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Woodburn pauses license-plate reader spending, outlines police staffing and crash statistics
Summary
Mayor said the council previously directed a temporary suspension of the Flock license-plate reader system and will ask the budget committee to suspend future Fox system expenses; he also reported police staffing numbers, vacancies, over 16,000 calls for service and recent crash and fatality counts.
The mayor addressed several public-safety items, including police staffing, crash statistics and a pause on surveillance-technology spending.
On technology, the mayor said the council directed a temporary suspension last fall of the police department’s Flock license-plate reader system until safeguards ensure it cannot be misused; the mayor said the budget committee will be asked to permanently suspend future Fox system expenses. “In alignment with this commitment, last fall, your city council directed the temporary suspension of the police department's use of the flock license plate reader system... Tomorrow, we're asking our budget committee to suspend any future expenses permanently for the Fox system,” the mayor said.
The mayor also provided department statistics: 53 full-time employees (41 sworn, 12 support), five vacant officer positions, more than 16,000 calls for service in the last year, approximately 585 person crimes and 1,077 property crimes, and 1,282 arrests in 2025. He noted traffic-safety data — 311 non-injury crashes, 179 injury crashes, 227 hit-and-run crashes and two pedestrian fatalities — and said the city is considering a May ballot question to lower speed limits on non-main arterial streets from 25 mph to 20 mph; the council is neutral on the measure.
Why it matters: the combination of technology policy, staffing shortages and crash trends shapes residents’ experience of safety. The budget committee’s imminent consideration of future surveillance-device spending is a procedural step with policy consequences.
