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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL Police chief addresses increase in assaults He said the department also examined the use of con- trolled substances and weap- Though overall crime ons in the aggravated assault in Hermiston stayed fairly cases. But he noted that it’s stable in 2017, aggravated more difficult to accurately track those factors. He said assaults saw a spike. Of the eight categories the part of the issue is not being Hermiston Police Depart- able to immediately tell what ment tracks for its annual drugs, if any, a person has in crime report, the num- their system. Based bers remained mostly on reports, he said, a controlled sub- flat. But the depart- stance was a factor ment recorded 36 in 56 percent of the incidents of aggra- vated assault, a jump aggravated assaults from last year’s 20 recorded in 2017. incidents. The majority of Of the assaults the time, he said, tracked, more than Edmiston the substance was alcohol. half were related to He said that weapons domestic violence and con- trolled substances — usually were used in 42 percent alcohol — were also a factor of the aggravated assault in more than half. encounters. However, he Other categories tracked said pointing a weapon at a annually are homicide, rob- person is considered aggra- bery, burglary, larceny, auto vated assault even if the theft, arson and rape. In weapon isn’t used. In some 2016 the instances of rape incidents this year, he said, increased to seven, but were the weapon used was a flash- down to four in 2017. There light, a belt, a stick or a pipe. Edmiston said that though was also one homicide in Hermiston in 2017, within the numbers are concerning, the normal range for the past Hermiston’s crime rate has continued to drop over time, several years. Other categories that saw this year dropping 20 percent increases included larceny, from the 10-year average, which saw a growth from even with continued popula- 395 incidents to 412. Auto tion growth. “We have, for the most theft also saw an increase, part, remained a city with a from 27 incidents to 41. Police Chief Jason lower violent crime rate,” he Edmiston said some of the said. “I don’t like this trend increased numbers were a we’re seeing. We know that result of having more patrol it can be almost entirely related to aggravated assault. officers. “If I added another patrol One category is skewing vio- officer, they’re going to find lent crime. But we don’t take it lightly.” more,” he said. He said officers made But he said the numbers for aggravated assault were arrests for 74 percent of reported person crimes troubling. He said no obvious fac- and 42 percent of property tors emerged as a reason for crimes, compared to the the increase, but the spike national arrest average of 46 prompted him to dig into the and 19 percent, respectively, per FBI statistics. data for that category. He said the department “If there’s some kind of trend we can identify or tar- had seen an increase in the get, we’d be foolish not to,” number of service calls and officer-initiated activity. he said. “Another component to There was no particular pattern with assaults during calls is trust,” he said. “Does any time of year or of day, the community trust that the Edmiston said. Six assaults calls they’re going to make were recorded in Janu- will be responded to?” ary, the highest number of One effort, he said, was any month last year. March the department’s increased had zero recorded assaults. social media presence which Assaults were recorded more has provided daily safety tips frequently between 6 p.m. and updates, as well as ask- ing the public for informa- and midnight. “There’s no rhyme or tion about crimes. Recently, reason by month,” he said. they’ve been searching for “I suppose it could be cor- information about a series related that it’s darker, and of robberies at local conve- people are inside earlier. But nience stores. that’s speculation.” He said they were also looking at domestic vio- lence incidents more closely. Of the 36 aggravated assault incidents, 58 percent were domestic. 5 Theater Cineplex “A common theme was strangulation,” Edmiston Check said. He said strangulation, wildhorseresort.com which includes choking and for showtimes attempted choking, was a factor in 36 percent of the $5 Matinee Classics total assault incidents. It was Every Wednesday a factor in 57 percent of the Credit & Debit Cards domestic incidents. accepted “It’s alarming,” Edmiston Cineplex gift cards said. “We looked at whether available there was anything we’re 541-966-1850 capturing, data-wise, that Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 tells us why.” By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER EO FILE PHOTO Stanfield Police have cited the pet food plant, owned by 3D Idapro Solutions, for odor three times in 2018. Each citation costs $435. Plant receives three odor citations By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER The Stanfield factory that prompted citizen com- plaints throughout 2017 has been cited by Stanfield Police for odor three times in 2018. Stanfield Police Chief Bryon Zumwalt said the pet food plant, owned by 3D Idapro Solutions, has received three citations in the past few weeks, and that each citation costs $435. Stanfield City Manager Blair Larsen said the plant had a court date for one citation last week, and for two others Wednesday. “To my understand- ing, they pleaded no con- test, and they have to make arrangements to pay the fines,” he said. If the city receives at least four odor complaints from different households in a 12-hour period, it vio- lates the city ordinance, and the city can issue a citation. Mark Johnson, 3D Ida- pro’s vice president of operations, said the com- pany had no comment about the citations. Larsen said that in fall of 2017, plant operators struck an agreement with the city council, which allowed them until November to make all their improve- ments before they began issuing citations for odor complaints. “They were a little delayed, but they got it done by mid-December,” Larsen said. Larsen said the city has kept a log of the com- plaints they have received, which record the name and address of the com- plainant, the date and time it was received, and spe- cific issues, if any. According to the log, the first time the city received enough complaints to fit the nuisance ordinance was on Jan. 18. They received enough for two more cita- tions on Jan. 20 and 22. “It’s clear that the prob- lem is not solved,” Larsen said. “Having the equip- ment is one thing. Using it properly and making sure people know how to use it is another.” The plant, which dehy- drates potatoes that are used primarily to make dog food, was the subject of many complaints this sum- mer, when the odor forced many indoors. In October, officials from the compa- ny’s midwest headquar- ters held a public meeting in Stanfield to go over the plan they had to mitigate odors. They said they had a three-step plan to mitigate odors, which included put- ting up a large tent in which potatoes could dry, which they said would reduce the odors to surrounding areas. They also planned to install a new scrubber, an air purifying device. The old scrubber was too small, and was damaged by a fire in the plant last February. The plant has since replaced the scrubber. Path to shorten time from jail to treatment and ready to receive them,” Primmer said. “That’s the goal.” By PHIL WRIGHT STAFF WRITER Umatilla County aims to close the gap jail inmates face from when they get out to when they get into treat- ment for mental health and alcohol or drug addictions. Dale Primmer, director of Umatilla County Commu- nity Justice, said while the jail provides treatment, the program has lacked the cru- cial component that helps inmates continue treat- ment outside the cell. The board of county commis- sioners Wednesday morn- ing took action to remedy that with a 3-0 approval of a $125,556 contract for Com- munity Counseling Solu- tions to provide a full-time employee to handle men- tal health and drug/alcohol assessments, care coordina- tion and referrals at the jail. “So in theory, the person will go from one facility, the jail, right into a service provider that is (oriented) “So in theory, the person will go from one facility, the jail, right into a service provider that is orientated and ready to receive them.” Dale Primmer, director The funding comes from the Oregon Justice Rein- vestment Grant Program, which provides money to help keep offenders out of state prisons. Primmer said with the board vote, Com- munity Counseling Solu- tions can recruit and hire a person with the right cre- dentials to conduct both mental health and drug and alcohol assessments, get the hire on board and roll out a program. “I think April 1 is when we targeted to hit the go but- ton,” Primmer said. That also is when he said a version of drug court could re-open. Community Justice oper- ated drug court until state funding declined last year. Since then, Primmer said, his department has been working with the circuit courts of the 6th Judicial District and other stakehold- ers to resurrect drug court. He said the idea is to launch a more traditional model that is post-conviction but pre-sentencing, so offend- ers can work through treat- ment programs to receive less severe sentences or even have the court dismiss charges. Roy Blaine is the trial court coordinator for the local circuit courts. He said Jillian Viles started Feb. 1 as the new treatment court coordinator, and she is help- ing write the policies and procedures for the program, which is under the auspices of the local public safety coordinating council. The treatment court also might use a pro-tem judge rather than one of the five full-time circuit court judges on the 6th Dis- trict. Blaine said he adver- tised for attorneys to serve as the treatment court judge one day a week. Six people applied, he said, and he has to assess if they meet the requirements. If none do, Blaine said, he was sure one of the cir- cuit court judges would step in. Primmer also is using Justice Reinvestment funds to seek a treatment provider for the people in treatment court. Having a sole pro- vider cuts down on a lot of oversight, he said. The request for bids should go out in the next day or so. WE HEAR YOU! 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