Law enforcement leaders in Grant County weighed in on options for the John Day Police Department.

JDPD Chief Mike Durr and Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley spoke to the John Day City Council on March 31.

John Day Mayor Ron Lundbom asked Durr if he had any ideas on how to keep the department going, after City Manager Nick Green previously said the city would need to request voter approval for a tax to maintain operations or consolidate with the county sheriff’s office.

Durr summed it up succinctly: “You need more money.”

The price of service

Durr, who will retire later this year, said it would hurt him to see the department go away. However, he added that money will be needed to continue with operations and meet the growing expenses. He said he understands it’s a tough request.

“We’ve got our own culture, and working here is a little different than in other places, and I am proud of the guys that work here and in our community,” Durr said.

In the past year, JDPD received about 1,900 calls for service from dispatch that generated 212 cases that were investigated. The department operated with three officers most of the time because one officer was in training, Durr said. Now the JDPD is fully staffed again with four officers.

“These guys are motivated, and they love their community, and they want to do what’s best for it,” Durr said. “When you’re done with your shift and you go home, you’re just not done.”

Durr said, while there are concerns at times with burnout due to the amount of calls and limited staff, they continue to focus on offering great service and helping any way they can: from investigating homicides to helping a person change a tire.

“I’m not trying to sway the council which direction you want to go, but last year, we did everything from investigating a justified homicide all the way down to assisting ambulance,” Durr said. “Our work goes beyond enforcement of law.”

If the city were to pursue the levy and look for a new chief, Durr said he wants to be a part of the process to ensure the new chief would be a good fit for the community and would continue the quality of service provided by the JDPD.

A five-year local option levy to fund the department would cost between 10 and 15 cents per $1,000 of assessed value and would need to be approved by voters in John Day.

Consolidating with the county

If the city were to consolidate the police department with the county, the level of service currently provided in John Day would decrease, according to McKinley.

McKinley is currently in the budget process with the county and is unsure if they can hire anybody else without additional funding. He said the sheriff’s office services in John Day would resemble what other cities receive.

“It would be essentially what we’re doing for those other cities, which are emergent calls only,” McKinley said. “There won’t be anybody in the intersection changing the tire. There won’t be a person showing up on the doorstep when there’s a call… Your service level is going to drop significantly.”

McKinley said, if the city wanted to transition their police department staff members — two full-time officers and a full-time sergeant — to be county employees, then he would go to the court and discuss the transition and service agreement. The county would request the city pay for four full-time officers for the first year.

“If we transition our department to the county sheriff, for the first year we are going to pay for the three guys that will transition, and that’s at least $250,000 that would be going with them along with whatever we work out on the equipment we have,” Green said. “We’re not setting our sheriff up for failure or our employees, and under statute we’re going to pay for them for the first year regardless.”

McKinley said in an email to the Eagle that the county could not absorb the costs of the three full-time equivalent employees at this time, or even in a year.

“So unless the city continued to support the positions with funding, those three FTEs would be either absorbed into the county through attrition, laid off, or the county finds funding to retain,” McKinley said. “And yes, after the year, if the positions are not funded, the service to the city will be diminished as to the service provided by the county, due to lack of staffing.”

McKinley warned the council that, once the city loses the police department, it would be difficult to get it back in the future. He said that Sisters loathed losing their police department when it was consolidated with Deschutes County.

“At some point, Sisters said they would like to take it back,” McKinley said. “Deschutes County offered them vehicles at a cut rate… but they couldn’t fiscally do it. Once it left, it was gone. You may say we’ll get it back in five years, but you won’t be able to make it work.”

McKinley added that he met with other sheriffs to talk about this situation, and the consensus was that a city with fewer than 20,000 people would not be able to afford a police department because of rising insurance rates and anticipated legislation.

Regardless, McKinley said he thinks the city can find a way to keep the police department, but it depends on what they do.

“I feel like this council and us in this room need to come to a collective conclusion that if we’re gonna keep it, let’s do it right,” Green said. “If we’re going to transition it, let’s do that right too, so we’re not paying for everybody else to have the additional coverage.”

City council thoughts

Several John Day city council members said, if the city were to work with the county on consolidating the JDPD, they would have to construct something that would be equitable and fair to the sheriff’s office and each city in the county.

“If we’re going to transition, we need to support our sheriff, and that means we have to come up with an equitable arrangement, and it’s not John Day and the county doing everything for everybody because all that does is undermine his staff and stretch his resources thin,” Green said.

While every property owner pays property taxes to the county that fund the sheriff’s office, there are several cities that also have contracts for service with the office.

Councilor Paul Smith responded to a letter to the editor from March 31 that questioned how the city spent funds on capital improvement projects but lacks money to fund the police department.

Smith said the dollars for capital improvement projects have been funded by grants to be spent specifically on the projects and nothing else.

“We can’t take those monies and fund the police department,” Smith said. “The dollars for our police department come from our general fund, and we can’t spend road money or grant money to fund these departments.”

Green said the city currently pays 150% of their property tax base to keep the police department running. Green added that the investment in capital improvement projects is the answer to providing the revenue needed to fund items such as the police department through increased growth and the property taxes it provides.

John Day is hosting a town hall at the Grant County Fairgrounds pavilion on April 8 at 6 p.m. This event will give community members a chance to learn about the city’s budget next year and the future of the John Day Police Department. 

“We will have some refreshments available with plenty of seating,” said John Day Mayor Ron Lundbom. “We will also have it available by Zoom where you can write your questions beforehand. It is important that we gather as much info as possible before we put together our 2021 budget.” 

The city also plans to talk about the wastewater treatment plant, downtown revitalization, housing, pool and infrastructure investments.  

“You need more money.”

—Mike Durr, John Day police chief

“It would be essentially what we’re doing for those other cities, which are emergent calls only. There won’t be anybody in the intersection changing the tire. There won’t be a person showing up on the doorstep when there’s a call… Your service level is going to drop significantly.”

—Todd McKinley, Grant County sheriff