She Ain't No Nancy Drew

Erika was the little girl who would eavesdrop as her mom dictated police reports in the evenings after bed time. Fascinated by police work, she was reading true crime novels and police procedurals by the age of 10. But she didn't join law enforcement right away.

In her early 20s, she began working in electronics, eventually working her way up to a supervisor at an electronics firm. Still, she was thinking about law enforcement. Erika had been worried that she would not enjoy being a "road officer" until she saw what the work actually entailed; she went for a ride along with a female patrol officer and she was hooked. She saw that street-level officers were investigating crimes, not just "pulling traffic" and writing tickets.

Portland Police hired Erika as a civilian employee supporting the drug and vice unit and later, Central Precinct. As she transcribed reports, she learned about body wires, search warrants, prostitution cases and drug investigations. "It was super interesting." She then became a reserve officer and eventually decided to apply for full-time work as a law enforcement officer. Although her mom worked for Portland Police, Erika wanted to have her own identity and she liked Washington County as a community.  

Erika became a Washington County Deputy Sheriff at the age of 32 and she worked hard to prove herself as a future detective. On patrol, Deputy Cox would volunteer for the complex calls that required extensive investigation, those involving multiple suspects, felony-level crimes, dead bodies - anything that would let her write reports to show her investigative skills.

As Detective Cox is assigned to the Child Abuse Unit, Erika is able to bring her passion and exceptional investigative skills to the most difficult cases every day.

Maybe you should consider a ride along with a deputy . . .

During a traffic stop, how would deputies like a CHL holder to advise them they are carrying a weapon?

When the deputy approaches your vehicle, simply introduce yourself and tell them that you are a concealed handgun license holder and that you have your weapon with you. (You can also present your CHL with your identification.) It is helpful to tell the deputy where the gun is, but do not to pull the weapon out unless you are asked or directed to do so.

While none of this is a legal requirement, this is how our deputies would like motorists to respond to avoid surprises and to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

Turning on a Red Light or Red Arrow Light

When can I make a left turn onto a one-way street against a red light?

You may turn right or left onto a one-way street against a red light as long as you first stop and yield to oncoming traffic. You must turn into the lane closest to you.

If there are two turn lanes, can I turn on a red light?

Please see the diagram to the right (click to enlarge it). The white bus is in the second right turn lane. If the light is red, after stopping to be sure traffic is clear, the bus may proceed to turn right as long as it stays in its own lane of travel.

 

Remember your last contact with a Washington County Sheriff's Deputy - either from Patrol, a Detective, or maybe you visited someone in the Jail. How did they serve you? We hope your experience was so good that you understand how hard we work to find the right people, to give them the best training, and then trust them to uphold the highest standards.

If you know someone who is smart, dedicated, and who acts with integrity and purpose, maybe you should give them a little nudge and suggest they apply. They just might answer your next call!  Apply online February 8 - 21.

Thinking About Law Enforcement, But Still Not Sure? 

We have two great opportunities . . .

Stop by for a Coffee Chat with a Deputy this Friday. It's a very relaxed way to get first-hand knowledge of the job and to ask questions about patrol, jail operations, the hiring process, and even testing. Grab a cup of java and visit!  The Coffee Chat runs from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm on February 7 at Insomnia Coffee, 5389 West Baseline Road in Hillsboro.

For the first time we are also offering a Police Officer Selection Test Study Session for the written test! Sometimes skills you haven't used need a little refresher course. Applicants are invited to join us on Friday, March 21, 2014, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm at our Hillsboro Headquarters, 215 SW Adams Avenue in Hillsboro. You'll learn what to expect on the POST test, gain access to study resources, review a 20-page study guide, and watch a video of the physical abilities test.

What's holding you back? Come join us!

Sheriff Garrett on Social Media --

Did You Mean to Post That?

It was October, 2007, and my battalion was celebrating "Eid al-Fitr" with our Iraqi partners in South Baghdad. Eid is a Muslim celebration feast to commemorate the end of the month long dawn-to-sunset fasting during Ramadan. After eating, the local men broke out a hookah pipe and were as generous in sharing their tobacco as they were their food. In the spirit of partnership, some in our battalion joined in and cameras captured the comical and joyous scene. A little voice in my head told me "you never know where these pictures might end up."

Most of us know that our photos show up on Facebook, Twitter, and web pages - because we post them. We also post messages about business trips, brag photos from the Bahamas, and announce a new birth straight from the hospital. It is important to remember that all those messages are also potentially conveying that information to third party "apps" used by criminals.

Detectives recently solved a string of home burglaries; in each home a family had posted about being out of town. Using a third party app, criminals searched Twitter and Facebook by keyword and location. For example, they searched "Sherwood" and "vacation" for a specific time period. This allowed the suspects to find postings on Facebook and Twitter about people who might have posted about their upcoming vacations. Then they searched the Internet to find out where the family lived. After that, it was a matter of plotting their burglaries on a calendar.

In other cases, people have posted photos without helpful information to criminals, or so they thought. They forgot to turn off the "location services" option on their phone. This is the option that lets your phone figure out where you are when you need directions. It is also the function that geo codes your photos.

If you post geo coded photos on the Internet, people can see the photo plus the date, time and exact location it was taken. They can track your location, or the people in your photo, such as your kids. So that newborn baby photo posted from the hospital could tell crooks that the family is away from home.

It is great fun to instantly share photos and to post on social media to keep in touch with people, just take reasonable precautions and keep current with technology.

Because We're Neighbors

Updates from Your Crime Prevention Team