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Polk County News Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 28, 2017 9A Law enforcement to hold public hearing By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Polk County law enforcement officials are holding a public hear- ing on Thursday to review proposed change to the county’s response plan to law enforcement use of deadly physical force. State law requires each county to have a response plan outlining protocols for investigations, including rec- ommendations on how to decide which agency should investigate deadly force inci- dents, training and commu- nicating with the public fol- lowing after an incident. The planning authority consists of Sheriff Mark Garton, District Attorney Aaron Felton, all city police chiefs, an Oregon State Po- lice representative and a member of the public. Garton said much of the plan is outlined in state statute, but the county planning authority incor- porated some of Marion County’s plan in its pro- posed revisions. “Marion County had this plan, so we looked at theirs and used some of their lan- guage, but the core of all the language is right out of statute,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of leeway in what we can have. It tells us what we have to have.” The most noticeable change is the title, revised from “Law Enforcement of Deadly Physical Force Re- sponse Plan” to “Law En- forcement Intentional Use of Deadly Physical Force Response Plan.” Garton said other changes mostly affect wording. “There’s no substantive change,” he said. Those changes include adding a paragraph to the preamble explaining the purpose of the plan. Other revisions include a recom- mendation that an agency other than the one the in- Learn more What: Public hearing on law enforcement deadly force response plan. When: 7 p.m. Thurs- day. Where: Polk County Courthouse conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. volved officer or officers work for investigate inci- dents. Proposed changes also provide guidelines on how to determine which agency should take the lead on the investigation. The revised plan outlines when and who should communicate with the public about the incident and investigation: “In order to preserve the integrity of the investigation, the scene supervisor and investiga- tive supervisor shall notify all involved officers to re- frain for making public statements about the inves- tigation, until such time as the investigation has con- cluded and the District At- torney has made a determi- nation regarding the crimi- nal responsibility of all in- volved persons.” Also included are guide- lines for informing the pub- lic about the incident, di- rected through the district attorney’s office and the lead investigative agency. The plan directs that a pub- lic statement be released as soon as possible including: time and location of the in- cident; condition of any suspect; nature of the in- tentional use of deadly physical force; and any other information “the dis- trict attorney, lead inves- tigative agency, or the in- volved officer’s agency deems necessary given the particular circumstances of the incident.” Garton said following the public hearing, the next step is to present the plan to all governing bodies in the county for approval. Retire: Helped improve lives of offenders Continued from Page 1A “They look forward to it. I take a group picture and post it on my office door,” said Silbernagel, the director of Polk County Community Corrections. “It’s a reminder to the POs (probation offi- cers) and myself that this is what we are doing.” Silbernagel has been doing the job in some ca- pacity for 29 years — in the community service, and ju- venile or adult supervision programs — and is now the director of all three. Silbernagel is turning in his badge Friday, making the difficult decision to end a career he’s loved and step- ping away from his “work family.” “I’m not retiring because I don’t like my job anymore. I’m retiring because I’ve done this long enough, and I’m ready to do something else fun and exciting,” Silber- nagel said. “It’s not going to be easy for me to leave, but it’s good. It’s good for me. It’s good for everybody.” — As a freshman at then- Western Oregon State Col- lege, Silbernagel wanted a physical education instruc- tor or coach. “I was a horrible student. Horrible,” he recalled last. “I played basketball my fresh- man year at Western. It was very time-consuming and my grades suffered because of that, and the fact that I was never a good student. I need- ed to raise my grade- point average.” He heard of a class called “introduction to criminal justice careers,” where stu- dents toured and observed various criminal justice in- stitutions and wrote reports about the experience. It was an easy “A” he was told. More than a GPA booster, the class altered the course of his education and career. “I thought, this is kind of interesting, so I took more corrections classes,” he said. “I changed my major.” After graduation, he briefly worked a part-time job in Marion County before taking the post as the com- munity service coordinator for Polk County in April 1988. He held the position for just over a year when it was cut from the budget. Silber- nagel has seniority over the other three employee whose jobs were eliminated, so he was offered another: Juve- nile probation officer. “I thought, ‘Oh lord. I don’t want to work with kids.’ But I did it. I was young and thought ‘I need a job,’” he said. “I loved it. I did it for almost eight years.” He applied for communi- ty corrections director with- out thinking he would get it. He was only 31, but got the job. “I was the youngest direc- tor in the state of Oregon,” he said. — He’s been with the county long enough of have worked in an infamous community corrections building that once stood where Murphy’s restaurant is now. “It was commonly re- ferred to as the ‘rat build- ing.’ Why? Because there were rats in it, live rats,” he said. That building was demol- ished, and that isn’t the only thing about the job that has changed for the better in 29 years. When he started, proba- tion officers felt their role was to supervise and pun- ish. “They needed to lock peo- ple up that did wrong,” he said. “Over time, the evolu- tion of parole and probation has made a 180-degree turn in that it’s not so much that any more. It’s rapport build- ing with offenders.” He believes that approach — helping offenders im- prove their lives holistically — is more beneficial to those the office supervises. POs learn about each per- son’s life, the problems they face, with the goal of helping them not just successfully serve their probation, but change their lives for the better. “We here at community corrections and at the juve- nile department treat these people as human beings, as they are, and hold them ac- countable,” he said. “It goes a long way in terms of how much are they going to progress and be successful at what the court has man- dated for them to do.” Friday is Silbernagel’s re- tirement party, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at his office. He said he will miss his employees, fellow county workers, court judges, attor- neys and staff — and the people he’s supervised over his career. “I’m going to miss the cel- ebrations of drug court, or mental health court, or somebody getting their dri- ver’s license or coming in and saying they got a job,” he said. In retirement, he won’t allow himself too much time to spare. He plans to volun- teer, work part-time at Wilco and farm on the side. “I won’t be a couch pota- to. Retirement is not for me in terms of sitting and let- ting life pass by,” he said. For Silbernagel — who hasn’t called in sick once in his career — the new routine may take some getting used to. But he walks away thank- ful for the experience. “If I had to do it all over again. I wouldn’t do any- thing different, absolutely nothing,” he said. “I’ve been very fortunate that Polk County has given me the op- portunity.” Bystander helps save youths from drowning Itemizer-Observer staff report POLK COUNTY — On Thursday, Polk County Fire District No.1 respond- ed to Riverview Park on a report of a possible water rescue with multiple juve- niles in the river, Fire Chief Ben Stange in a press release. When the fire district ar- rived, three juveniles were on shore next to the river. They had been in the Willamette River when they were caught by an eddy overpowering them, Stange said. They called for help mul- tiple times at which point a bystander swam into the river to rescue them. The by- stander coached one of the three to swim back to shore, and put the other two on his back and swam them back to shore, Stange said. One of the juveniles had been submerged multiple times and was transported to the hospital for evalua- tion. The event on Thursday took place in the same loca- tion where a boy and his adult brother drowned in 2008, Stange said. On Friday, a boy went missing while swimming in the Willamette in Salem. One year ago this week, the Monmouth/Independence community was shaken when a Central High School student, Cody Watson, drowned while swimming in a river in Central Oregon, Stange said in the release. Fire officials are remind- ing people to use extreme caution near the water. There are life preservers available for use free of charge at Riverview Park in Independence and at the In- dependence boat dock. 2017 Monmouth Area Community Events Calendar July 1 Monmouth Community Breakfast. 8:30 am – 10:30 am. Monmouth Senior Center. 180 S. Warren St. July 2 Polk Flea Market 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. Polk County's oldest and largest market with 183 tables selling antiques, collectibles, tools, etc. 520 S Pacific Hwy W. Rickreall Sunday, July 2 • 9-3 Early Admission Sunday 6am-9am $5 Regular Admission $1 • Free Parking July 4 Happy 4th of July from the MBA! See this week’s Itemizer-Observer for the 4th of July Guide. Includes all scheduled events for Monmouth. Espresso Bar provided by July 5 Monmouth Music in the Park Concert Series begins with The Shinkle Band. They will be playing folk and country music. Beer & wine garden, food, and activities for the kids. Main Street Park Amphitheater 120 Main Street E. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. PCL www.polkfleamarket.com polkproduction@minetfiber.com Partnerships in Community Living 503-838-2403 480 E. Main St. Monmouth DownTown Trends Thursdays! May - Sept 10 am - 3 pm NEW vendors each week! 142 Highway 99 West 503-838-1445 Monmouth 182 Academy St., Dallas (corner of Main & Academy) Featuring Growers, Producers & Artisans of the Polk County area & beyond! NEW vendors EACH week! 355 N Pacific Ave., Ste A Monmouth 503-838-4268 We broke a record LAST week with customer attendance at 585! Support our scouts! Bring your empty cans and bottles to Bounty Market each week to donate to our future leaders! Thank you Boy Scout Troop 288 for all you do for our community! 182 Academy St., Dallas Facebook.com/bountymarket 503-623-2564 Serving Polk County Since 1875 503-623-2373 Happy 4th of July! July 6-8 Apple Box Children’s Theater is proud to present Arabian Nights by Maren Bradley Anderson. Dress Rehearsal is also open to the public on 7/5 at 7pm. Bring a folding chair or blanket, a picnic basket and enjoy the summer evening. Western Oregon University's Amphitheater (outside of Rice Auditorium) located at Powell, Knox and Warren Streets. 7 pm – 8:30 pm July 12 Monmouth Music in the Park Concert Series. The Wildwood Allstar Review plays rock & roll. Beer & wine garden, food, and activities for the kids. Main Street Park Amphitheater 120 Main Street E. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. July 15 Polk County Museum Porch Sale. 9 am – 3 pm. Come support the preservation of local history by scooping up those "must have" treasures. Polk County Museum 560 S. Pacific Highway West, Rickreall July 19 Monmouth Music in the Park Concert Series. Leg- endary Oregon band Hillstomp brings an evening of blues to Music In The Park. Beer & wine garden, food, and activities for the kids. Main Street Park Amphitheater 120 Main Street E. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. July 26 Monmouth Music in the Park Concert Series. Jenny Don't & The Spurs bring an evening of country music to Music In The Park. Beer & wine garden, food, and activities for the kids. Main Street Park Amphitheater 120 Main Street E. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. www.windermere.com 503-838-1141 297 N Pacific Monmouth 800-732-0173 464 S Pacific Hwy Monmouth oregonstatecu. Saving Carpets Daily Carpet Hero 503-838-0869 Monmouth LOOKING FOR RENTALS? 297½ N. Pacific Hwy 503-838-1278 Western View Properties Property Management, LLC July Forum — July 12 Independence Public Library 175 Monmouth Street, Independence Topic: State Legislative Update Lunch: $12.00 boxed lunch from Arena Sports Bar • Lunch orders must be received by noon 7/11/17. • Fee incurred unless cancelation received via email to micc@minetfiber.com by noon 7/11/17. 503-838-2951 165 E. Main St. Monmouth Thirsty Thursday — July 20 Thirsty Thursdays are held the third Thursday of each month from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM at member locations. Registration is requested to help the host site properly prepare. Attendees are encouraged to bring a small giveaway (less than $10) to promote your business or organization. This month July — MaMere’s Guest House 212 Knox St., Monmouth. 503-838-1773 410 E. Main St. Monmouth To advertise in this calendar call Heidi at the Itemizer-Observer 503-623-2373 ext 115 http://www.exploredallasoregon.org/bounty-market.html
