Oregon Peace Officers Association -

Remember Officer Frank Ward

In the last Executive Board meeting of the Oregon Peace Officers Association, the board discussed the case of Officer Frank Ward.  Officer Ward was brutally murdered in the line of duty by Sydney Porter.  At a recent parole board hearing, Porter was given the opportunity to receive an early release from prison.

In the interest of law enforcement officers throughout the State of Oregon and all other places where officers risk their lives for justice, we must stop this from happening.  Below is a letter from OPOA President David White to Governor Kitzhaber requesting this decision be overturned.  Please join us in fighting against this injustice; we hope to motivate you to call and write the Governor.  Feel free to also pass this letter along to all those who fight for justice.

Thank you,
Oregon Peace Officer Association

Open Letter can be found here: http://opoa.info/images/article-photos/Remember-Officer-Frank-Ward.pdf.  The text of the letter appears below.

5-22-13

To: Governor John Kitzhaber
State Capitol Building
900 Court Street NE.
Salem, OR. 97301

From: President David White
Oregon Peace Officers Association
P.O. Box 9211
Brooks, OR. 97305

Dear Governor Kitzhaber,

This letter is to express the Oregon Peace Officers Association's extreme displeasure in learning that the Oregon State Parole Board is granting early parole to Sydney Porter starting on 6-7-13. I'm sure you're familiar with the circumstances, but to iterate the facts; on April 8th, 1992 the John Day Police Department received a call of a domestic violence taking place where Sydney Porter was assaulting his wife. John Day Police Department Officer Frank Ward responded without a backup officer being available. It had been Officer Ward's life long dream to become a police officer and he had only been a police officer for four years.

In uniform, Officer Ward, after knocking and announcing himself at the front door, saw the in-progress assault and ordered Sydney Porter to, "get off of her." Sydney Porter, who was of a much larger stature than Officer Ward, then attacked him and proceeded to brutally beat Officer Ward to death with a piece of firewood.

Sydney Porter was subsequently convicted of Aggravated Murder and sentenced to life with a possibility of parole after 30 years. I was dumbfounded to learn that at Sydney Porter's parole hearing a mental health evaluation was presented which said Sydney Porter was a, "high to moderate risk for future violence." The parole board's Chairwoman Winges-Yanez acknowledged the doctor's report, accompanying diagnosis and concluded with the other board members that Sydney Porter did in-fact have an emotional disturbance.

This past Friday, 5-17-13, the Executive Board of the Oregon Peace Officers Association convened a meeting where this matter was discussed. Our association represents nearly 1,600 municipal, county, state and federal law enforcement officers in every corner of this great state. It was the board's unanimous vote that we send you this letter, expressing our disfavor in the parole board's decision to offer an early release to this or any other Cop Killer. Words can not convey what disheartening news this has brought us. Men and women join law enforcement to help others and to literally make the world a better place. To release someone from prison early for killing a police officer is a slap in the face of every police officer in Oregon and we hope you'll help us in our efforts to have the Oregon State Board of Parole reconsider its poor decision.

Officer Frank L. Ward was only thirty-nine years old when he was brutally beaten to death while trying to stop a domestic violence assault. He left behind a wife, two young sons and a young daughter.

Respectfully submitted,

President David White

Oregon Peace Officers Association