BeavertonOregon.gov/Mayor
Previous Reports from 2007
Setting High Standards!
Throughout my tenure as your Mayor, I have always been proud of the work we do and have strived to give you the full picture. I have been especially proud of our efforts in providing a safe community in which we all live or have a business. Our Community Policing program has been recognized as one of the best in the nation. The last few years Beaverton has been ranked the second safest mid-and-large sized city in the northwest. The men and women in our Police Department are top-notch and it shows. They are empowered to make decisions and they usually make the right ones and serve us very well. I’m proud of them for their professional work and standards.
Beginning with the standards and expectations set by Police Chief David Bishop, our job is to serve you in the very best way we can. I’m especially proud of our Police Chief, whom I have known since being an undergraduate student in Psychology and Law Enforcement at Portland State University in the early 1970’s. I conducted a sixmonth practicum study and ride-along program with the Beaverton Police Department at that point and the Chief was a Sergeant and my “sponser” for the study. He eventually left Beaverton to become Police Chief in Newberg. We stayed in touch after I graduated and I brought him back to Beaverton as Chief when I was elected Mayor. He continues to set high standards for himself and the members of the Police Department.
In a recent internal newsletter to the men and women of our Police Department, the Chief wrote about his expectations for how they should conduct themselves in serving you. I was especially proud of the high standards that he continues to expect and the focus on genuine and caring service to all citizens. His attention to our youth and the importance of quality contact with young people is encouraging. I have appreciated his quality leadership at the top and included his internal newsletter article for your review:
Message From the Chief
When you hear the word “success” what do you think of? Perhaps you envision a wealthy businessman or someone with a nice home or car. What definition of “success” do you think an individual in prison might have? Success to that person might be staying free for the rest of their life. How about a child who comes from a home where he or she is beaten? Maybe success is merely surviving from day to day.
As police officers we are sworn to serve and protect—to enforce laws and to offer aid. We are expected not to be judgmental and to maintain our professionalism at all times. When we come across a domestic situation where a child has been injured it can be difficult to remain objective. When we see 10-year olds involved in burglaries, it is hard not to point fingers at the parents.
This is not our job however. As outsiders we must gather the facts, but we cannot truly know all of the circumstances that have led to the moment in time when we were called.
We must maintain our objectivity, enforcing the laws when appropriate. Perhaps equally important, we must help people succeed. As I mentioned earlier, the definition of “success” is different for each person. We can help offenders succeed by sending them to jail to hopefully become rehabilitated.
We can help victims of abuse succeed by providing them resources through which they can gain freedom from their abusive relationships. We can help the parents of a wayward child succeed by giving them options for intervention. To judge is not to serve. To expect that every person we come in contact with will accept our help is unrealistic. To offer our customers whatever help we can is our duty.
Especially with youth, early intervention is vital. While we have formalized programs that focus on at-risk youth, they cannot be our crutch. Every time we come in contact with a child we should strive to help them achieve or maintain good citizenship. It is often the smallest gesture—showing understanding or interest in their life—that makes the difference.
Keep in mind that things are rarely as they appear on the surface and everyone deserves to be treated respectfully. Everyone deserves the right to succeed. The children of today are tomorrow’s police officers, judges, and leaders. Let’s help everyone be the most they can be.
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