A task force has recommended a zero tolerance internal policy for the Clackamas County sheriff's office on domestic violence... Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts announced he has issued an order imposing a zero-tolerance policy and that all complaints will be subject to separate criminal and internal administrative investigations... Jeffrey A. Grahn, earlier had been the subject of a domestic violence complaint against him, but the subsequent investigation was inconclusive and Grahn was not charged or disciplined. It remains an open question, however, whether Grahn's killing rampage would have been prevented even if he had been prosecuted, fired or disciplined.
Does your law enforcement agency have a specific officer-involved domestic violence policy? Don't wait for a regional, deadly tragedy. Learn from those who have already suffered through one,
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- [OR] Charlotte murdered for trying to leave Sgt. Grahn, her friend Kathleen Hoffmeister murdered for supporting her, and friend Vickie Schulmerich - in critical condition - ...[Clackamas County Sheriff's Sergeant Jeffrey] Grahn shot and killed his wife, Charlotte, and her friend Kathleen Hoffmeister. He also severely injured Victoria Schulmerich, who is being treated at OHSU Hospital, before killing himself... ...[Walter] Trapp said his sister, Charlotte, was frightened of her husband but afraid to report him to police...
- [OR] Charlotte's relatives say they tried to report Sgt. Grahn & Sheriff Roberts says he feels sick, angry, betrayed - ...Relatives of Charlotte Grahn – who was shot by her husband, [Clackamas County Sheriff's Sergeant] Jeffrey Grahn\ – say she had feared her husband in the past and relatives had attempted to report his previous threatening behavior. If these statements are accurate, then the investigation into these shootings should include an examination of whether official reports about Grahn’s conduct were made, and whether police agencies responded appropriately to allegations against a fellow officer...
- [OR] The sad time came to let Vickie go - A Gresham woman quietly lost her fight for life Thursday, nearly two weeks after she was gunned down by an off-duty sheriff's sergeant in a triple murder-suicide at a Gresham lounge. Victoria "Vickie" Schulmerich died at OHSU Hospital in Portland...
- [OR] Truth and Accountability: Sheriff's Sgt. Grahn's domestic triple-murder suicide case not over yet - ...Kathleen Hoffmeister was one of the three women Grahn killed, and her husband, Jay, believes more could have been done to prevent such a tragedy... [Jay Hoffmeister] will seek compensation, contending that Clackamas County failed to rein in an out-of-control employee...
OREGON SHERIFF: ZERO TOLERANCE FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Statesman Journal
January 13, 2011
A task force has recommended a zero tolerance internal policy for the Clackamas County sheriff's office on domestic violence. The Oregonian reports the recommendations also include changes in the sheriff's hiring, training and disciplinary procedures. Clackamas County commissioners launched the task force after an off-duty sheriff's sergeant shot and killed his estranged wife, two of her friends and himself last year. The sergeant, Jeffrey Grahn, had been the subject of a domestic violence complaint. But an investigation was not conclusive and Grahn was not charged or disciplined. Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts announced Tuesday he has issued an order imposing a zero-tolerance policy and that all complaints will be subject to separate criminal and internal administrative investigations. [LINK]
Slain: Charolette Grahn
Media and Interested Parties:
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON BEST PRACTICES ISSUES REPORT ON PERSONNEL PRACTICES, POLICIES IN SHERIFF’S OFFICE AND DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYEE SERVICES
From: Tim Heider, Clackamas County Public Affairs Coordinator 503-742-5911
web12.clackamas.us
01-11-2011
[Excerpts] An independent committee examining personnel practices and procedures in the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s Department of Employee Services issued a series of recommendations for improvements...
THE MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE:
- Pursue and attain state accreditation.
- Develop and implement an early intervention system for Sheriff’s deputies.
- Add staff in the Professional Standards Unit and establish a direct report to the Sheriff.
- Improve the tracking capability of the Sheriff’s Office complaint database and formalize a protocol for written notification of alleged criminal misconduct by employees with the District Attorney’s office.
- Ensure periodic ethics training and review and increasing educational requirements for new hires and for promotions.
- Implement the newly-developed domestic violence policy for employee- involved incidents and ensure that all employees are adequately trained.
- Conduct a task analysis for all Sheriff’s Office positions, develop associated job descriptions and clarify the supervisory role of sergeants.
- Develop and implement a new performance evaluation instrument.
- Develop protocols for “fitness for duty” evaluations...
Members of the Advisory Committee included Hammerstad, a former Lake Oswego mayor and former Clackamas County commissioner; former Multnomah County Counsel Tom Sponsler; former police chief in Newberg and Beaverton Dave Bishop; retired Clackamas County judge Ray Bagley; former West Linn City Councilor and past executive director of Clackamas Women’s Services Michele Eberle and former North Clackamas schools superintendent Ron Naso. Former Albany, Oregon Chief of Police Joe Simon served as a paid consultant to facilitate the review and work with the committee. For more information please contact Timothy Heider, Clackamas County Public Affairs Coordinator, at (503) 742-5911 or theider@co.clackamas.or.us. [Full article here]
Slain: Kathleen Hoffmeister
CLACKAMAS SHERIFF PROMISES ZERO TOLERANCE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
The Oregonian
Rick Bella
January 11, 2011
[Excerpts] The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office should adopt a "zero-tolerance policy" toward domestic violence and step up supervisors' training in human relations and dealing with the mentally ill. Those are among the recommendations of a task force appointed by the county commissioners to look at the sheriff's hiring, training and disciplinary procedures... The commissioners launched the task after an off-duty sheriff's sergeant shot and killed his estranged wife, two of her friends and then himself last year. The sergeant, Jeffrey A. Grahn, earlier had been the subject of a domestic violence complaint against him, but the subsequent investigation was inconclusive and Grahn was not charged or disciplined. It remains an open question, however, whether Grahn's killing rampage would have been prevented even if he had been prosecuted, fired or disciplined. But the commissioners were looking for ways to identify "red flags" that might warn that an employee was teetering on the emotional edge. At the same time, the commissioners also were concerned about a million-dollar settlement in a federal lawsuit stemming from an officer-involved shooting, as well as several criminal prosecutions against sheriff's deputies. "The underlying reason for this committee being appointed was some very egregious incidents involving members of the sheriff's department," said task force chairwoman Judie Hammerstad, former Lake Oswego mayor and Clackamas County commissioner. "But the committee is encouraged that the sheriff has expressed a willingness to address them." Also Tuesday, Sheriff Craig Roberts announced that he had issued an order imposing a zero-tolerance policy toward domestic violence. The order states that all complaints against sheriff's office employees will be taken seriously and promises that separate criminal and internal administrative investigations will be launched... [Full article here]
Slain: Victoria Schulmerich
CLACKAMAS COUNTY PANEL PAINTS DIM VIEW OF SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Willamette Week Newspaper
by Nigel Jaquiss
January 13th, 2011
The “Best Practices” report delivered earlier this week to Clackamas County commissioners on the county’s troubled Sheriff’s Office runs to 93 pages —a nd is well worth reading for anybody interested in why Clackamas County deputies have been in the news for committing crimes so often. But if there are two points that capture the good old boys network in the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, they are these: “The system as currently structured does not appear to recognize the value of education,” says the report, written by a panel headed by former Lake Oswego Mayor Judie Hammerstad. Second, the agency’s ability to monitor problem deputies is, to put it generously, ineffective... The panel found CCSO’s internal affairs operation, in addition to not being able to access the information it has, is woefully understaffed. Just one person handles oversight of a 450-person agency... In an agency run by a sheriff whose biggest campaign contributor is the deputies’ union, an obvious question is whether the union’s power contributes to lax hiring standards, ineffective disciplinary oversight, and myriad other shortcomings the panel identified... [Full article here]
REGARDING THE REPORT THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE ONLINE
http://www.clackamas.us/bestpractices/
TO: gschmidt@co.clackamas.or.us
DATE: Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 2:37 AM
SUBJECT: Can't access file regarding internal policy for domestic violence...
Dear Mr. Schmidt,
The link to the January 11, 2011 Advisory Committee report to the Board of County Commissioners doesn't work for me. I get a message that the file is damaged. Is there a possibility that you can attach a copy to this email and send it to me? I would really like to read it...
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety fatality fatalities lethal murder liability accountability lawsuit]
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