Multnomah County Sheriff's Office out this summer participating in several community events

 

Multnomah County Sheriff's Office personnel were in attendance at several Nite Out events this summer including the City of Wood Village, Corbett and Fairview Nite out. MCSO also participated in the Sauvie Island Festival as part of the inauguaral "Let's Prepare Fair". MCSO deputies brought along displays from the Sheriff's Office representing some of the many functions the Sheriff's Office provides to the community.

 

At the Wood Village Nite Out and Corbett Nite Out, MCSO SWAT teams provided a demonstration and Deputy Weber and his K9 Varro displayed their tactical prowess during the K9 demonstration. MCSO Search and Rescue and Reserves staffed an MCSO booth and chatted with attendees about MCSO functions and provided information. The MCSO Training Unit set up their popular shoot/don't shoot simulations at the Wood Village Nite Out and attendees were again able to participate and become the "deputy" within a simulated scenario. 

 

 

MCSO Search and Rescue participated and staffed a booth at the Fairview Nite Out and MCSO River Patrol and Patrol were out at Sauvie Island's Watermelon Festival as part of the "Let's Prepare Fair" providing safety demonstrations and information.

 

The City of Wood Village in conjunction with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office also introduced the Citizen SPOT Award. The award will be handed out to residents for random acts of kindness, youth leadership, obeying certain laws, or by assisting the Sheriff's Office. MCSO Deputies can issue the award when they observe a positive action and the recipient can turn the document in to Wood Village City Hall for a certificate and reward. The introduction of this award program gives deputies an opportunity to contact individuals, and have a positive, encouraging interaction.

 

The Wood Village SPOT Award was inspired by the Rosewood "Safety Bucks" program introduced in November, 2013 after MCSO Deputy Inman wanted to reward positive actions of children he observed during patrols in the Rosewood area. The introduction of the program created a positive contact with Rosewood youth through the issuance of safety bucks in recognition of a youth's positive decision making as observed by a deputy or officer. Once given to a youth by the deputy or officer, the safety bucks can be redeemed at the Rosewood Café for a prize.

 

Deputy Inman participates at the Rosewood Bike Fiesta

MCSO participates in many community events throughout the year and strives to be accessible and interact with community members on a regular basis.  

Multnomah County Sheriff's Office hosts Oregon Sustainability in jails/prisons regional summit

 

In late June, corrections and sustainability professionals gathered at the Multnomah County Inverness Jail as part of a regional summit to learn about and share ideas around sustainability efforts occurring within jails and prisons. The summit was co-organized by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and the Multnomah County Office of Sustainability. The summit was made possible by the generous support of the Sustainability in Prisons Project Network and the National Science Foundation.

 

 

 

The summit was organized as an opportunity for these groups to share ideas, learn and collaborate in their pursuit of common goals to improve efficiency and promote social equity in the corrections system. In addition to MCSO and the Office of Sustainability, attendees came from agencies across the state, local nonprofits and members of the Sustainability in Prisons Project Network.

 

Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton welcomed participants to the summit at Multnomah County's Inverness Jail and talked about sustainability as a priority for the Sheriff's Office and efficiencies the Sheriff's Office has realized since the start of MCSO's Sustainable Jail Project. After the Sheriff's welcome, the summit started with presentations from the Washington State Sustainability in Prisons Project, Oregon Health Authority, and the Institute for Applied Ecology. Presentations highlighted the breadth of ongoing prison sustainability efforts, while an open-discussion panel delved into the nitty-gritty of prison sustainability logistics including funding, action planning, media relations and building partnerships. Topics of discussion included using nature imagery to improve safety, gardening and farming at jails and prisons and ways of improving nutrition and health outcomes for inmates.

 

Summit participants toured the Inverness Jail's newly expanded garden and the Laundry facility to talk about the AquaRecycle system installed in 2012 to recycle and reuse water in the laundry facility and reduce water use. Participants then visited the Oregon Department of Correction's Coffee Creek Facility in Wilsonville, OR. There tour participants saw first-hand how Coffee Creek was partnering with the Oregon Zoo to help grow and harvest viola leaves. The leaves are used to provide caterpillar food and are fed to tiny caterpillars as part of an Oregon Zoo restoration effort. The caterpillars will eventually become Oregon SilverSpot butterflies, an endangered butterfly species native to the coast.    

 

Since 2009, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office has been working with the Office of Sustainability on the Sustainable Jails Project, which aims to conserve both public funds and natural resources as well as reduce recidivism rates by incorporating informed, sustainable decision-making and practices into Multnomah County jail facilities, operations and programming. Since 2010, utility expenses at Inverness have declined about $139,000 total despite rising utility rates. Working in the jail's onsite garden provides inmates the opportunity to get hands-on gardening experience, connect with the outdoors and grow produce to be donated to Snowcap Charities. Last year, the garden produced more than 800 pounds of fresh produce.

 

  

On July 22, 2014 at approximately 11:30 p.m. MCSO Deputies responded to Multnomah Falls on the report of a lost hiker. The hiker had set out from the Multnomah Falls Trailhead to take some pictures of the falls and lost track of time. Once it started to get dark he realized he couldn't find his way back down the trail and he didn't have any equipment with him other than a walking stick and no flashlight. He also wasn't sure where he was at on the trail or what trail he was on. Information obtained from a partial cell phone ping indicated he was somewhere above Multnomah Falls.

 

 

MCSO Search and Rescue (SAR) units responded to the Multnomah Falls Lodge parking lot and deployed on to the trail from the Multnomah Falls Trailhead in an attempt to locate the missing hiker at 2:45 a.m. The team worked their way up the trail and at 3:10 a.m. made audio contact with the missing hiker. Shortly after making audio contact with the hiker, one of the MCSO SAR team members suffered a medical emergency. The rest of the SAR team immediately attended to the fallen member began providing medical aid and called for additional assistance. Additional resources responded from the Command Post up the trail to assist and medical was requested to immediately respond to the Multnomah Falls Lodge.

 

Corbett Fire Department and AMR responded along with additional MCSO and Troutdale Police Department units. AMR and Corbett Fire expedited up the trail to help render aid to the SAR member and transported the SAR member back down to Life Flight which had been activated, and responded. MCSO and Troutdale Police already had secured a landing site at the Multnomah Falls parking lot on I-84 and Life Flight staged there. The SAR member was transported by Life Flight to the hospital for treatment.

 

Once additional resources arrived to assist the stricken SAR member two members of the SAR team were dispatched to locate the missing hiker they instructed to stay where he was when the emergency happened. The missing hiker was found off Trail 400 near switchback 1 and was greatly relieved to see MCSO Search and Rescue team members. He was given some food and water and waited with SAR team members until the SAR member being treated was evacuated down the trail. The hiker was a little cold and thirsty but otherwise in good shape and MCSO SAR members escorted the hiker back down to the Multnomah Falls Trailhead. 

The quick actions and treatment of the MCSO SAR team members and continued advanced care by emergency first responders resulted in the MCSO SAR team member surviving the medical emergency and is well on the way to making a full recovery. 

 

Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue is an all volunteer organization that is regularly called on to find the lost and care for the injured in the Columbia River Gorge, throughout Multnomah County and around the State of Oregon. For more information on MCSO SAR please visit www.mcsosar.org 

2nd Annual Wounded Warrior Softball Tournament

 

On August 23, 2014 Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) staff participated in the 2nd Annual Wounded Warrior Project softball tournament at the Howard M Terpenning Complex of the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District. Other agencies that participated this year included the Washington County Sheriff's Office along with Tualatin Valley Firefighters Volunteer Firefighters and University of Portland ROTC. While MCSO did not win the tournament over $1500 dollars was raised during last year's tournament and organizers hope to exceed that when the final tallies come in this year.

 

The softball tournament was proposed originally by a youth from the Hillsboro First Congregational United Church of Christ who wanted to do something to help support the Wounded Warrior Project. After recruiting a couple of agencies to participate in the tournament in the first year, it expanded this year to four teams and there are hopes to continue to build the event in years to come. All of the proceeds raised from the softball tournament are donated to the Wounded Warrior Project which supports programs and services for wounded veterans.

 

Everyone involved had a great time throughout the day and were happy to help support the fundraising efforts for the Wounded Warrior Project.

 

 

Back to School!

  

The school year is starting up and it's a good time to review some of the rules of the road specifically created to ensure the safety of our children as they bus and walk to area schools.
 
SCHOOL ZONES
Designated school zones are meant to alert motorists that the area they are entering will likely have children directly or potentially interfacing with traffic.
 
Some typical warning signs indicating a school zone are:   

 

   

 

SCHOOL SPEED ZONES  Usually found in conjunction with a posted school zone, the school speed zone is intended to create a safety buffer between motorists and children. The 20 mph speed limit gives drivers extra time to be alert to their surroundings and avoid or stop before encountering any hazards.  Examples of these are:

 

 

School speed zones are active when the conditions posted on the sign are present.  For the above examples, the 20 mph restriction is only in place when the light is flashing for the sign with the flashing yellow light.  only between 0700-1700 on school days as posted on the middle sign, and when children are or are likely to be present for the final sign.  Although it was the only sign originally authorized for school zones, because of its ambiguity the final sign is now rarely seen in the Metro area.  However, you may still find it at locations with intermittent use like Sunday schools or at parks and sports fields that are immediately adjacent to school grounds.

  

Any time a school speed zone is not active, the speed through the area reverts to the base posted or unposted speed limit. Even so, since school grounds are a natural gathering point for children at all times, drivers should still exercise caution and a higher level of awareness whenever traveling through a school zone, active or not.   

  

END OF THE SCHOOL SPEED ZONE

Where does a school speed zone end?  The legal definition is when it is posted as such or at the point where a posted speed sign not designating a school speed zone is placed.  For example;

 

Another common variation in the Metro area is a school zone designator sign with a smaller sign under it that says END or END OF SCHOOL ZONE.

  

SCHOOL BUSES

Oregon Revised Statute 811.155 provides that a motorist must stop if it meets or is about overtake a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing.  While not required, most current buses also have a lit and highlighted stop sign that comes out in conjunction with the activation of the flashing fore and aft red lights.
 
Vehicles overtaking should pull no further than equal to the back of the bus. Vehicles meeting should pull no further than equal to the front of the bus.
 
The only exception to this rule is if you are travelling on a parallel but physically separated roadway.  This means that a physical barrier of some sort (concrete highway barrier, concrete lane dividers, or center pedestrian island) is between you and the bus.

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