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Oregon Association of Property & Evidence
Officers Oregon Association of Property & Evidence Officers
(a subchapter of the OPOA) was formed on December 19, 2002 at an
organizational meeting hosted by Lake Oswego Police Department with
information presented by Community Service Officer Wendy Svaren. The
meeting was attended by 43 law enforcement property & evidence officers
from across the state.
The mission of the Oregon Association of Property & Evidence Officers
(OAPEO) is to promote the professionalism of the property & evidence
function within the state through the cooperation and sharing of
information with individual agencies.
Goals of the association include promoting the standardization of
property room procedures, soliciting legal opinions in order to clarify
laws and pending legislation regarding law enforcement held property,
and providing training for evidence officers. A goal for those outside
the association is educating the law enforcement community on the needs
of the evidence room regarding packaging, case information and disposal
procedures, and what can go wrong if these procedures are not followed.
We look forward to working together to ensure that agencies in Oregon
have the tools they need to provide for the security and control of law
enforcement held property & evidence. This is critical to maintain a
high level of integrity within your property unit and the respect of the
citizens in your community. We must not forget the successful
prosecution of criminal cases hinges on how your property room operates.
What you don't know can hurt you. The OAPEO's intent is to provide much
needed information to everyone in the law enforcement community.
Anyone interested in becoming a member and being involved can contact
the Oregon Assoc of Property & Evidence Officers: Officer Wendy Svaren,
Lake Oswego Police Department, P.O. Box 369, Lake Oswego, OR 97034 or
email at : svaren@ci.oswego.or.us.
OPOA Promotes Training Packet for AMBER
Alert
The Oregon Peace Officers Association is dedicated to providing
training to law enforcement professionals throughout the State of
Oregon. In joint cooperation with
the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, the Oregon
Peace Officers Association is providing the AMBER Alert training packets
to all the police departments in the State of Oregon. The training
packet contains specialized training for the AMBER Alert System.
The AMBER Alert System was created after the 1996 abduction and
killing of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Dallas Texas. Utilizing this
system, law enforcement officials can alert the general public when a
child has been abducted and is believed to be in danger.
The training packet includes a 12-minute video that provides a basic
understanding of the AMBER Alert program and how it began. Accompanying
this video are several sample forms, protocols, and checklists that
various law enforcement agencies throughout Oregon have developed.
If you have any question regarding the training program or forms
please contact:
Officer Steve Piper of the Gresham Police Dept/OPOA at
503-618-2316
Kris Eiesland of DPSST at 503-992-0638
Judy Hayes, OSP Missing Children Clearinghouse at 503-378-3725 ext.
4412
On behalf of missing children everywhere, the Oregon Peace Officers
Association encourages anyone within your agency that may be involved
with missing/abducted children investigations receive this training.
Background Investigators Subchapter
by OBIA President Chris Woolcock
Background Investigations are an important part of any hiring
process. This is especially true if you are hiring for a Police Agency.
We have all seen background reports that were only done because they are
required by the Oregon Administrative Rules. These particular
investigations provide little more than a LEDS/NCIC check and a couple
of phone calls. Is this really the best way to select an employee?
In today's shrinking budgets it has become even more important to
select only the most qualified applicants for your agency. How do we
fill these positions in the most cost effective manner? The same way we
should have been doing it all along, by not trying to shortcut the
hiring process. Take a close look at the employees you have hired in the
past five years, how many of them do you still employ? Of those that you
still have, how many of them do you wish that you didn't employ? Could a
more thorough investigation have revealed these problems earlier?
Remember the saying, if you want it badly, you will get it badly.
That holds just as true for your background investigations. We are all
taxpayers ourselves and we should expend our agencies funds as
judiciously as we spend our own money. Many agencies assign their
temporary light duty officers to conduct these investigations with no
specific training in the area of employment law. Supervisors take note:
Background Investigations should not be busy work!
Background Investigators should be familiar with Employment Laws,
such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with
Disabilities Act. These Federal Laws cover such things as: the type of
questions you may ask of an applicant; and, in some cases, how the
question needs to be worded. Your knowledge of these Federal Regulations
could prevent your department from costly litigation, just as a thorough
background can help prevent a possible case of negligent hiring.
At this point the only question you should be asking is "how do I
receive some training?" The Oregon Background Investigators Association,
The Oregon Peace Officers Association, and the Board on Public Safety,
Standards, and Training are currently in the process of developing
training specifically focused on the Background Investigation. If your
agency is interested in possibly hosting a regional training session you
can contact any Board Member of the Background Investigators Subchapter
through the OPOA website. At the very minimum please send the name of
your agency Background Investigator along with their contact information
to the OBIA for inclusion in our group network.
Officer Chris Woolcock, Gresham
Police Department
1333 NW Eastman Parkway, Gresham,
Oregon 97030
Most Hazardous Job at OSP
by GR Castillo, OSP Arson
Section
Depending on your perspective, one of the most interesting,
dangerous, scary, ya-gotta-be-kiddin'me? positions an officer can have
with OSP is that of a Certified Hazardous Device Technician. But, nearly
everyone would agree there are times when it can be can a most exciting
one.
Hazardous Device Technicians work in the Arson/Explosives Section of
the Criminal Investigation Division. The unit is comprised of six
technicians located in three offices throughout the state. Detective
Steve Sigurdson and Detective Bill Hakim make up the Northwest Region
Squad. Detective Elden Alexander and Detective Mike Davis are the
members of the Eastern Region Squad. Senior Troopers Blain Allen and Tim
Burt are the Southwest Region members. Sergeant Al Tindle,
Arson/Explosives Section Manager, is the current Bomb Squad Commander.
The OSP Bomb Squad's standard operating procedure requires two bomb
technicians to respond to all calls for explosive disposals. To conform
to this, they are additionally supported by a Deputy for Marion County
Sheriff's Office and a Deputy from Jackson County Sheriff's Office.
Detective Sigurdson is the only bomb squad technician who works
full-time at the job. He has been doing disposals since 1987 and has
been on the Bomb Squad longer than any other member. The other officers
have additional duties with Patrol, SWAT, Drug Enforcement and Arson
Investigation.
The Bomb Squad was organized in 1970. Prior to that time, all patrol
troopers were required to respond to explosive disposal calls, even if they
didn't have any explosives training. Concern for Trooper safety, and the
safety of citizens, resulted in the hiring of the first OSP Explosive
Disposal Officer, Trooper Bill Fettig.
Trooper Fettig retired in 1977 and was replaced by Sergeant Glenn
Zimmerman. Both had received their hazardous device training while in
the military. Over a period of 13 years, they were to be the
Department's only Explosive Disposal Officers. In 1983, the Squad grew
to two members when Trooper John O'Neil joined the section and became
the first OSP officer to attend the FBI's Hazardous Device Training in
Alabama. In 1996, the size of the Bomb Squad grew again with the
addition of the Southwest Region Troopers and, in 1998 the Eastern
Region was added brining the Bomb Squad to its current compliment of six
technicians.
OSP Hazardous Device Technicians respond to requests for assistance
throughout the state and provide a variety of services. When old
blasting caps are found in grandpa's garage or when deteriorated
dynamite is found under a street in Corvallis (as happened in 2002), the
bomb squad is called to respond. Sometimes individuals or organizations
receive a package from an unknown origin and have reason to believe that
an extremist group is targeting them. With the assistance of the Bomb
Squad, such packages can be x-rayed to determine their contents and
destroyed, if necessary.
As more information on building explosive devices is being made
available on the Internet, more and more improvised explosive devices
are being found in homes, on public streets and in schools. If the
device has not detonated, a remotely-operated robot with a camera is
sent down-range to either break apart the device (making it inoperable)
or the device is retrieved and placed in a special unit called a Total
Containment Vessel (TCV). The device would then be taken to a safe
location to be destroyed. The TCV is designed to contain a blast from up
to 10 pounds of high explosives.
Over the years, the OSP Bomb Squad has been involved in several
significant and nationally known incidents. Among them was a bombing in
an Astoria Restaurant in which the perpetrator set bombs at two separate
locations, and then, subsequently, committed suicide. Another high
profile incident occurred in Mosier. A quantity of illegally stored
explosives detonated in a large arsenal of explosives and improvised
devices. The resulting blast scattered the remaining unexploded
explosives and military ordnance over a nine-acre area, making for a
very arduous and dangerous clean-up operation.
Whether the device is real or a hoax, "safety first" is the Bomb
Squad's motto. All safety precautions are taken and a device is treated
like a bomb, until proven otherwise. With the untimely death of former
Bomb Squad Commander Sergeant Dick Shuening during an explosive disposal
operation in 1997, the realities of how dangerous their jobs really are
hit home. As voiced by Detective Alexander, "When we make a mistake, we
don't get a second chance to get it right." |
