Sheriff's office briefs Amity council on multi-year patrol data, staffing and enforcement grants

The Amity City Council heard an annual recap on contracted policing services on Dec. 4 when a sheriff's office representative presented multi-year call-volume and staffing data.

The presenter said the sheriff's office has been the city's contractor since about December 2018 and provided comparisons across fiscal years. "You are paying the sheriff's office to the York Police Department to provide that dedicated service here, and so you deserve to get some feedback as to what that has looked like over the past year," the sheriff's office representative said. He explained many local call types are "non reportable" to the FBI but are tracked by the state and that Oregon intends to better align federal and state reporting next year.

Council members asked about timing and contract length; the presenter said reports for all five contract cities will be distributed after fiscal-year close and that the state recently resolved collective bargaining terms that may allow multiyear contracts. The presenter also described staffing challenges and recruitment: "We have 5 vacancies in the patrol side" and noted active recruitment, including lateral hires and internal transfers.

On traffic enforcement, the presenter said special-emphasis grant work increased traffic stops in 2024: "We have done special emphasis distracted driving, speed enforcement, we've done crosswalk enforcement," funded through Oregon Transportation grant dollars; the speaker added that the city posts signage and advertises enforcement details in advance. Council members thanked the presenter and indicated interest in receiving future reports earlier in the year.

Next steps: the council asked staff to distribute the full multi-city packet when the remaining city report is complete; no final council action on the contract was recorded in the transcript excerpt.