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Depoe Bay deputy outlines call patterns, recommends swing shift; councilor urges municipal court to recoup enforcement costs
Summary
Deputy Halston reviewed two years of call data and recommended maintaining a 7 a.m.–5 p.m. daytime presence with a swing shift option; Councilor Leeson suggested exploring a municipal court to recover costs from citations.
Deputy Halston presented two years of call-for-service and self-initiated activity data to the council on Tuesday and recommended keeping a daytime deputy presence while adding a swing shift to capture evening traffic.
“First and foremost, I do think there should still be a daytime presence here — a 7 through 5,” Deputy Halston said, and added that a swing shift such as noon–10 p.m. or 2 p.m.–midnight would capture evening traffic and training opportunities.
Councilor Leeson responded by urging the city to consider ways to recoup law-enforcement costs through municipal citations. “If we were issuing…200 citations a month, that would generate about a $360,000 a year in citation fees,” Leeson said, and suggested the city examine forming a municipal court or policy committee to study that option.
What was presented and discussed - Deputy Halston said the call dataset (since the city began a new CAD system in May 2023) shows peak activity in daytime and early evening hours; the deputy noted the dataset separates citizen-initiated calls from self-initiated activity such as traffic stops. - The deputy described training benefits from traffic enforcement and said on-call county coverage fills Depoe Bay gaps overnight; when the city is not staffed, Lincoln County deputies respond through a call-up system. - Concerns raised included how frequently staff are downtown, balance between enforcement and community presence, and the limits on daytime coverage if staffing is reduced.
Decisions and next steps - No formal council vote was recorded. The presentation produced direction for staff and council discussion about scheduling, staffing and how to balance daytime coverage with a potential swing shift.
Ending: Council members and staff said they will continue to examine schedules and staffing levels and asked for additional follow-up information; Councilor Leeson asked staff to explore the feasibility and costs of a municipal court or other mechanisms to recover enforcement costs.
