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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 18, 2005 Sheriff’s ‘paddywagons’ fetch suspects on demand Patrol officers welcome help, which spares them the drive to the county jail By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Weekend police patrols likely will get a boost from two transport vans newly prepared to take criminal suspects to jail. Operated by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, the Ford 15-passenger vans will be on call to any police agency in the county between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The project was implemented to keep far-flung sheriff’s deputies in their patrol areas rather than vacating them for a trip to the county jail in Medford. The sheriff’s department has extended the service to state and municipal police. "It’s a great benefit," said Talent Police Chief Bob Rector, whose city has been staffed with a lone officer on weekend evenings for several months. "My officer can stay within our city limits and not have to leave ... because that’s typically what happens. ... Our city is uncovered." Inaugurated the weekend of Sept. 9-10, the vans picked up five inmates for the sheriff’s department, Central Point Police Department and Oregon State Police for a total of 87 miles, said sheriff’s Lt. Dan Penland. Sheriff’s department officials expect that number to increase, Penland added. Advertisement On average, police agencies have taken 62 suspects to jail on weekends for the past few months, Penland said. Officers coming from outlying areas can easily spend several hours driving to and from the jail. Regardless of their jurisdiction, most spend about 15 to 20 minutes inside the jail each time they lodge a suspect, Penland added. Because of their close proximity to the downtown jail — 787 W. Eighth Street — Medford police likely won’t use the service on a regular basis, said Lt. Tim George. The department may use it for planned arrests, including search warrants or large-scale protests, George said. Sheriff Mike Winters first proposed maintaining jail transport vans in January 2003 shortly after taking office. Additional cost to the sheriff’s department is minimal and largely includes the price of fuel, Penland said. County Commissioners approved funding for two new deputies — hired in July — to handle prisoner transportation. When not driving, those deputies augment standard operations inside the jail, Penland added. Appropriated free of charge from Jackson County Community Justice and the state prison transport system, the vans have taken sentenced inmates to rented prison beds in northern Oregon on a weekly basis since the first of the year. One van has standard bench seats enclosed in a cage similar to those inside typical police patrol cars while the other has a steel box with two side-facing benches used to haul away more combative suspects, Penland said. The lieutenant said deputies are aware of the deadly rollover risk associated with Ford 15-passenger vans, which have been the subject of repeated warnings issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Deputies limit the number of prisoners they carry at any one time to eight, Penland said. The vans most likely would chauffeur only one or two suspects on weekend runs, he added. Inmates more likely to do their time Fewer inmates are likely to receive a get-out-of-jail-free card following a recent policy change. Rewording a section of Jackson County Sheriff’s Department policy now keeps prisoners scheduled to serve a jail sentence out of the standard system for release consideration. County commissioners approved the change last month. "What was happening is we were having to release them before they were going to serve their sentences," said Sheriff Mike Winters. The jail was forced to release 594 inmates this year because of overcrowding. The number includes both sentenced and non-sentenced prisoners. Of those sentenced and released, the majority were due to serve two weeks or less, according to jail statistics. The new procedure applies only to prisoners set for weekly transport to the Yamhill County Jail or Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Center in The Dalles, said sheriff’s Lt. Dan Penland. Commissioners in January approved renting 100 beds between the two facilities to combat local jail overcrowding. Inmates are sent north if they have a sentence of at least 10 days to serve, Penland said. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail Sheriff�s �paddywagons� fetch suspects on demand ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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