The sad state of the Oregon State Police

**Jackalope** · 02-24-07, 11:09 PM

The following news stories came from the OSP news release website at http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/NEWSRL/200...releases.shtml. Notice the recurring theme.

At approximately 3:36 a.m., reports began to come into dispatch reporting a head-on crash involving a wrong way driver in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 near milepost 247. Marion County Sheriff's Office deputies initially responded as OSP troopers were being called out due to no troopers on duty to respond out of the Salem or Albany OSP offices.

On Sunday, February 11, 2007, at approximately 8:30 p.m., a domestic disturbance was called into the Washington County Sheriff's Office 911 center in Weider, Idaho. Weider Police Department Officers and an Idaho State Police Trooper responded to a residence in Annex, Oregon for a reported stabbing at that location.

Oregon State Police (OSP) troopers were called out early Sunday morning to investigate a two-vehicle head-on crash on Highway 18 about four miles east of Spirit Mountain that seriously injured three people. One driver has been charged with numerous crimes in this alcohol-related crash...

...There were no OSP troopers on duty in this patrol area at the time of the crash so they had to be called out from their homes to investigate.

At last count, Oregon has 329 State Troopers. This is approximately the same number as the Delaware State Police. None of the 7500 miles of state highways in Oregon has patrol coverage between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m.

A 2005 review of the OSP Computer Aided Dispatch system found that 23,938 out of 44,954 (53%) calls for OSP patrol services regarding driving-related complaints that required immediate response went unanswered due to the lack of adequate staffing.

As of October 2006, there were 672 new criminal cases waiting for “forensic biology” (DNA) examination by the State Crime Lab. At current staffing levels, it is estimated it will take 6 months to clear this backlog.

Today, there are over 22,000 DNA samples waiting to be compared to the convicted offender database. On average 1 out of every 100 tests clears an unresolved serious crime (potentially 220 serious crimes yet to be solved).

Despite the state government enjoying it's largest tax revenue in history, the Governor's proposed budget includes a new automobile insurance tax which would maintain 45 existing Trooper positions as well as add 139 new positions. In other words, if he doesn't get his new tax (which does not seem to have any legislative support), Oregon will have another 45 fewer Troopers than it does today.

Have a nice day.