SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 21
SECTION A
FEBRUARY 24, 2017
$1.00
12 cents a day = five new cops
Here’s how it would
change services
new offi cer is hired or if they
By ERIC A. HOWALD
transfer from another agency.
Of the Keizertimes
If the city could spread
In an ideal world, the Keiz-
er Police Department (KPD) that cost over each residential
would like to add fi ve offi cers dwelling and business in the
city, it would add about $44
to the roster.
However, given a drum- per year to the annual bill, or
tight general fund, which pays about 12 cents per day.
KPD is hiring another of-
the salaries of offi cers, one of
fi cer that will
the few ways
bring it to 37
to add offi cers
offi cers,
but
would likely be
its average of
a fee added to “ We have a
utility bills the
number of times o n e o f f i c e r -
per-1,000-res-
city issues.
when good
idents is well
Discussions
leads on
below national
of the cost be-
and state aver-
gan last sum-
property cases
ages.
mer, but are
come in, but we
From
the
now more ful-
start,
KPD
ly-formed.
simply don’t
Chief
John
The
total
have the time
Teague
has
cost of add-
urged residents
ing fi ve of-
in the day to
and the Keizer
fi cers
would
dedicate to them” City Council
be somewhere
in the range
— Det. Chris Nelson not to equate
adding more
$500,000
to
offi cers with an
$600,000 per
year. That includes wages, immediate drop in crime. In-
health insurance, retirement stead, he suggests, think about
payments and payroll taxes it in terms of better customer
for each offi cer. The reason service.
The new offi cers would
for the wide range is that the
specifi c salary for each offi cer be spread over several units
would depend on whether a
Please see COPS, Page A9
Viewing the eclipse
through our
ancestors’ eyes
Number of police offi cers
per 1,000 residents
PAGE A12
2.35
National Average
1.65
1.00
Oregon Average
Keizer Average
COURTESY KEIZER POLICE DEPARTMENT
What the offi cers will do?
Keizer police offi cers serve in
any of a variety of capacities,
often developing areas of
specialization along the way.
KPD Chief John Teague said
that the immediate effect of
adding officers isn't a
sharp reduction in
crime, but a higher level of
customer service. On the most
basic level, it would allow the
department to respond quicker
to complaints and, ideally, with
offi cers specially trained in the
options for addressing
specific problems.
Night
shift
offi cers
Traffi c
safety
offi cer
(2 proposed)
(1 proposed)
While Keizer Police
Department has
adequate cover-
age during regular
business
hours,
graveyard
shifts are
another
story. Two ad-
ditional night shift patrol
offi cers — essentially one
additional offi cer for each
night of the week — would
make it easier for police to set a
perimeter around a scene to contain
suspects on the run. It would also ease
the burden during busy weekend nights.
Burglary & property
crimes detective
Despite population
increases of more
than 11,000 people
since 1994, Keizer
still has just one
traffi c safety offi cer
responding to traffi c
crashes, parking
complaints,
speeding,
etc. While
some police
departments
put an emphasis
on ticketing, KPD offi cers put
an emphasis on education and
warnings. An additional offi cer would
allow for more of that.
Community Response
Unit (CRU) offi cer
(1 proposed)
Wikipedia
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
On Aug. 21, a total so-
lar eclipse will pass over
the breadth of the United
States for the fi rst time
since 1918. While the ease
with which we access in-
formation now allows us
remove the mystique from
celestial events. That wasn’t
always the case.
In preparation for the
eclipse, the Keizertimes is
taking a periodic looks at
the signifi cance of eclipses
and the evolving ways hu-
mans view them. We’re
starting by looking way
back.
Our ancestors blamed
The CRU specializes in long-term
investigation and what is known at
problem-oriented policing, in which
underlying problems are addressed as
much as the bad actors. CRU offi cers
focus on persistent problems such
as drug houses, larger-scale criminal activity,
persistent offenders and and livability issues, like
the recent expulsion of squatters from a home
near Gubser Elementary School. The addition
of a another offi cer would allow for more
immediate attention given to complaints.
PAGE A2
Tea for
literacy
PAGE A5
Co $ t of proposed offi cers
It would cost
each dwelling and
commercial location
in Keizer about…
12 cents per day = $3.67 per month = $44 per year
Please see EYES, Page A10
KEIZERTIMES Reporting by ERIC A. HOWALD, Infographic by Andrew Jackson
Weed, meth, cocaine, heroin and oxy
Cuffed Keizer man had all of it
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A weeks-long investigation into
the activities of a Keizer man yielded
a major drug bust for the Salem Po-
lice Department’s Street Crimes Unit
(SCU) on Thursday, Feb. 16.
Members of the SCU, assisted by
offi cers from the Keizer Police De-
partment, acted on three search war-
rants in Salem and Keizer resulting in
the seizure of 40 pounds of marijuana,
Robber
sought
(1 proposed)
KPD has had the same number of
detectives for 22 years, and the demand
for detective services has
outstripped the department's
resources. At any given
time, there are more than 30
property crimes cases waiting
to be worked and they take
the back burner to more pressing cases
like physical and sexual abuse. A new
detective would be dedicated to burglary
and property crime investigations.
In some Hindu cultures, the head of trickster Kala Rau is
the one responsible for eclipses of all types.
Vincent
wins district
17 pounds of methamphetamine, fi ve
pounds of cocaine, a quarter-pound
of heroin, 10,000 oxycodone pills,
$40,000 in cash, fi ve fi rearms and two
sets of body armor.
Police arrested 36-year-old Casey
Miser, of Keizer, who is charged with
delivery of methamphetamine, deliv-
ery of cocaine and delivery of heroin.
Miser is being held at the Marion
County Correctional Facility with
bail set at $1.5 million.
“Miser’s been on
our radar for about
two years and we just
recently got enough
on him to start work-
ing the case,” said
Lt. Steve Birr, of the
SPD Special Opera-
C. Miser
tions Section. “He’s
unusual from the standpoint that you
don’t usually see a guy working an 8
to 5 job and slinging dope in the eve-
nings.”
Miser worked at All-American
Truck & SUV Accessory Centers on
Portland Road Northeast, the site
where one of the search warrants was
served. Birr said Casey Miser is the
son of an owner of the parent com-
pany.
Birr said drugs were found at both
the business and Miser’s home in the
1300 block of Rafael Avenue North.
“It was one of the nicest homes
we’ve ever executed a search warrant
on,” Birr said.
Jeff Kuhns, KPD deputy chief, said
the home was not a source of com-
plaints to the department.
Please see BUST, Page A10
In stitches
PAGE A6