New troopers set for Ontario OSP office
Added personnel will help agency meet area law enforcement needs
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 12:32 PM PST
| |
| Oregon State Patrol recruit Joe Godek (left) reviews a report he wrote with OSP Patrol Sgt. Jason Reese last week at the Ontario office. The Ontario OSP office has benefited from a state budget measure to increase OSP trooper numbers, which provided for an additional six officers locally. |
ONTARIO — With the addition of six new troopers at the Oregon State Police Ontario office, the local law enforcement agency is looking forward to doing more on the local highways to improve public safety.
The welcome personnel additions are part of a special effort to increase OSP manpower across the state, a funding plan approved by the Oregon Legislature for the 2007 to 2009 budget cycle. The plan includes provisions to hire 139 additional OSP troopers to be situated in offices along Interstate 84 and Interstate 5 to help boost coverage in those areas.
With the funding, the OSP office in Ontario was able to hire six additional troopers to its current six troopers and one traffic reconstruction specialist, for a total of 13. Three of the hires were lateral, from different departments, and three were recruits.
The additions are a significant jump to the Ontario office, OSP Patrol Sgt. Jason Reese said, which has been hovering at between six and eight troopers for the past 10 years.
“Well, it’s a big boost for morale, first of all,” Reese said.
The No. 1 benefit to the office, however, is a boost in coverage of highways in Malheur County to improve public safety. With the additional troopers, some of whom are currently finishing up training at the police academy, Reese said the Ontario OSP can start broadening its coverage area to include the Jordan Valley area again, aiding the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office, and begin high visibility law enforcement patrols traffic.
Still, Reese said, even with the added troopers, the Ontario OSP will not yet attain 24-hour coverage — which was one of the goals of state officials when they pushed for the measure — for a few more years because, by the time the new additions are trained and up to speed, two to three more people from the office will retire.
Coverage will, however, improve. Ontario OSP will be able to up its patrol coverage from 19 hours per day to about 22, which both Reese and OSP Sgt. Mark Duncan said will noticeably affect coverage, especially in terms of response time.
Reducing patrol coverage to 19 hours significantly increased response time to investigations and crashes and limited the ability of troopers to respond to emergencies or provide assistance, Duncan said.
He said, especially with the downturn in the economy, more home invasion burglaries have occurred, as well as stolen agriculture materials, such as pipe.
“And we’ve been unable to have people on duty while (the thieves) are moving down the highway while they’re committing these crimes,” Duncan said.
In addition, Duncan said, troopers will also be able to augment the other law enforcement divisions at OSP, such as investigations.
With a reduced number of troopers, he said, work in the criminal division has slowed down as well.
“So our hope is to speed things back up and be efficient instead of causing the victim to have to wait,” Duncan said.
To OSP recruit Joe Godek, Ontario, 34, one of the new hires to OSP, the room for additional troopers provided him with the opportunity to fulfill one of his dreams. Godek, who previously worked at Snake River Correctional Institution, said he has always wanted to work for Oregon State Police.
“I’ve been trying to get on with OSP for quite a few years,” he said.
Godek said he is pleased to be able to follow his dream and hopefully benefit the area he grew up in, which he said needs more law enforcement.
He is also very enthusiastic about his new job, which he said allows him to “use his head a lot more” and gives him a lot to learn.
“It’s all exciting to me,” Godek said.
ontario sucks wrote on Dec 31, 2008 4:44 PM:
Fact of the matter is, they are only out there to generate revunue by pulling hard working people over on the freeways/highways.
We don't need more cops, we just need the ones we have to do their jobs. "