OACP Members,
I wanted to take this opportunity to address the entire membership, especially those who were not able to attend the annual conference in Bend in early April.
First and foremost, I am honored and humbled to take the reigns as President of the OACP. I think most of you would agree that this is a huge responsibility; an opportunity for which I am profoundly grateful. When I spoke at the Annual conference, I have never been so nervous in my life. I have done countless TV interviews and presentations about the good work of MPD’s staff, but this was a nervousness due to the magnitude of the moment. You see, I admire all of you, some up close and others from afar. The moment floored me when I got up to speak to some of the brightest and most professional people I have ever been around.
I remember going to my first OACP event 15 or 16 years ago in Seaside. I was a sergeant and remember thinking to myself how invested the group of OACP leaders was, and how they wanted to make the profession grow and thrive. I was used to sitting in my sergeant bubble and this was my first glimpse into what it really meant to lean into issues. Admittedly, the landscape in our law enforcement profession was a bit different: marijuana was illegal, smaller amounts of drugs were not decriminalized, and the homelessness issues we all dealt with were not as massive as they are now. But regardless of whether it is the past or the present, the good work is still being done by us all.
I want to share a couple of items of interest and importance I plan on pursuing over the next year. Some have been done by chiefs before me and I want to continue their excellent work.
First, Chief Skinner and I have had conversations about how impactful and insightful it was meeting with law enforcement leaders on his tours around the state. We are often in a bubble in our respective agencies, and I want to get to know more about what is impacting my fellow chiefs outside of my connections in the Willamette Valley. We have so many new chiefs and leaders in our organization that it is going to be imperative that I carve out time to spend with you all to see what is going on and what may be impacting your work.
Next, I want to continue to expand our virtual training center so that those in our organization can obtain excellent training for themselves and their organizations even when budgets and available time are shrinking. This training center has been a monumental step forward and a massive improvement in the way our leaders can readily access timely information and training to make us better leaders for our organizations and our profession.
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, as most of you know the training backlog of agencies being able to send recruit officers to attend basic training at DPSST is way too long. OACP and OSSA have made a commitment to DPPST to work hand in hand to explore and find creative ways to solve this backlog. I know we are all committed to finding a path forward in reducing the academy backlog to get our new recruits through DPSST in a timely manner.
Furthermore, it is going to be imperative that we work with OSSA and DPSST in finding a long-term solution for academy expansion as it relates to facilities, which will allow them to train recruit officers in a timely way. I’ll state the obvious that this issue is not going away soon, and we need to assist our partners at DPSST in providing data to support the need for expansion. Agencies should not have to be burdened with having to push out hire dates, as viable candidates for these jobs are limited, and they may not want to wait four or five months to get their start date.
In closing, I want to thank Kevin and Marie and the Victory Group for their continued guidance of OACP. We have navigated some of the most tumultuous times in law enforcement over the last few years. We appreciate the work Kevin, Marie and the Victory Group do in advocating for our membership, being a calming voice, and getting us a seat at the table in Salem. I hope I can make your jobs as easy as you have made our association in navigating change.
Thank you and I look forward to this coming year’s opportunities.
Chief Matt Scales
OACP President
