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A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2015 LOCAL NEWS Police chiefs applaud Obama’s gun safety reform proposals Hermiston chief attended annual conference, shook president’s hand after address By SEAN HART Staff Writer President Barack Obama addressed a large crowd at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police conference last week in Chicago, and Hermiston police chief Jason Edmis- ton was sitting in the ¿fth row. Edmiston was lucky enough to be in the right place to shake the presi- dent’s hand as he left after the speech. “I don’t necessarily agree with everything this president has done,” he said. “However, I don’t dis- agree with some of what he said, speci¿cally at this conference. I really do re- spect the of¿ce of the pres- ident. I think that’s about as thankless of a job as a po- lice of¿cer.” Obama focused on three main topics: ensuring of- ¿cers had the necessary resources to perform their job, making criminal justice reforms to “make the sys- tem smarter and fairer” and reducing risks to of¿cers through “common-sense gun safety reforms.” Edmiston said while federal resources for local police agencies sounds ap- pealing, the real dif¿culty for smaller, rural agencies is the bureaucratic red tape. While larger agencies have people dedicate time to grant writing, he said, the process is time consuming and can be counterproduc- tive for smaller agencies. He said the process should be simpli¿ed so smaller agencies can actually ac- quire those resources. Obama also said invest- ments in early childhood education pay off through reduced crime. Edmiston said addressing education and mental health needs would be extremely helpful for police, who must re- spond to situations that may have been avoidable. On the topic of gun safe- ty reforms, Edmiston said the president struck a chord with many of¿cers in atten- dance. “This was not a room full of people that were just shaking their head and agreeing with everything the president said. Having said that, when he talks about smart ways to try to PHOTO COURTESY JASON EDMISTON President Barack Obama greets people after speaking at the 122nd annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference Oct. 27 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Hermiston police chief Jason Edmiston attended the speech and shook the president’s hand after. limit the wrong people from having access to weapons, there was overwhelming applause in the room,” he said. In particular, Edmis- ton said most in atten- dance seemed to support Obama’s suggestion that military-style assault weap- ons should not be sold to civilians. “It’s just a simple propo- sition — cops should not be out-armed by the criminals they’re pursuing,” Obama said. Edmiston, however, said he believes the issue is more complex. He said he believes comprehensive reforms are necessary to reduce gun violence, but focusing solely on assault weapons without address- ing family, education and mental health issues miss- es the broader point. He said he appreciated that the president brought up some of these other issues but that he did not believe an assault weapon ban alone would solve the problem. “Trying to target one is- sue is almost like putting the entire issue into individ- ual silos, and I think that’s where the federal govern- ment itself has become ineffective because every- body’s got their own little slice of the pie,” he said. “I think it leads to additional inef¿ciencies if you’re only focused on one issue.” Obama said the IACP supported a ban on the sale of assault weapons to civil- ians, as well as his plan to require national criminal background checks for the purchase of ¿rearms. Edmiston said, in gener- al, he prefers local control rather than federal over- sight because the situations of¿cers face differ between Hermiston and Pendleton — let alone an urban me- tropolis such as Chicago. He said, however, at anoth- er session at the conference, a young police chief was speaking about the need for national use of force stan- dards and Edmiston agreed. Edmiston admitted, if national standards seem appropriate regarding use of force, they might be for background checks as well — if they were done correctly. The dif¿culty, he said, is that people lack trust in the government and question the motives of pol- iticians. Edmiston said if people on both sides of the issue come together, he believes steps can be taken to im- prove gun safety. “I do think that there needs to be some com- prehensive reform, or at least discussion asking the question: Why are these (mass shooting) events tak- ing place?” he said. “Is the weapon that is involved a factor? Yes. Is the mental health status of the indi- vidual committing the act a factor? Yes. It is a very broad discussion that will need to take place, and there may need to be some compromise on both sides of the issue to try to ¿nd some common ground.” Edmiston, who signed up for the conference for executive training long before it was announced Obama would be there, said it was a “unique, probably once-in-a-lifetime opportu- nity” to shake the hand of a sitting president — and that Obama’s hands were quite soft. Treats on Main features family costumes By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer Plenty of kids wouldn’t be caught dead wearing matching clothes with their brother or sister, but some- times the sibling rivalry is suspended in the name of Halloween. During the Treats on Main event in Hermiston on Friday there were plenty of examples of siblings in coordinated costumes. Riley Campbell, 9, was gathering candy dressed as Princess Leia, complete with the Star Wars charac- ter’s signature “cinnamon roll” hairstyle. Her brother Tyler Campbell, 7, accom- panied her as Darth Vader. Riley said it was her idea to dress as rival Star Wars characters, because Star Wars is “really cool.” She and her brother have come up with coordinated Halloween costumes from movies before, including the Wizard of Oz. “We were Scarecrow and Dorothy,” she said. Sometimes the coor- dination is the parents’ idea. Twins Zoey and Av- ery Timmons, age 2, were dressed as a chicken and an egg, with Zoey sporting yellow chicken feet impro- vised from a pair of rubber gloves. “They were in vitro, so you don’t know which came ¿rst, the chicken or the egg,” Karen Timmons said, explaining how the two cos- tumes went together. Lindsey Hector said she dressed Evelyn Christensen, STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL Siblings Tyler Campbell, left, and Riley Campbell decided to go as rival Star Wars characters at Hermiston’s Treats on Main. 4, and Landry Christensen, 3, up as peanut butter and jelly because the two of them are best friends, the kind that go together “like peanut butter and jelly.” “Last year they were presents. This year I though ‘I should dress them up as peanut butter and jelly be- cause they do everything together,” she said. JaCory Harris, 4, and his brother JaQuan Harris, 2, were dressed as Mario and Luigi, representing their fa- vorite Nintendo video game characters. And real-life sisters Hailey and Whitney McKay, ages 5 and 7, were dressed as sisters Elsa and Anna from the movie Fro- zen. In some cases mom and dad got in on the act. Jacob, Hannah and their son Jaden Galbraith were a family of minions from the mov- ie Despicable Me because Jaden loves the movie. “I got him the minion costume and then thought, ‘Why not have us all be minions?’” Hannah said. As they passed another small minion accompanied by her own parents some- one shouted “Look, I found your family!” STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL Evelyn Christensen, left, and Landry Christensen dressed as peanut butter and jelly for Hermiston’s Treats on Main. If you call a contractor yourself, that still counts as DIY. Look to a U.S. Bank Home Equity Line of Credit for your next major project. You’ll be greeted with competitive rates, flexible payment options and people who genuinely care. STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL Twins Avery and Zoey Timmons, 2, dressed as “the chicken and the egg” for Halloween. 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