Oregon City Police present 2024 annual report: staffing gains, fentanyl seizures and expanding behavioral-health response

Police Chief Sean Davis presented the department’s 2024 annual report to the City Commission, highlighting staffing increases, operational statistics and public-safety programs.

Davis said the department staffed 46 sworn officers and 15.5 non-sworn personnel by year-end after hiring 10 sworn officers (including two lateral hires) and two non-sworn employees (a code officer and a behavioral-health case manager). He reported about 29,600 calls for service in 2024 and noted that roughly 27% of activity was self-initiated police action.

Davis described a growing behavioral-health unit that now provides five-day-a-week coverage plus on-call service; the unit’s case manager increases outreach and response to people experiencing behavioral health crises. The department’s case-management and outreach work includes a crisis intervention roster of chronically unhoused clients (58 clients, 52 living in Oregon City, according to the report).

Davis reviewed investigative and enforcement efforts: the detective division managed nearly 160 assigned cases, submitted 52 cases to the district attorney and executed 17 search warrants. The special investigations team seized more than 100 pounds of fentanyl in 2024, the chief said, and the department participated in county multi-agency investigations. Property and records staff processed roughly 7,400 police reports and more than 1,200 report requests.

Use-of-force reporting showed 79 documented incidents tied to about 1,397 arrests; Davis said 5.65% of arrests involved some use of force (4.15% excluding vehicle-related incidents). He said 74% of recorded force incidents were low-level control holds. The department also logged 162 use-of-force reports when multiple officers wrote separate reports about the same incident.

Other items Davis highlighted: the canine program (two patrol dogs and a patrol-product dog; one canine retired and a replacement dog expected), the training division’s nearly 11,000 training hours in 2024, and code enforcement expansion to seven-day coverage. The department spent about $18,500 on unauthorized camp cleanups in 2024 and reported outreach to service providers during cleanup operations.

Davis concluded by flagging challenges: meeting community needs as the city grows, succession planning with several sworn officers eligible for retirement within two years, and continued recruitment and retention efforts.