MARCH 17, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3 Youth councilor, liaison appointed KPD succeeds with DUII patrols despite challenges The Keizer City Council confi rmed the appointments of a youth councilor and a youth liaison to the Keizer Parks and Recreation Board at its meeting Monday, March 6. McNary High School se- nior Giancarlo Marcello was named youth councilor and said experiences as a police ca- det paved the way for applying to the position. “I thought this would be another good experience to have,” Marcello said. Marcello recently complet- ed the paperwork to become part of the Chemeketa Schol- ars program that provides two years of tuition-free college for high school students who maintained a grade point aver- age of 3.5 or better. Sam Elder, another Mc- Nary senior, was named the youth liaison to the parks board. Elder, who recently at- tained the rank of Eagle Scout, said parks were a particular in- terest to him after he restored trails as his community service McNary seniors Sam Elder and Giancarlo Marcello. KEIZERTIMES/ Eric A. Howald project. “I like volunteering and helping out, and it’s fun to start up something and then (see) the end result,” Elder said. Both young men were led to the roles by Councilor Lau- ra Reid, a teacher at McNary. “If the next generation of Keizer leaders are half as ex- emplary as these young men, we will be in very good hands,” Reid said. Given that the academic year is half over, both Elder and Marcello will only serve about half the time a normal youth appointee would. The situation prompted a conversation about adding a deputy youth councilor posi- tion for the remainder of the year that would foster succes- sion and strengthen the pro- gram in the future. That discussion will con- tinue at meetings of the Keiz- er Volunteer Coordinating Committee. Pucker up! Saturday, May 20 Lemonade Day is the national event that teaches kids how a business works by operating a lemonade stand. With help from parents and spon- sors, kids create their own recipe, build a stand and sell lemonade. Create a recipe • Design a stand Attract investors • Do it alone or with friends Learn more at salemkeizer.lemonadeday.org Main Squeeze Sponsor By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes When a Keizer police offi cer suspects some- one of driving under the infl uence of intoxi- cants (DUII), resolving the problem isn’t always as easy as pulling them over and administering a fi eld sobriety test. “I was once told in training that, next to a homicide, DUII’s are the most diffi cult cases to work and prosecute,” said Sgt. Trevor Wen- ning, head of Keizer Police Department’s Patrol Unit. “Drunk driving spans all ages and social economic groups and there is an abundance of attorneys ready to pick apart our investigations. We have a vast amount of court rulings, proce- dures, processes and certain words that need to be spoken, verbatim in some cases, which if not adhered to jeopardizes the case.” Despite such challenges, KPD has been largely successful with its DUII enforcement. Each year for the past fi ve years, the Keizer Police Department was awarded an Oregon Department of Transportation Grant that cov- ers overtime costs for DUII enforcement. KPD offi cers average one arrest for every 5.2 hours worked in DUII enforcement. That’s better than the statewide average of one arrest for every 6.4 hours of overtime. Even with that success, some KPD offi cers, and likely throughout the country, remain un- comfortable with performing the DUII stops because the bar for conviction has been set high. “Offi cers have to provide subjective and ob- jective proof in order to secure the conviction. Subjective proof includes our observations and objective proof would be getting a breath sam- ple or drawing blood for testing. Simply put, these investigations demand perfection at every level of the investigation and that is why some offi cers are uncomfortable with them,” Wen- ning said. DUIIs still occur so frequently that to allevi- ate the burden on the justice system, fi rst-time offenders can complete diversion programs. The only ones who can’t bypass the court in that manner are those with commercial driver licenses. Every offi cer receives 24 hours of DUII enforcement training – 16 hours in adminis- tering fi eld sobriety tests and another eight on drug-impairment – but it can still leave them less-than-confi dent in executing a stop. To bol- ster that training, some offi cers are now taking advanced courses on evaluating impaired driv- ers and recognizing the signs of drug impair- ment. There’s also a four-hour refresher course in fi eld testing every three years, required by the ODOT grant, for offi cers working DUII patrol overtime. The legalization of recreational marijuana is also changing the landscape for offi cers in the fi eld. “In January 2017, KPD arrested 11 drivers for DUII, two of which were under the infl u- ence of marijuana. It is anticipated, and there have been studies to back this in states that have had legal marijuana for some time, that our ar- rest rate for marijuana impaired drivers will rise,” Wenning said. Since the beginning of 2017, KPD offi cers have arrested more than 20 suspected drunk drivers. The highest blood alcohol content lev- el registered in those arrests was .23 percent, nearly three times the legal limit of .08 percent. The lowest was .12 percent. Most of the DUII patrols in Keizer are sched- uled between Friday evening and early Sunday morning. Additional patrols are scheduled dur- ing “holiday” weekends known to generate fes- tive drinking, like St. Patrick’s Day, Super Bowl weekend, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, Me- morial Day and Labor Day. In Keizer, even the annual Iris Festival warrants additional patrols. GRASSROOTS GOVERNMENT The Keizer Traffi c Safety, Bikeways and Pedestrian Committee met March 9. Here’s what was discussed: • Pat Fisher offered an update on poten- tially adding new wayfi nding signs to the bike and pedestrian path along the Salem-Keizer Parkway.The committee hoped the project – estimated at less than $700 – would qualify for an ODOT grant. However, ODOT reps said the typical grant request for their Quick Fix program was more along the lines of $4,000 to $5,000. Committee members talk- ed about adding other items to the request like changing out the bollards that current prevent vehicles larger than bikes from using the bike path. Deputy City Recorder sug- gested investigating grants available through the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) program the city recently joined. • The HEAL grant program came up again later during discussions about adding a bike repair and air station in the vicinity of the Keizer Civic Center. Board members have been discussing the project for months, but a lack of funding remains a sticking point. Given the cost, estimated around $1,500, the board members decided to look at the HEAL grant program for possible funding. • Chair Hersch Sangster reported that he is in the process of designing family-style bike rides for the Keizer Iris Festival and an event being planned around the eclipse that will pass over the city in August 2017. THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY’S Best Kept Secret ASSOCIATE GOLF PACKAGE Now available for only $ 875 annually MENTION KEIZERTIMES AD FOR AN EXCLUSIVE OFFER! 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