In just two months, the Portland Police Bureau has hired four lateral police officers ready to hit the ground running.
"Getting four through in a few-month period was a Herculean kind of lift by our personnel office," said Aaron Schmautz, the president of the Portland Police Association.
Schmautz said these latest hires from Tigard, Canby and Boise, Idaho are a win-win for the bureau.
"Hiring lateral officers is a gambit, right. It’s a better hedge when you look at the odds of someone being successful when they’ve already been trained, "said Schmautz, "When you hire a lateral officer, they’re already trained, they’re already certified, they’re able to come in, get assimilated to the Portland system very quickly and in some cases the next day, just start working."
We talked to people who live and work in Southeast Portland, an area of the city that's seen its share of crime.
One man wonders if any officer can be prepared for patrolling the city.
"Depending on whether they were in a demographic similar to Portland, that’s great, but if they weren’t, I don’t know how you can really train for what Portland can bring at you," said Ash Veselak, who lives in Portland.
Training has been an issue for the bureau. Schmautz said they've hired about 80 people in the last few months, but some of them can't even start training until after the new year.
"Training takes a lot of money and a lot of staffing, the training division is staffed by sworn police officers, so the ability to train this many people also takes robust staffing. It’s a lot of work, but we got to get it done," said Schmautz.
A Southeast Portland business owner said he's encouraged by these latest hires and that even a little more police visibility will help.
"There is a lot of theft, especially in this store here and across the street at 7-11, and when we call, we need to have an officer come and deal with it and keep people accountable for the wrongs that they’re doing," said Eugen Schiriac, the owner of Giants Pizza in Southeast Portland.