Local law enforcement are maintaining regular patrols in Baker City and Baker County during the coronavirus crisis.

The Baker City Council has endorsed Police Chief Ty Duby’s plan to hire one or two more officers with a goal of reducing overtime and improving morale in the department, which has been plagued by frequent turnover the past few years.

Duby presented a proposal to councilors during their Oct. 8 meeting, including a chart showing that the frequently understaffed department has underspent its personnel budget by about $283,000 over the past three fiscal years but exceeded its overtime budget by about $30,000 during that period.

Duby has been police chief since July 2021 and has worked for the department since 2019, when he retired from the Oregon State Police after a 25-year career with that agency.

Duby told councilors that in the past five years, eight officers have left the city police. Two resigned, one was fired, and five were hired at a different police agency, he said.

Duby said that during his tenure as chief, the department has had its full contingent of 15 sworn officers for less than one year in total.

The department is “technically” fully staffed now, Duby said, but in reality that’s not the case.

Two officers are attending the state police training academy.

Two others are patrolling with another officer during a training period.

And one officer has been on paid medical leave for several months, Duby said.

As a result, the department’s two detectives have been working patrol shifts rather than concentrating on their detective duties, Duby told councilors.

“We haven’t worked any drug cases for a year now to any significant level,” he said.

The lack of officers prompted Duby to discontinue 24-hour patrols on Dec. 1, 2023.

He reinstated around-the-clock patrolling on Sept. 23, but Duby said the situation is not “ideal.”

The current night shift consists of one patrol car with two officers — a veteran and one of the two officers still in a training period.

When the two new officers finish the training period later this fall, Duby said the department could potentially return to having two patrol cars, each with a single officer, on the night shift.

Hiring two new officers would also make that possible, he said.

Mayor Randy Daugherty told Duby during the Oct. 8 meeting that given the rate of officer turnover, he believes the department should be soliciting applicants constantly.

That would make it easier for the department to fill vacancies quickly and potentially reduce the duration when the agency has fewer than 15 officers.

Daugherty also noted, as Duby had shown during his presentation, that in two of the past three fiscal years, the police department underspent its budget for personnel costs.

In fiscal 2022-23, the department spent $106,000 less than was budgeted, and in the previous fiscal year spending was $224,000 less than budgeted.

Personnel costs exceeded the budgeted amount by $47,000 in the most recent fiscal year, which ended July 1, 2024, but Duby said that resulted from a one-time change in the police union contract.

One patrol officer costs the city an estimated $125,000 to $140,000 per year in salary and benefits, Duby said in an interview on Oct. 15.

He said personnel costs were less than the budgeted amount in those two fiscal years because, as he told councilors on Oct. 8, the department was down at least one officer, and often more than one, for much of that period.

Daugherty said during the Oct. 8 meeting that based on the department’s history of frequent turnover, it’s likely that, even if Duby hires two new officers, the department will not have more than 15 officers for long periods.

If that happens — and Duby said he hopes it does because it would make 24-hour patrols easier to maintain and allow detectives to focus on investigations — Daugherty said the city council would need to evaluate the budget to see if the higher personnel costs with a 16- or 17-officer department are sustainable.

The city council imposed a public safety fee, starting June 1, 2024, with the money going to the police and fire departments. The fee is $10 per month for homes and $20 for businesses.

Duby told councilors that he believes that the higher cost of having 16 or 17 sworn officers would be partially offset by reducing overtime. With more officers, the department shouldn’t need to call in off-duty officers for patrols when another employee is sick or on vacation.

Police overtime costs surpassed the budgeted amount by an estimated $16,000 in the most recent fiscal year ($86,000, budgeted amount $70,000), and by $18,000 in 2021-22.

Overtime costs were about $4,000 less than budgeted in fiscal 2022-23.

Duby also told councilors that the police department exceeded its budget for comp time and officers’ cashing in vacation time in three of the past four fiscal years, the amounts ranging from $10,000 to $43,000.

Councilor Larry Pearson said on Oct. 15 that he was “comfortable” with the council’s endorsement of Duby’s plan to potentially hire two more officers.

Like Daugherty, Pearson said the rate of turnover the past five years suggests the department, even if Duby is aggressive in hiring, isn’t likely to have 16 or 17 officers for long periods.

(Duby said one current officer is likely to retire within the next year, and the officer on medical leave could also leave, so hiring two new officers would actually maintain the status quo of 15.)

Pearson said he wants to make sure that Duby can fill vacancies as quickly as possible and thus continue 24-hour patrols.

“We’re just trying to keep the department staffed,” Pearson said.

However, if Duby can slow the turnover rate, and maintain a force of 16 or 17 sworn officers, Pearson said councilors would need to look at the personnel costs to see whether they are sustainable.

Pearson also pointed out that Duby showed councilors a chart comparing Baker City Police staffing with several other cities in the region.

• Baker City, with a population of 10,100, has 15 sworn officers, including eight patrol officers and two detectives.

• Astoria, with 10,167 residents, has 16 sworn officers, including 10 patrol and three detectives.

• Prineville, population 11,600, has 18 sworn officers, including eight patrol and four detectives.

• La Grande, population 13,500, has 19 sworn officers, including 10 patrol and four detectives.

• Ontario, population 12,200, has 25 sworn officers, with 17 patrol and four detectives.

Dealing with illegally parked vehicles

During the Oct. 8 meeting, Duby also gave councilors an update on his plan to have police be more aggressive in enforcing the city’s ordinance governing vehicles parked on city streets.

In an interview Oct. 15, Duby said that in the past the city’s code enforcement officer did most of the work regarding illegally parked vehicles. But he has told patrol officers to also look for such vehicles and if necessary to place a tag on them notifying the owner that the vehicle could be towed.

Duby said that under Oregon law, such vehicles can be towed within 24 hours after being tagged.

The city ordinance, however, gives owners 10 days to move the vehicle, unless it presents an immediate hazard, in which case the city can have it towed immediately.

The ordinance applies to boats and trailers as well as passenger vehicles.

Pearson said the city needs to deal with illegally parked cars, especially in places where many vehicles are parked, making it harder for drivers to see at intersections.

Daugherty agreed.

“We’ve let this get ahead of us,” he said.

Duby said that although the city is still using the 10-day period in the ordinance, he thinks the council should consider changing the ordinance to include a 24-hour removal requirement in certain situations.

Duby said he has told officers to be more diligent in following up with vehicles that have been tagged.

Last month the city posted a notice on its Facebook page stating, in part:

“As we approach winter months, the Baker City Police Department will be taking a more aggressive stance on illegal parking on city streets. As a reminder, City streets are not the venue to park vehicles for long terms.Vehicles include, RVs, boats, trailers, and other vehicles not being utilized for transportation purposes. Parking these items for longer than 72 hours on a public street is prohibited and can result in a citation or towing of the vehicle from the site. Please find alternate sites to park vehicles that are not on streets. Extended parking of vehicles on our City streets creates additional hazardous conditions for not only our City Public Works trying to plow snow off the streets, but for our street sweepers, and our drivers and citizens in general. If you have any questions regarding our parking ordinances, please contact either Code Enforcement Officer Mike Flynn or Sergeant Mike Regan at (541) 524-2014.”