Eugene PD looks to hire more community service officers
EUGENE, Ore. Aug 19 2022— The Eugene Police Department is trying to hire more people for its Community Service Officers Program after getting some extra funding from the City of Eugene.
But what exactly do these officers do?
We took a ride in one of their trucks Wednesday for a closer look.
They’re what the department calls “non-sworn officers,” meaning they are unarmed and help with non-emergency calls.
“They’re really kind of a utility position,” explains Captain Billy Halverson with the department. “Nationwide, especially in the last couple of years, this has really come to surface on the need for an alternative response, and the CSOs, that’s what they’re designed for.”
“It’s a very diverse job. We do everything from burglaries to crashes,” says Sundi Clark, a community service officer with EPD.
She elaborated, saying that they do other things like direct traffic, write citations, and recover stolen property.
“It allows me a lot of time to do evidence collection, dusting, forensics, that sort of stuff,” Clark says. “It also gives me an opportunity to really be with that person in that moment and have a genuine [thought], like ‘This is the kind of prevention that you want to look into.'”
CSOs work hand-in-hand with sworn in officers to triage calls, allowing the department to handle more calls in the community.
Halverson says this helps match the right resource to the right call, “which then frees up the time for the officer if that person needs to go to jail or if they need to respond to another call.”
He continues, “So much of what traditionally has been shouldered by police officers has been a huge gambit. Every little thing that you can think of, to major incidents and dealing with major crimes, these positions fill a niche with the lower-level stuff. Then, we can save the officers time to deal with the bigger stuff.”
In 2021, CSOs handled more than 3,000 calls that the department says would have gone unanswered otherwise.
“We can usually handle them on our own, and it doesn’t require an officer unless there’s a report has to be taken, which is if someone is injured or transported. then that’s where an officer has to come in because of the enforcement aspect of it,” Clark said.
Halverson says the program helps things run smoother, saying, “Rather than leaving calls pending for hours and hours and hours, the idea is that if we increase our CSO capacity, then they can be more responsive, get to calls, and take people’s information, help them with whatever issue they’re having.”
Eugene Police want to increase that CSO staff to 20 people in the coming weeks and are looking for people who are community-oriented.
Clark added, “Generous, kind, thoughtful, you know – all of those things that you look for in a person who is coming to your house and having a personal moment with you.”
Those applications are online now. Applicants must be at least 18, have a high school diploma or GED, and at least one year of some former job experience.
