Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Lieutenant Marcus Mendoza
addressed traffic issues at the Hoodland Community Planning Organization
(CPO) last month, noting that 86.9 percent of calls regarding traffic by the
CCSO occurred on Hwy. 26 in a recent 13 month period.
He added that since Hwy. 26 is a state highway, it is the jurisdiction of the
Oregon State Police (OSP) and that anyone who calls 9-1-1 regarding a traffic

violation on the highway, the call will go to OSP dispatch and not CCSO
dispatch.

“It’s not lost on me that if you get in a crash on Hwy. 26 here in Welches ...
you just want help,” Mendoza said.

He added that even when calls go through OSP dispatch, a CCSO deputy may
get to the scene first, and that OSP doesn’t run true 24-hour service.
“It’s not the best system,” Mendoza said.

CCSO breaks down Clackamas County into various districts, with the Mountain
area and Boring staffed as a single district. Mendoza noted that with Hwy. 26
serving as the major road from east to west, response times can be quicker
than in other districts in the county that feature a web of smaller county
roads.

Mendoza also noted that typical shifts include two deputies for inlying areas
with higher populations and one deputy for districts that are outlying, such as
the Mountain – Boring area, while one deputy is assigned to traffic
enforcement for the entire county during the day.

According to Mendoza, CCSO has hired more than 40 new deputies in the past
two years but remains understaffed and the office has more than 40
vacancies. That’s even after a levy that was passed to fund an increase of
patrol deputies by 28.

“Money is not the issue, it is finding good people,” he said, noting the job
requires a background check and 18 months of training, leading to
approximately two years to get a new deputy on the job. “We are constantly
hiring. We are just trying to catch up, just like every other law enforcement
agency in the country.”

Mendoza added that the CCSO uses other tools to try and improve traffic
issues, including a reader board that can warn drivers of speeding while also
collecting data on the issue.

“To me it's not about writing tickets, it's about changing behaviors,” he said,
adding that he gives “a ton” of warnings to drivers. “If we want to make a
difference and help save lives, the best way we can do that is change driving
behavior and make it safer.”

The CCSO website (https://www.clackamas.us/sheriff) now features a
“Dashboards” tab that offers a bevy of information on various calls, from
traffic stops to crimes, and broken down to various areas in the county.
The CPO is also currently looking for volunteers for a sub-committee regarding
short-term rentals.

Anyone interested in serving on this sub-committee can email
hoodlandcpo@gmail.com.

The next Hoodland CPO community meeting will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May
24, at the Church on the Mountain, 68301 Hwy. 26 in Welches. The CPO will

elect all board positions at the meeting and the Hoodland Fire District Fire
Marshall will be the guest speaker.