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
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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.”
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• Jaxon Gordon Hawkins
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The parents are Zackary and
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The parents are Trevor Mink
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The grandparents are Donna
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