Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 13, 2016 5A
Sheriff: Patrol FC council to discuss utility reserve fee
Public hearing scheduled on Thursday to take comments on proposal
hours up to 20
Itemizer-Observer staf report
Continued from 1A
“We must be diligent and
thorough so that we can
provide the best law en-
forcement services possi-
ble,” Garton said.
Agencies have one year to
certify new recruits, meaning
they can participate in field
training before or after at-
tending the police academy.
Garton said he likes to
schedule training such that
deputies have no or mini-
mal time in between.
The challenge there is
having enough training of-
ficers to work with new
hires. That is another factor
in the gradual rebuild.
“Training, the philoso-
phy behind it, is if you get
six months of training in a
row, you are better in the
end,” he said.
Last week, Friday’s patrol
shift consisted of three
training officers, three re-
cruits and one solo deputy.
The briefing before the
team took to the road con-
sisted of a review of a diffi-
cult call the night before, a
heads up on a potentially
complicated warrant arrest,
and a short training session
led by one of the depart-
m e n t’s re c r u i t s, Mi k e
Stevenson.
Before being hired full-
time, Stevenson had been a
reserve deputy with the de-
partment.
Coincidently, the topic of
Stevenson’s presentation
was legal guidelines around
“police officer holds” or tak-
ing someone into custody
who is suffering from mental
illness that may lead them to
be a danger to themselves or
others. Deputies faced a situ-
ation that could have fallen
into that category the night
before.
Discussion of that and
similar calls often inter-
rupted Stevenson’s session.
Sgt. Kevin Haynes said
hashing out difficult situa-
tions is a good exercise for
recruits. But he couldn’t
help teasing Stevenson
about allowing frequent
distractions.
“A good instructor is able to
field those questions and move
on,” he said through a smile.
He left the deputies, ex-
Wyden to host Dallas
town hall at Nesmith
DALL AS — Sen. Ron
Wyden will hold a town hall
at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the
Nesmith Readiness Center,
12830 Westview Drive, Dal-
las.
The event is part of four
town halls the senator will
hold this weekend.
Wyden holds annual town
halls in each of Oregon’s 36
counties each year. After this
weekend’s events, Wyden will
have held 763 town halls
since he was elected.
To reach Wyden: www.
wyden.senate.gov.
perienced and new, with
advice that could apply to
any challenging situation
facing officers in the field:
“Taking control of some-
thing and making it safe is
never an issue.”
Thomas Hutchinson, 26,
was on his third day on the
job Friday. He had been a
reserve in the program in
the past and recently com-
pleted his service with the
U.S. Army.
He and his training officer
responded to the dangerous
call the night before. Even
with that eye-opening expe-
rience, Hutchinson seemed
happy about chance to be a
Polk County deputy.
“It was good to see that
whole aspect,” he said of
the call. “It was like a re-
fresher.
“I’ve always enjoyed it.
I’ve been here since I was
17, and it seems like a good
fit.”
With several recruits in
field training and headed to
the police academy later
this year, the office is on
track to restore full patrol
hours and the Polk County
In t e ra g e n c y Na rc o t i c s
Team by June or July.
On the jail side, the coun-
ty needed to hire 10 jail
deputies to fill vacant posi-
tions and those restored by
the levy. So far, six of those
posts have been filled.
“The hiring and training
have been going really well,
and we have positive mo-
mentum, which is placing
us ahead of what we origi-
nally planned prior to the
levy,” Garton said.
FALLS CITY — The Falls
City City Council will hold a
public hearing on a pro-
posed capital improvement
fee increase at its meeting
Thursday night.
The public hearing will
give citizens a chance to
comment on the proposal.
The meeting will take place
at the Falls City Community
Center, 320 N. Main St., at 7
p.m.
At its December meeting,
the council voted to have a
resolution prepared to raise
the monthly fee from $7 to
$10. The increase would
raise $14,400 annually and
would be used for upgrading
• An update on the city’s
code enforcement program
and municipal court, both of
which have been inactive
since the former code en-
forcement officer left the
city in 2014.
• A discussion about pos-
sibly using video surveil-
lance to deter littering and
other illegal activity in city
parks and the cemetery.
For more information or
to see the meeting agenda,
g o t o : w w w. f a l l s c i t y
oregon.gov.
Work: PCL places 45 in community
Continued from 1A
“There are people we’ve
been able to find employ-
ment for who, a year ago,
their parents and providers
would have said, ‘no, it’s
dangerous; no one will em-
ploy them,’” Brown said.
“But if you find the right
match, really, employment is
possible.”
PCL, which has been an
advocate for people with in-
tellectual and developmen-
tal disabilities, put its new
job program, Job Launch,
into action in October 2015,
said Gwen Whelton, public
relations for PCL.
“ We reorganized our
employment department,”
she said. “We work with
people who want to work,
evaluate their talents, gifts
and what might hold them
back.”
The old assumption that
someone with disabilities
would live forever on Social
Security in a group home is
24 hour
Service
no longer the case, Brown
said.
“A kid in high school (was)
not being asked, ‘What are
you going to do after high
school?’” Brown said. Since
the Employment First initia-
tive, school counselors will
start asking people with dis-
abilities the same questions
as those without.
“The script is changing,”
she said.
The trick is finding em-
ployers who need the skills
of the individuals, Brown
said.
“It’s not an act of charity,”
Brown said. “The goal is to
find something they’d have
to pay someone else to do
anyway.”
Sometimes, it feels like a
typical internship, where the
individual may interview
someone about his or her
business, or job shadow that
person, Brown said.
When it works, it works
for both the person and the
business.
“We have a guy working in
a mechanic shop,” Brown
said. “He’s always wanted to
be a mechanic.”
While his disabilities may
p re ve n t h i m f ro m t h e
hands-on work of fixing
cars, plenty needs to be
done around the shop.
Brown said this individual
frees up time for the full-
time mechanics to focus on
their work.
“ He’s w o r k e d p a r t s ,
cleaned parts, recycled
parts, organized tools,”
Brown said.
Having a real job that pays
a real wage is part of the
human experience, Brown
said.
“It plugs them into the
world,” she said. “They have
friends; they’re relied upon.
They have the same human
experience that you and I
h a ve. T h e y h a ve w o rk
friends. They become part of
our society.”
Right now, PCL is focused
on finding employment for
its clients, but hopes to open
the gates to anyone in the
community with intellectual
and developmental disabili-
ties.
For more information or
to learn how to hire individ-
uals with disabilities: Gwen
Whelton, 503-838-2403, ext.
342.
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GOVERNMENT
water and sewer systems or
to pay for emergency re-
pairs.
The vote was 4-1 for the
proposal, with Councilor
Jenn Drill voting “no” out of
concern for rising costs to
citizens.
Prior to the council’s ap-
proval, the city’s public
works committee reviewed
the utility reserve account
and decided a rate increase
was needed.
Thursday night’s agenda
also includes:
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Itemizer-Observer
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