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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2017)
FEBRUARY 24, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9 guess. “And, at any given hour, one of those offi cers might be at the jail with a suspect or at the hos- pital taking statements from a DUI crash,” Kuhns said. The addition of one offi - cer to each of the night shifts would alleviate the problem for high visibility crimes like rob- beries, but it would also have an impact on domestic disturbanc- es, which also occur more fre- quently in the late night hours. “Domestics are calls where you simply don’t go it alone. You don’t go with less than two offi cers,” Kuhns said. “Domes- tics are some of the most vola- tile calls police respond to, and that’s nationwide.” On the detective unit, a fi fth offi cer would be tasked primar- ily with property crime investi- gations. Property crimes take a backseat to persons crimes, like sexual and child abuse and rob- beries. Sex and child abuse cases constitute about 60 percent of the cases detectives are working at any given time, said Nelson. “We have a number of times when good leads on property cases come in, but we simply don’t have the time in the day to dedicate to them,” Nelson said. Even in cases where the evidence is strong, the lack of COPS, continued from Page A1 within the department – one offi cer each for traffi c, the Community Response Unit (CRU) and detectives, and two for night shifts. Keizertimes sat down with Teague, Deputy Chief Jeff Kuhns and Det. Chris Nelson to talk about precisely how new offers would change KPD ca- pabilities. On June 26, 2016, about 1 a.m., Keizer offi cers responded to the report of a burglary at Cooper’s Deli on River Road. While working the scene of that crime, the same suspects are believed to have robbed Quality Inn & Suites a little more than a block away. Kuhns said creating a secure perimeter, which can be dif- fi cult with just three offi cers on the night shift, might have prevented the second robbery from happening. KPD has a minimum of three offi cers on duty between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., but it would take all three of those offi cers to create the secure perimeter. Teague said the need for such action happens more frequently than the average citizen might ability to coordinate with other agencies might mean connec- tions aren’t made. “We’ve gotten a number of reports about organized retail theft groups at Keizer Station. These are groups that go up and down I-5 hitting the shop- ping centers. We get great vid- eo and great evidence, but we don’t have the time to coordi- nate with other agencies and put the time into those inves- tigations,” Nelson said. In thefts where less video- tape is available, evidence, in- terviews and leads grow stale, but the persons crimes take precedence every time, Teague said. “I think that’s wrong, but it’s what’s happening,” Teague said. To be clear, he was suggest- ing that no crime should be placed on the back burner, not that property crimes should be placed at higher priority than persons crimes. Coupled with certain types of crime not receiving the at- tention it might deserve, the detectives themselves have be- come more specialized since the unit was fi rst created in the mid-1990s. Det. Ben Howden spends much of his time performing digital forensics on comput- ers and phones, a specialty that is facing, but it’s a constant de- mand of the public. “Our numbers are low, but the public repeatedly tells us they want more attention put on traffi c,” Teague said. “And I understand that every resident wants to see an offi cer drive by once in a while.” Traffi c is another area that has been helped with new technology like fl ashing speed limit signs, which come out the city’s Public Works budget, but the demand for more rarely subsides. “Our radar reader board is one of the most requested ser- vices we have,” Kuhns said. While the chiefs and offi cers see the gaps a lack of bodies is creating at KPD, it should not be read as an absolution of duty. Even the unworked prop- erty crimes are all entered into a database run by the depart- ment’s crime analyst, Cara Steele. They remain there and are compared with new cases as they arrive looking for pat- terns that might warrant more investigation. “We have always said we will work with what the city gives us. I think we serve the people well, but there are sim- ply things we cannot do with- out additional offi cers,” Teague said. doesn’t come without signifi - problems are their niche,” cant cost to the department in Teague said. When offi cers rousted squat- terms of training. Major cases also linger over ters from a vacant home near the unit. One detective is still Gubser Elementary School that pursuing leads in a case involv- was becoming a hive of suspi- ing the death of a 12-year- cious activity, CRU offi cers old in January, another is now were the ones who spent the managing the local efforts time observing the house and the goings on i nve s t i g a t i n g there. CRU a robbery at offi cers also MAPS Credit provided sur- Union last veillance in week. Unlike a major drug television por- bust last week trayals, inves- (See story Page tigations don’t A1). proceed to ar- Te c h n o l - rest and trial ogy has been neatly within able to close 50 minutes. — Jeff Kuhns some of the In the Com- KPD Deputy Chief gap, but when munity Re- extra bodies sponse Unit, are needed it there are cur- rently two investigators and a means calling on one of the supervisor for a unit that once detectives to help – spreading had four investigators. The the agency thinner. “We’re trying to do every- CRU inhabits a grey area be- tween patrol and detectives, thing we can with less bodies, Teague said. Patrol offi cers but we still need an additional respond to calls that can be offi cers,” Nelson said. The fi fth additional offi cer quickly brought to some reso- lution, whereas detectives are would be placed on the traffi c in it for the long haul. CRU unit, which currently only has works cases that involve a level one offi cer. 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