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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2016)
JULY 29, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9 BADGE, continued from Page A1 They feel more empowered to voice their opinion. The other aspect of it is the media. We feel there is a lot of negative talk about the different cases, but some of those cases are playing out differently from the preconceived notions. If you look at Baltimore (a case involving a man named Freddie Gray who died as a result of injuries while in police custody), those guys were vilifi ed, but we don’t hear a lot about them going to court and being found not guilty or acquitted. There has been lots of chatter about police forces becoming more fearful of taking action given the increased scrutiny by media and members of the public. Is this issue affecting KPD? With the Keizer Police Department, no. When people walk up to us, we have to fi gure out what is going on with them because you may just be having someone who is having a bad day, they might be having mental health issues. What steps, if any, is the union taking to be proactive as far as community engagement in light of recent events? I don’t know that it has changed a lot. Our guys are pretty professional. They go out and stuff will happen, but they want to go strap the vest “Unfortunately, everyone out there is going to speculate.” — Darsy Olafson KPD offi cer, union president on every single day. We could let all of the fervor and all of the talk affect us, but we choose not to. Chief (John) Teague made the comment to us a couple of years ago that we have to choose not to be offended. You can let all the negativity affect you, or you can just show up and do your job. Keizer’s lucky to have a department of professionals. If we heard a lot of our offi cers venting in the offi ce, we would probably start talking about it more as a union. As a police offi cer, you deal with other peoples’ problems, and then it’s kind of hard at some points, but we support Award-Winning Authentic American BBQ Now 2 Locations 1210 State Street 503-362-2194 2505 Liberty St NE 503-689-1082 Hart Parr - Oliver - Cletrac Nichols & Shepard ANTIQUE POWERLAND July 30–31 7am to 6pm August 6–7 each other as much as we can so we don’t take it out (on the street). When we have recruits, I talk with them a lot about not having a personal take on any situation. You don’t want the offi cer to care about the outcome of a case because it may change the investigation. They are there to get the facts and move on. Accurate or not, one of the public perceptions is that when offi cers end up involved in the shooting of a suspect, armed or otherwise, is that the “blue wall of silence” slams down and breeds suspicion. Does the union acknowledge that there are bad actors in police uniforms? The wall isn’t the offi cer’s choice. In offi cer-involved shootings, the offi cer is told not to talk about it. Offi cers would love nothing more than to say, this is what happened, but the message from the district attorney’s offi ce down is to allow the investigation to run its course and then the grand jury will make the decision. Unfortunately, everyone else out there gets to speculate for two weeks, or however long it takes. Little of it is based on fact, even when there is video. Often it’s a video that is available before all the other facts are out there. It’s a little frustrating for that to happen because it’s not the offi cers dictating that process. One of the conversations happening statewide is regarding the 48-hour window in which offi cers are given before giving their statements when a shooting occurs. What is the union’s position in that issue? There is no actual requirement on that time and we look at it up to a 72- hour window. If we show up on scene, I’m not asking what happened, I want the investigation to run its course. One of the things that doesn’t get discussed is that when there is an offi cer- involved shooting, the offi cer is stripped of everything right down to their underwear. We want everything to be as pristine as the moment that happened, but as an offi cer, it’s diffi cult to go through that process. We explain it to them that it’s happening for their benefi t, so when that grand jury looks at the evidence, they have a complete picture. I can also see that being a point of pride. Oh, it’s rough. And when you hear about a wall of silence, that isn’t the reason why we are keeping quiet. We want the investigation to be as clean a possible so there are no doubts. That’s hard for an offi cer to understand because they may be asking themselves what they did wrong. It may not have been anything at all, but we try to treat everyone the same no matter who we’re dealing with. The goal is to remove the ability for people to question the investigation, but you’re fi ghting an uphill battle sometimes. So, how does a fellow offi cer assess an offi cer- involved shooting? What tools do you use based on your experiences to determine whether an lethal force is justifi ed? All of it is on a case-by- case. You have to take into consideration when a video “You feel like you’re fi ghting for your life.” — Darsy Olafson KPD offi cer, union president starts, whether there are missing pieces. We also can’t judge based solely on the moment. If you fl ip the script and put someone in a situation where they know there is a loaded gun on a person, it may not be in their hand, the question is, “Who is going home at the end of the day?” Sitting here, we have a chance to think about it, but in that situation the stress levels are enormous. You feel like you’re fi ghting for your life. That’s why we try not to judge and let process run its course. Do we acknowledge that there are bad guys that are also offi cers? Oh, yeah. There are and they are few and far between. What tools can or should be used to weed out bad actors? I think there’s a lot of tools to do that and it’s also case- by-case. Keizer, for the most part, is very fond of us. They don’t judge us based on what’s happening in other places. The departments are also different animals. In a place like Los Angeles, they have 10,000 cops. (KPD has less than 40). L.A. might hire 200 new offi cers in one go. We have the ability to slow down our hiring, which becomes a burden for our patrol guys, but it gives us time to weed out the bad actors. There are oral interviews with administrators, integrity interviews with detectives, physical health exams, mental health exams, multiple layers that a recruit has to pass through. That’s before they are hired, then they go to the academy for testing and evaluations and then they come back and there’s another six months of fi eld training. We’re talking up to 18 months for someone to be ready to go out on the road solo. And, really, that’s just the beginning of the learning process. Cops are some of the most judgemental people of other cops because if some guy screws up in Louisiana, we’re judged by that. Because we wear the same uniform, people don’t separate a cop in Keizer from a cop somewhere else in the country. If there’s a person who shouldn’t be an offi cer, we want them out as badly as anyone else. I think Keizer does a pretty good job and all our offi cers are professional. There’s a lot of talk about law enforcement offi cers adapting, and we constantly adapt. We look at policies and change the ones that need changing, but society also needs to work on adapting. We go on a lot of calls where the fi rst thing that happens is an offi cer is screamed at by someone. Their opinion is that cops are paid to be treated however they choose to treat us. We’re expected to adapt to them as citizens, even if they are screaming at us. If people could just relax it would make a huge difference. If you’re acting like a jerk to us, you may get a reciprocated response. Yelling makes it harder to keep things fl owing and makes it harder to take a report. There are also smaller instances to, like when our offi cers are walking through the crowd during Iris Festival and people start making oinking noises. That’s concerning because if you’re walking through a crowd and someone starts oinking at you, that’s the start of a dehumanizing process. Our guys are going to act like professionals regardless, but it’s also worth noting that the 10 percent of people we get that from are the same 10 percent of people we’re going to end up dealing with at some point. We have great relations with the general public. We get to know a lot of people that we never arrest. That 10 percent has been arrested, or someone they’re close to has been arrested. They’re generally not the biggest fans, but then there are others. I saw a guy a couple of weeks ago who I had arrested multiple times when he lived in the city before, and he was like, “Hey, what’s up?” It all comes down to how you treat people. You can get in a fi ght with somebody and pick them up and dust them off. In the moment, they are making a poor choice, but it’s not personal. They aren’t looking at me as an individual, they are trying to get away from the uniform. (To be continued in the Aug. 5 edition of the Keizertimes.) AWARD, continued from Page A1 According to the Salem Health video, more than 350,000 cardiac arrests happen away from hospitals every year and only 10 percent survive. “To me it was a miracle, an absolute miracle,” Winter said. During last Tuesday's meeting, the KFD board approved an AED loaner program. Under the policy, businesses and residents of Keizer, who are at least 18 years old, successfully completed CPR training and reviewed a instructional video, can loan an AED from the district for public gatherings and sporting events within the KFD boundaries. Requests for a loaner AED must be received no later than fi ve business days before the event. A $1,000 deposit is required, which will not used as long as the device is returned within fi ve days of the return date. AEDS will not be loaned for longer than 90 days. The board also authorized the purchase of a $219,630 MSA breathing apparatus and a $186,037 new brush fi re truck. According to a letter from Division Chief Brian Butler to the board of directors, the current MSA breathing apparatus was purchased in 2006 and staying with MSA allows KFD to keep some equipment to use with the 35 new airpacks, which will save $40,000 this year. The current brush fi re truck was purchased in 1996 for $71,350 and is used to respond to wildland and brush type fi res in places like Keizer Rapids and Spongs Landing Parks. The new truck will be more capable of off-road use and carry more water. Both the breathing apparatus and truck will come from bond funds. came back to life. “I hoped I was doing this right and remembering all the training that we had done,” Dickerson said. “You don't do it often enough. The nice thing about the AED is it tells you what to do. Austin was fantastic since he had just gone through the training program. Everything kind of fell into place.” Keizer Fire District took it from there, rushing Winter to the hospital. “My heart rate, they fi gured it was over 300 beats per minute,” Winter said. “It was a full cardiac arrest. My cardiologist [Joshua Leichman] said had they [Dickerson and Snelling] not done what they did, I would have either died or I could have had brain damage. He's amazed at how well they all did.” KFD honored Dickerson and Snelling with the Bob Wickman Award for heroism in saving the life of another prior to its July 19 board meeting. “I'm just glad she is okay,” Dickerson said. Winter is grateful she was at the right place at the right time. “I've felt all along that God put me in that Target store at that particular time,” she said. “It's as simple as that. It's a real privilege to meet these fellows. I'm real thankful to them.” births SPONSORED BY COVANTA AND AMTRAK 3995 Brooklake Road NE - Salem www.antiquepowerland.com • 503.393.2424 Educational and FUN event ACTION! Trains, trolleys, tractors, machines, threshing, steam powered sawmill KIDS! Youth Passport program (win great prizes), kid tractor pulls, tractor parade HISTORY COMES ALIVE! Quilts, steam engines, 12 heritage museums, cars, trucks, equipment SHOPPING! Swap meet, fl ea market, souvenirs and more! FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT! Demonstrations, food (including ice cream made with steam power) NEW THIS YEAR! AUG 6-7: Steampunk Township Incubator, AUG 7: Dr Solar’s Good Time, Sunshine, Traveling Medicine Show AUG 6 -7: Oregon National Guard Appreciation Days • Jaxon Gordon Hawkins was born July 15, 2016 at Sil- verton Hospital. The baby boy weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. The parents are Zackary and Angelica Hawkins of Keizer. Siblings are Levi 4, and Arral- ynn 2. • Liam Everett Mink was born July 20, 2016 at Salem Health. The baby boy weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces. The parents are Trevor Mink and Mary Diaz of Keizer. The grandparents are Donna Burleigh of Hawthorne, Paul Diaz of Las Cruses and Nicole Mink of Keizer.
