Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cottage Grove police receive first accreditation; chief highlights staffing gains, crime and traffic trends
Summary
Police Chief Corey Chase presented the department's first accreditation award and a condensed 2025 annual report to the Cottage Grove City Council, noting completion of 110 accreditation standards, new first-line supervisors, an FBI task-force partnership and shifts in calls-for-service and arrest numbers.
Police Chief Corey Chase announced that the Cottage Grove Police Department has received its first accreditation from the Northwest Accreditation Alliance and walked the City Council through the department's 2025 annual report.
Scott Hayes, executive director of the Northwest Accreditation Alliance, joined remotely to present the award and said the association evaluates agencies against nationally recognized standards. "Accreditation is one step towards building community trust," Hayes said, noting that Cottage Grove met 110 law-enforcement standards and will undergo reaccreditation every three years.
Chase told council members the department pursued accreditation voluntarily to demonstrate accountability and improve practices. He thanked the agency's accreditation manager (the transcript references the name as both "Britt Crowe" and "Brooke Crow") and described nearly 10 months of daily work to complete the self-assessment and policy updates required for the award.
On operational matters, Chase summarized the report's data: calls for service rose from about 14,000 in 2023 to roughly 17,000 in recent years; criminal mischief incidents fell from 226 to 144 between earlier years and 2025; and the department saw declines in burglaries and assaults in 2025. Chase said the department nearly doubled its arrests from 565 in 2024 to 968 in 2025, which he characterized as evidence of more proactive enforcement and case clearing.
Chase also described a new partnership with the FBI: Detective Soleil Gordon was credentialed as a part-time FBI task-force officer, enabling the department to collaborate on child-exploitation and human-trafficking investigations and to seek federal prosecution when appropriate. He said that arrangement can also help reimburse overtime tied to task-force work.
Traffic enforcement was a focus: the department increased traffic stops and citations as staffing improved, and reported a decrease in crashes in 2025 after a prior increase. However, Chase warned of a gap between reports of suspected DUI and actual DUI arrests; he proposed additional training (standardized field sobriety, recognition of impairment, and evidence handling) to improve DUI enforcement and prosecutions.
Chase described investments in training (the report lists roughly 2,000 training hours, including academy and canine time), firearms and defensive-tactics sessions with regional instructors, and partnerships that supply training capacity and canine support. He highlighted community-engagement programs such as Coffee with a Cop, Shop with a Cop (supported by a larger Walmart donation this year), Books and Badges and participation in local events including Bohemian Mining Days and Halloween activities.
Chase told councilors the department is not yet at a staffing level that allows full operational flexibility: vacancies, officers in training, modified-duty assignments and medical leave sometimes require sergeants or command staff to cover patrol shifts. He said the department continues to watch budget and staffing closely and wants to improve analytical capacity for crime and court data in partnership with the municipal court.
The presentation closed with a brief photo opportunity and thanks to alliance staff. The council did not take a separate formal vote on accreditation at the meeting; the award was presented and acknowledged during the presentation.
