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Trooper request raised OSP asks for 220, Kitzhaber 100 By PETER WONG SALEM -- Gov. John Kitzhaber wants to add 100 troopers to the thinning ranks of the Oregon State Police, more than the 25 troopers he proposed in December but the exact number he pledged in his re-election campaign last fall. If the Legislature approves all of them, OSP officials say 18 of those troopers would be assigned to a seven-county region in Southern Oregon, including five to Central Point and three to Grants Pass. "I know this is not included in the governor's budget," Steve Marks, his senior policy adviser, told a legislative budget subcommittee Wednesday. "It's something we are going to have to work with you to make room for." Kitzhaber had planned to propose 100 more troopers, but a weakening economic forecast forced him to trim his request to 25 when he unveiled his 1999-2001 budget Dec. 1. Those 25 would be hired late in the budget period. Marks said 75 more troopers would cost $5.1 million from the tax-supported general fund if they are hired next summer, in the middle of the budget period. The Democratic chief executive has said he expected negotiations with the Legislature, which is led by Republicans in both houses, to produce more troopers. Though the state police say they can justify 358 more troopers, and asked for 220 more when the agency submitted its budget request to Kitzhaber last year, officials said 100 more will help. Capt. Greg Willeford, who heads OSP's Patrol Services Division, said state police have had to refer 9,000 calls to other law enforcement agencies because of a lack of troopers to respond to calls. "One additional trooper within an office can make a big difference, even though it may not meet the total need," he said Wednesday during a hearing of the Legislature's budget subcommittee on public safety. The state police has 399 troopers authorized by the Legislature, but an OSP analysis says the agency can justify 756. Central Point, which serves Jackson County, has 23 but can justify 38; Grants Pass has nine but can justify 18. Willeford said that if 100 troopers are added, northwest Oregon would get 32, eastern Oregon 29 and the central Willamette Valley and coast 21, in addition to the 18 for Southern Oregon. Rep. Rob Patridge, R-Medford, said city and county law enforcement agencies rely on the state police for its crime laboratory, which is in a division separate from patrols, and specialized services such as interdiction of drug traffickers on highways. Two decades ago, before voters removed the agency from the highway fund in 1980 and reserved gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees for road work, the Oregon State Police had 641 troopers. Those numbers have declined steadily since then, taking big drops in the economic downturn of 1981-82 and more agency budget cuts following a statewide property tax limit in 1990. Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, has proposed a constitutional amendment (Senate Joint Resolution 11) that would return Oregon State Police patrols to the highway fund. Its approval by voters would trigger a companion bill (House Bill 2777) for a $20 increase in the vehicle registration fee that would be earmarked for police patrols. Marks said Kitzhaber will support Hannon's proposals as well. "We see our proposal as a short-term effort to increase officers around the state," he said. "We see the Senate joint resolution as providing long-term security for the entire state." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA