SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 33
SECTION A
JULY 29, 2016
$1.00
Behind
the
badge
Q&A with KPD’s Union President
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
With law enforcement
offi cers and their actions
the topic of conversations
across the country, the staff
at the Keizertimes thought
a conversation with the
president of the Keizer Police
Department Union was long
overdue.
Offi cer Darsy Olafson has
served as president of the
KPD offi cer union for the
past eight years and we are
presenting our conversation
with him in a question and
answer format over the next
two weeks.
This fi rst part will explore
how national incidents are
affecting Keizer offi cers, next
week's installment will look at
local enforcement issues.
Keizertimes questions and
remarks are in bold type.
How are recent events,
both the offi cer-involved
shootings
and
police
ambushes,
affecting
members of the KPD?
I've talked with the guys
about that to see what they are
seeing. I do a lot of plainclothes
work and they are out there in
uniform. With the stuff going
on nationally, it could be more
alarming to them. As of yet,
they said, they're a little more
vigilant, but it's been more
business-as-usual.
They go out there to do the
work because those comments
and feelings are going to be
there either way.
Are they seeing increases
in that talk locally?
In some regards, yes, but
a lot of it is on social media.
It's really easy for someone
sitting in a recliner to judge
what's going on, but for an
offi cer, sometimes they have as
little as fi ve seconds to assess a
situation and determine their
response.
They get a few more
comments, but they tend to
come from the people who
were anti-police anyway. (The
detractors) just a little more
bolstered right now given
everything that's going on.
Two apply
for council
vacancy
PAGE A2
Please see BADGE, Page A9
Housing shortage
impedes progress
on homelessness
in the
KEIZERTIMES/Andrew Jackson
By ERIC A. HOWALD
properties, affordable system
Of the Keizertimes
development charges and tax
Six months to three years.
incentives,” said Valerie White,
That’s how long a wait owner of Encompass Manage-
some area residents can expect ment & Consulting, who add-
to wait for affordable hous- ed that she is curating waiting
ing to become
lists for every
available, ac-
type of housing
cording to a “ We have pages she manages.
panel of prop-
“We have 50
and pages of
erty managers
people wait-
wait lists and
who attended
ing on single-
a
meeting
it’s almost daily family housing
of the Mid-
in Keizer. For
that people
Willamette
them it doesn’t
Homelessness
walk out of the matter how
Initiative July
much it costs,
offi ce crying.”
20.
they want to
“We have
live in a certain
— Cathie Miles, school district
pages and pag-
Shelter Management
es of wait lists
or a certain
and it’s almost
house or near
daily that people walk out of a job.”
the offi ce crying,” said Cath-
According to a 2014 anal-
ie Miles of Shelter Man- ysis of census data, Oregon
agement, Inc.
ranks 46th in terms of provid-
A conversation with ing low-income housing to
members of the Initia- the state’s impoverished. There
tive task force covered were only 42 apartments or
topics ranging from other housing types for ev-
the availability of ery 100 families in very low
affordable housing income households, defi ned
to the common as households with incomes
problems
en- less than half of the median
countered with income for the area in which
l o w - i n c o m e they live. The problem dispro-
renters and the portionately affects minority
overall state of communities.
the housing
While increasing the hous-
market.
ing stock is one starting point,
The
cen- property managers also strug-
tral
message gle with maintaining residents
from the prop- once they are accepted into a
erty managers was low-income housing, said Ni-
that more housing cole Utz, of Salem Housing
is needed and develop- Authority.
ers need more incentives to
“The number one thing
build it.
we run into is garnishments
“Developers need to be of paychecks. We base rents off
offered incentives to develop
Shelter
numbers
contradict
homeless
count
PAGE A3
“Society
sometimes
undersells
kids.”
PAGE A5
Please see HOME, Page A7
Target employees given lifesaving award
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Sharon Winter went to the Target at Keizer
Station on Saturday, March 12 looking for
Easter decorations but believes she was led to
the store for a completely different reason.
On surveillance video, Winter can be seen at
the front of the store falling out of a motorized
cart.
“I remember feeling a little dizzy and things
had a shade of blue to it, which was interesting,”
Winter said. “I thought I had low blood sugar
and I remember putting my hand to my head.”
Store manager Brad Dickerson was working
that day and got a call for an emergency.
“It sounded very urgent so I started
running,” he said.
Senior Team Leader Austin Snelling joined
Dickerson at the front of the store. Winter
wasn't breathing and had no pulse so Snelling
applied CPR while Dickerson prepared the
AED [Automated External Defi brillator].
“Time started to kind of slow down and
once I was in that moment training kicked in,”
said Snelling in a video posted to Facebook by
Salem Health.
Dickerson used the AED to shock Winter,
which didn't immediately revive her. He started
doing chest compressions and at about 20, she
Please see AWARD, Page A9
Titans third
in country
PAGE A10
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Target employees Austin Snelling, left, and Brad Dickerson
were honored by KFD for saving the life of Sharon Winter.