Governors seek more patrol officers

By Andy Gates - Argus Observer
Sunday, March 25, 2007 12:44 AM PDT

ONTARIO - Governors in Idaho and Oregon say they want their troopers to be on duty 24 hours a day, but funding more officers to achieve that goal is apparently a strategy only Oregon is working toward.

State police in the Ontario patrol office, as well as Idaho State Police in the Treasure Valley, are on duty around 20 hours a day, and troopers are on call the rest of the time in both states.

Idaho and Oregon officials tie a lack of resources to a decreased quality of public service.

Funding the Oregon State Police evolved into a high priority for Gov. Ted Kulongoski during his election run last year.

“Cutbacks have forced the state police to patrol bigger areas, eliminate duties, make response times longer and compromise the safety of its officers,” Kulongoski said in a in Aug. 1 press release.

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The Ontario station commander for the OSP, Lt. Rich Pileggi, summed up the problem.

“Without dedicated funding, limited resources mean limited coverage,” he said.

The situation is apparently similar in Idaho.

“. . . ISP believes that a low percentage of response rates for emergency assistance and assistance to other agencies is directly tied to a lack of adequate resources to cover the area patrolled,” according to the 2007 Idaho State Police Strategic Plan.

Idaho State Police Capt. Steve Richardson was recently tasked by Idaho Gov. Butch Otter to develop creative scheduling for around-the-clock coverage in the Treasure Valley, according to a March 16 press release from ISP.

Otter is not pushing for additional ISP funding right now, his spokesman Jon Hanian said Wednesday, but he would like troopers on the highway 24 hours a day.

“The budget cycle has been set,” Hanian said, “What his position has been is that he is not opposed to looking at anything. We have myriad funding requests and a finite amount of funds to spread across the landscape of the state.”

One solution to the problem may rest with the allocation of existing ISP resources, Hanian said.

“He (Otter) has suggested he wants to make sure we free up every state trooper from administrative duties, to get them out from riding desks and ride the highways,” Hanian said.

The new director of the Idaho State Police, Col. Jerry Russell, has been charged by Otter to adjust current resources and schedules in the interest of 24-hour trooper coverage.

“We are seeking to provide a level of service to the public and our allied agencies that has not been done in the past, during periods ISP traditionally has not scheduled officers to work. We expect benefits to include a lower incidence of officer call-out, quicker response times, and a greater ability to provide back-up to other law enforcement agencies and their officers,” Russell said in a ISP press release last week.

ISP is gearing up for the boost in service without adding more troopers to the Gem state’s highways.

“ISP is not getting funding for additional officers but rather we are having to try to ‘work smarter’ and creatively use the officers we have to provide this kind of coverage,” ISP Information Officer Rick Ohnsman said.

Some adjustments ISP is slated to undergo for 24-hour coverage in the Treasure Valley include: establishing a late night shift and an early day shift; moving officers from the collision reconstruction unit and the metro beat to cover peak traffic times; implementing more civilian employees for some duties; and adjusting the shifts of resident officers so they patrol between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., which are times not traditionally covered, according to the March 19 ISP press release.

However, there could be trade-offs associated with upping hours through readjusting resources without increasing funding.

“No doubt there will be some trade-offs, but we’re trying to stretch a little further with what we have to work with,” Ohnsman said Thursday.

Across the river, Republican and Democratic leaders in Oregon have been working during this legislative session to increase the number of state troopers.

There are currently 331 OSP troopers.

In 1979 there were 665.

“I will restore 24-hour, seven-day-a-week coverage on Oregon’s highways as soon as possible,” Kulongoski said in August.

Kulongoski has supported the creation of a dedicated funding source for state police — such as a tax on auto insurance — while Republicans, like Oregon House of Representatives Republican Leader Rep. Wayne Scott, R-Canby, support 24-hour trooper coverage by using the state’s general fund.

The governor’s plan for a tax on auto insurance to provide funds for more troopers was rejected by lawmakers earlier in the current legislative session.

“It is a good sign the co-chairs rejected the governor’s auto insurance tax . . . I remain supportive of using general fund dollars to expand the number of state troopers,” Scott said in a press release from his office Thursday.

Some local law enforcement leaders in Oregon, though, appear to be more supportive of the dedicated funding approach.

“The only way to keep this ship from sinking is with dedicated funding,” Pileggi said.

With legislative support, Pileggi has said he could gain four additional troopers, which could mean 24-hour coverage for the north end of Malheur County.