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Budget offers little help By PETER WONG SALEM -- Gov. John Kitzhaber's budget proposes 25 new Oregon State Police troopers in the next two years, and a counterproposal of Senate President Brady Adams proposes around 150. But Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, said neither proposal will relieve the shortage of troopers for the long term unless the Oregon State Police obtains a more stable source of support that he wants voters to approve. "The proposals of the governor and the Senate president remind me of the saying, `The faster I go, the behinder I get,"' Hannon said. "When you start talking about their numbers, they don't even make a dent in the problem." His reference was to the 201 troopers eligible to retire between July 1997 and June 2001. OSP Lt. Gregg Hastings said of 105 anticipated to retire in the budget period ending June 30, 83 have done so, and of 96 eligible to retire in 1999-2001, six have given notice already. Hastings said the latest trainee class for troopers has 60 members. Kitzhaber hinted last fall he would propose up to 100 new troopers. But after the latest economic forecast this month projected less money available for the state budget for the next two years, his budget proposes the addition of only 25 troopers in December 2000. "Because of the revenue forecast, it was clear to me that if we funded 100 troopers, we would underfund our other commitments by the state police to local law enforcement," Kitzhaber said at a news conference on his budget earlier this month. The addition still would raise the number of patrol positions to 467, which would be the highest this decade, though still well below the level of almost 700 two decades ago. "I want to stress that this is not adequate," Kitzhaber said. "It is my hope that when we come out of this session, we have a significant increase in the number of patrol officers in Oregon." The Democratic chief executive said later he hopes that more money will result from bargaining with leaders of Republican legislative majorities. "We are proposing more than he is," said Adams, a Republican from Grants Pass whose budget proposes $10 million for more troopers and $7 million for law enforcement grants to counties. "But we will work with him." Adams said he is not wedded to a specific increase. Although the state has been offered a federal grant to hire more troopers, the Legislature must match the amount and be prepared to pick up the rest of the cost when the grant ends in three years. Hannon said OSP's problems date back to 1980, when voters approved a change in the state constitution to reserve gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees for road construction and repairs. The change removed state parks and the police from the highway fund. Since 1990, when a state limit on local property taxes shifted public schools from local to state support, Hannon said state programs such as police patrols have suffered cuts. Hannon said he will propose a ballot measure for 2000 to ask voters to return the patrol functions of the Oregon State Police to the highway fund -- and tie its approval to a $10-per-vehicle increase in registration fees for patrols. The increase for trucks would be $20 per vehicle to offset the cost of OSP's roadside inspections. "We'll never get back to where the State Police were before 1980," Hannon said. "But it's certainly an objective we should work toward." A similar proposal by Hannon failed to get out of the Legislature last session. But this session, Hannon will head the Legislature's joint budget subcommittee on transportation, which will give him some political leverage. Kitzhaber said he's willing to consider Hannon's proposal. Adams said he's willing, too, but has doubts about whether voters will support it. A recent public opinion survey about transportation needs suggested they wouldn't. "But I do not govern by polling; I govern by what is right," Hannon said. Photo by Bob Pennell OSP Trooper Don Jeter patrols on the night shift along Interstate 5. Most times, only one other trooper is on duty for backup. Where have all the troopers gone? Stretched to the limit By JULIE SWENSEN Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Don Jeter stops a car on northbound Interstate 5, just above the Oregon/California border. He cites the motorist for driving 15 mph over the speed limit, then pulls away in the dark. But Jeter slows again when he hears the motorist's car horn honk. The man's car battery is dead. Jeter jumps the car's battery, sending the motorist back on the road in a few minutes. Turns out, getting a ticket was a lucky break for the stranded driver, who might otherwise have waited five or six hours for an available trooper. Such delays are unacceptable, says Capt. Tim McLain, an OSP district commander. But the number of patrol troopers has been cut by more than 40 percent in the past two decades, leaving vast stretches of Southern Oregon highways unpatrolled for hours. "It would be better to have a cell phone than to wait for us," Jeter says. On this Wednesday night, Jeter's the lone trooper covering I-5 from the Highway 62 interchange south to the border. Hired in 1984, Jeter remembers when half a dozen troopers worked a shift. Tonight, there's only one other trooper working on I-5, farther north. The secondary highways are left unpatrolled. From 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., Jeter's the only one on duty. Voter-approved cuts in gas tax funding and property taxes have led OSP officials to reduce the number of troopers on the road. In 1980, 33 patrol troopers worked out of the Central Point office; now there are 13. During the same period, the state's population has increased 23.7 percent, while the number of registered vehicles, licensed drivers and miles traveled on Oregon highways have gone up even more, state police statistics show. While the patrol presence has been sharply cut, the number of state police employees has grown. In a cost-cutting move during Gov. Barbara Roberts' administration, state agencies streamlined and the state police absorbed them, boosting the number of OSP employees. The OSP used to just have three divisions -- fish and wildlife, criminal and patrol. But it has since absorbed several agencies, including the state fire marshal's office, the medical examiner's office, Oregon Emergency Management, the Law Enforcement Data System and the Criminal Justice Services Division. New state police posts have also been created -- detectives who investigate complaints against contractors or enforce gambling laws, for example. But the Legislature required OSP to create those positions, so troopers were moved from patrol duty to fill them. Statewide, 36 troopers were pulled off roads for gambling enforcement. In OSP District 3 -- which covers seven counties in Southern Oregon -- the Central Point, Roseburg and Coos Bay stations each lost one road trooper to gambling enforcement. Another Central Point road trooper became a contracter detective. Of every dollar in the state's general fund, the entire state police agency gets 1.6 cents, and the patrol division garners seven-tenths of a penny. "That kind of gives you a wakeup call that we're not a big portion of the general fund," McLain says. A more telling way to see the effect of fewer troopers is in the thousands of arrest warrants left unserved in District 3. Troopers now serve warrants only if they happen to catch the cited person during a traffic stop. Troopers were also pulled from the Applegate and Wimer, and patrols were eliminated between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. The amount of time troopers wait for backup also has increased. Sometimes, Jeter waits 20-30 minutes for help. Patrol troopers are working more required overtime to ease the crunch. Jeter normally puts in 20-30 overtime hours a month. "It's taking a big toll," McLain said. Six trooper recruits are set to join Central Point's state police office in January, but the net effect will be half that. Three troopers will retire from the office before the new recruits are trained and ready to work on their own. And stranded motorists will still be lucky if Jeter is around to help. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA