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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ASHLAND A boring day on the beat is a good day By Ruth Sloan DailyTidings.com By Ruth Sloan Posted May. 20, 2015 @ 2:00 am By Ruth Sloan Posted May. 20, 2015 @ 2:00 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Wednesday, May 6, was a fairly typical day for the Ashland Police Department. They were busy, but nothing very dramatic happened. Matt Caswell, a 13-year veteran of the force, served a 10-hour shift. When not responding to calls, he patrolled the town, using his radar-gun to catch speeding drivers on Tolman Creek Road and East Main Street where residents had been complaining that many drivers were exceeding the speed limit. Several residents went out of their way to thank him or give him the high sign to indicate how grateful they were he was slowing people down. A few speeding drivers received warnings, but most received citations, depending on how much Caswell’s radar gun showed they exceeded the posted limited. Caswell says he thinks the biggest problem in Ashland that requires police attention is the mentally ill population, and the lack of services for them. Among other duties he performed that day, Caswell checked out a burglar alarm at a residence where police had been summoned before. The homeowners do not lock their residence, and it is believed that doors open by the gardener, animals or the wind have triggered the alarm. Police Officers Damian Amarillas and Mike Vanderllip were among others on duty that day. They work a more typical 12-hour shift and performed services similar to Caswell. All three officers responded to a call of domestic violence in the early afternoon, and counseled the residents how to cool down. Among other activities on May 6, Amarillas responded to a shoplifting report that ended in a drug bust at Southern Oregon University. Caswell listened to a highly emotional citizen complaint of harassment and counseled the complainant, with the warning that he was not a lawyer and that not much — quoting from the Oregon Revised Statutes — could be done by police under the circumstances. Dispatch recorded 68 calls on May 6, ranging from fraud to suspicious circumstances and including two traffic accidents. Some officer-initiated activities, including traffic stops, are not tabulated through dispatch. All police actions are recorded for sound. A few officers are currently wearing body cameras as an experiment, and it is expected that all will do so routinely in the near future. Most officers welcome the cameras because they believe they are often falsely accused of abuse, and they believe cameras will prove otherwise. They carry a lot of gear, and their vehicles are equipped with an extraordinary array of electronics, as sources of information and providing some safety features. They all wear bulletproof vests. With the equipment they carry and the vests, their uniforms are hot and heavy. The Ashland Police Department has 29 sworn officers and eight other personnel. The budget for 2013-2015 of the department is $12,391,656, comprised of $8,317,306 for operations, $2,398,730 for support, and $1,675,620 for administration. Four-year Ashland resident Ruth Sloan spent 30 years working in administration at Stanford University. By Ruth Sloan DailyTidings.com By Ruth Sloan Posted May. 20, 2015 @ 2:00 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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