Oregon City Police report: staffing gains, training hours up, behavioral health team expands

Chief Sean Davis presented the Oregon City Police Department’s 2024 annual report to the City Commission on March 5, saying the department closed the year with 46 sworn officers and 15.5 non-sworn staff and made 10 new sworn hires during 2024.

Davis summarized operational figures: about 29,600 calls for service in 2024, roughly 27% of activity reported as self‑initiated policing, and a continued emphasis on behavioral-health responses and case management. "Our officers want to be out there, be proactive, and try to prevent anything from happening," Davis said.

Behavioral health and training

Davis highlighted creation of a case-manager post to support the department’s behavioral-health unit and said the unit now provides five‑day coverage plus on-call support; the department also hired a case manager and a non‑sworn code officer. Valentina Gia (behavioral health) and new case manager Chelsea Pools were introduced as part of the expanded team; Davis said staff performed 3,79 in-person outreach contacts and managed 58 clients on the crisis intervention caseload, most of whom are chronically homeless.

Use-of-force, investigations and special teams

Davis reported 79 documented use‑of‑force incidents in 2024 and 162 individual use‑of‑force reports (separate reports when multiple officers use force in an incident). He said use of force accompanied 5.65% of arrests; excluding vehicle-related use of force, the figure is 4.15%.

Detectives and special investigations remain active: the detective team handled about 160 assigned cases last year, submitted 52 cases to the district attorney and executed 17 search warrants. The department’s special investigations unit reported substantial controlled-substance seizure totals — more than 100 pounds of fentanyl seized in 2024, Davis said, and noted the public‑health implications of fentanyl availability.

Community outreach and code enforcement

Davis described outreach programs (Citizens Academy, National Night Out, summer camp) and said the department and code enforcement jointly picked up 480 shopping carts in 2024 and processed 2,351 code cases citywide — a 20% increase from 2023 after code staffing moved to seven‑day coverage. The city spent about $18,500 on unauthorized camp cleanups in 2024; staff provide 72‑hour notices and partner with social‑service providers during cleanups.

Why it matters

Davis told commissioners the department is balancing increased contact for behavioral health and homelessness with efforts to maintain staffing, training and community policing functions. He flagged succession risk: six sworn officers will be eligible to retire in the next two years and several leadership roles may need backfilling.

The commission thanked Davis for the presentation and praised outreach and safety efforts; the report will be included in the meeting record.