to residents
isn’t good enough
By JULIA SHUMWAY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — Oregon State
Police should use workload,
not the state’s population, to
decide how many troopers
it needs, state auditors said
in a report released Friday,
Jan. 14.
The 33-page report
from the Secretary of
State’s Audits Division
notes that OSP staffi ng
declined for decades
beginning in 1980, when
a voter-approved tax mea-
sure shifted the depart-
ment’s funding source
The Observer, File
Oregon State Police in June 2017 survey the terrain along Interstate
84 during the search for two teenagers who escaped from the Camp
Riverbend Youth Transitional Facility outside La Grande. Oregon
State Police should use workload, not the state’s population, to
decide how many troopers it needs, state auditors said in a report re-
leased Friday, Jan. 14, 2022.
from gas taxes to the gen-
eral fund.
The agency received
$578 million in the 2021-23
budget. Unlike state
troopers in other states who
solely patrol highways, OSP
also investigates crimes,
monitors casinos, operates
forensic labs and enforces
fi sh and game laws.
“While it is unclear how
many troopers OSP actually
needs, it does not appear
OSP currently has enough
to accomplish all of its
broad and varied duties in
a safe and timely manner,”
the report said. “Addition-
ally, increased trooper pres-
ence on state highways and
interstates may reduce acci-
dents and fatalities.”
In 1980, the agency
had 665 sworn offi cers,
compared to 459 today,
according to the report.
Oregon’s population growth
in the intervening years
meant that the ratio of offi -
cers to Oregonians went
from one offi cer per 4,000
residents to one per 9,300
residents.
Oregon State Police fre-
quently uses that ratio to
make its case for more
funding, but it may not be
the best approach, said Ian
Green, the audit manager in
charge of the report.
“They’re looking
at a population-based
approach, essentially a
ratio of troopers to Ore-
gon’s population,” Green
said. “What we found
through our work looking
at best practices out there
is that if they analyze their
workload to develop their
budget requests, it’s a lot
more accurate of a model
to develop their staffi ng
needs than just a pure ratio
of population to trooper
levels.”
OSP stands to lose more
money over the coming
years after voters approved
a 2020 ballot measure that
shifted revenue from rec-
reational marijuana sales
from law enforcement to
behavioral health services.
The Legislature backfi lled
the $40 million the agency
would have lost during the
current two-year budget
cycle, but the shift means
OSP will have to compete
with other agencies for
money from the state’s gen-
eral budget.
The agency also had
more demands over the
past few years because of
wildfi res and civil unrest.
According to the report,
nightly riots in Portland
cost OSP $2.5 million in
overtime, travel and per-
sonal protective gear, while
the agency’s assistance with
wildfi res cost $700,000.
The legislative Emer-
gency Board approved that
supplemental funding in
December 2020.
WOW Hall shooting victims named
4 of the 6 victims
in Eugene shooting
are from Pendleton
East Oregonian
Mike McMillan/US Forest Service, File
A Hotshot crew hikes to the Bootleg Fire burning in Klamath and Lake counties on Aug. 2, 2021.
Structural cash fl ow problem
Forestry Department seeks budget infusion to cover fire costs
By TED SICKINGER
The Oregonian
SALEM — The Oregon
Department of Forestry was
once again forced to divert
money last year from other
programs, including money
the Legislature provided for
new programs to mitigate
wildfi re risks, to cover its
$129 million in fi refi ghting
costs, the agency told law-
makers last week.
It’s a replay of a struc-
tural cash fl ow problem that
has plagued the agency for
years, repeatedly pushed it
to the brink of insolvency,
and, according to agency
offi cials, begs for a perma-
nent fi x in an era of growing
wildfi re seasons and bal-
looning costs.
The basic problem is this:
The department needs to
pay for fi refi ghting crews,
aircraft and other supplies
when the services are ren-
dered, but often waits two
years for reimbursement
of some of those costs, pri-
marily from the federal
government.
Internal failures in
processing invoices and
promptly billing the fed-
eral government have
exacerbated the problem,
forcing it to tap funds ded-
icated to other programs,
which undermines work
in those areas. Meanwhile,
the Oregon Treasury has
become reluctant to provide
a line of credit to tide the
agency over, citing its past
failures to promptly repay.
And that leaves the agency
begging lawmakers for
more money.
The latter has proven
problematic, as the For-
estry Department’s fi nan-
cial and management prob-
lems have created distrust
and reluctance at the Legis-
lature to throw more money
at the agency. The agency
hired an outside consultant,
Macias, Gini and O’Con-
nell, to assess the forestry
department’s fi re fi nance
operation and recommend
improvements.
The agency is working on
those recommendations, and
agency offi cials described
that process to lawmakers
this week in a hearing of the
Natural Resources Subcom-
mittee of Ways and Means.
Lawmakers were also con-
sidering the agency’s request
for an infusion of $155 mil-
lion in the upcoming short
legislative session. Agency
offi cials said that would
cover 2021 fi refi ghting costs
already incurred and pro-
vide $30 million to help with
current cash fl ow problems.
Shifting funds
Cal Mukumoto, Ore-
gon’s new state forester and
director of the department,
described the problem for
lawmakers this way. Every
year, the agency starts the
fi re season with $10 mil-
lion in cash for fi re suppres-
sion provided by fees that
landowners pay into the
Oregon Forest Land Protec-
tion Fund. This worked fi ne
for when average fi re costs
were $10 million or less, but
since 2013, they have aver-
aged $70 million annually.
“Any cost exceeding $10
million comes directly from
ODF’s budget intended for
day-to-day operations,”
Mukumoto said.
Mike Shaw, acting chief
of the agency’s Fire Pro-
tection Division, said Ore-
gonians should continue to
expect fi re seasons like the
ones experienced over the
last decade. He says fi res
are becoming more com-
plex, growing faster, and
becoming more diffi cult to
contain. Between 2002 and
2011, he said, incident man-
agement teams from the
agency spent an average
of 11,000 hours annually
deployed on fi res. Between
2012 and 2021, the average
was 30,000 hours, and in
2021, it was 60,000 hours.
The agency’s fi refi ghting
costs in 2021 were $129
million. To help cover them,
the agency diverted $30
million of the $188 million
that lawmakers provided
last year in Senate Bill 762,
the state’s fi rst comprehen-
sive attempt at reducing
wildfi re risks. The agency
used $15 million of the $20
million that legislators had
appropriated in the bill
to pay for forest thinning
and restoration projects
designed to reduce wild-
fi re risks and potentially
reduce fi refi ghting costs in
the future.
EUGENE — The
Eugene Police Department
has released the identities
of the six victims of the
shooting Friday night, Jan.
14, outside WOW Hall.
Four of the victims are
from Pendleton.
Eugene police on Jan.
18 reported the victims
of the shooting are as
follows:
Richard Danial
Lemmon, 26, of
Pendleton.
Jason Jamell Smith, 25,
of San Francisco.
Aaleigha Mechelle
Tynan, 25, of Eugene.
Reyshaun Domi-
nic-Joseph Supuni, 30, of
Pendleton.
Tristin C. Vanblock-
land, 26, of Pendleton.
Priscila Wavaline
Camarena, 21, Pendleton.
All victims are in stable
condition and/or have been
treated and released.
“Eugene Police detec-
tives want to reiterate the
need for witness informa-
tion and tips to help solve
this case,” according to the
statement. “There has been
some cooperation, which
is greatly appreciated, but
having a healthy level of
solid tips and cooperation
is what is going to help
investigators.”
Violent Crimes Unit
detectives are continuing
their work the case, and
at this point, there is not
enough information to
say if the shooting was
random or targeted to indi-
viduals or a group.
Eugene police set up
a tip line for the shooting
and is seeking any witness
information to help inves-
tigators with the case.
The tip line’s number is
541-682-5162.
On Jan. 14 at 9:29 p.m.,
there were reports of mul-
tiple shots fi red at WOW
Hall, 219 W. Eighth Ave.,
Eugene. Multiple law
enforcement agencies,
including the Eugene
Police Department,
responded, along with
Eugene Springfi eld Fire.
The response included
25 Eugene police patrol
units plus multiple detec-
tive units, with the fi rst
arrival. Offi cers arrived
within 2.5 minutes “to a
hectic scene of people who
had been shot near the
walkway/back entrance
to WOW Hall, with a
loud and frantic crowd,”
according to Eugene
Police.
Offi cers rushed to pro-
vide medical aid to vic-
tims, including applying
tourniquets and pressure
to wounds, mitigating
any potential threats, and
coordinated with arriving
Eugene Springfi eld Fire
medic units to further treat
the victims.
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