PORTLAND, Ore. — The agency responsible for law enforcement certification in Oregon has launched a new database that will track police disciplinary actions. The information has been available to the public before but not in one location and searchable.
The public database shows the officer’s name, agency and basic facts surrounding denial, suspension or revocation of law enforcement certifications.
“If they engaged in some misconduct there would be some detailed information about what that misconduct was,” explained Linsay Hale of the Department of Public Safety Standards & Training (DPSST).
The state legislature required DPSST to set up the public, online database. It’s one of several police accountability bills passed during the special session.
“I think we will have a great deal more information available to the public and have the ability to really investigate and see whether we are getting the right types of folks in our police force,” said Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, who pushed for police reform.
A list of all law enforcement who were the focus of a DPSST professional standards investigation prior to June 2020 has also been published, along with a list of open, pending DPSST professional standards cases.
The bill also allows agencies to share misconduct records more easily, preventing bad officers from moving from one police department to the next.
“We do have some bad people who do want to work in law enforcement. And our job is to work with our partners- not only in state but out of state and across the country to keep them out,” said DPSST’s Director Eriks Gabliks.