SHPD Winter 2017 Campaign

Follow along with us during the month of December 2017 as we highlight one hopeful St. Helens Police Department recruit from the application process to employment and job training as an SHPD patrol officer. 

November 28, 2017

We received a report from St. Helens City Hall at 0832 today of a gentleman wanting to drop off an application for a police officer position. While we do not currently have any job openings, the deputy city recorder reported that the individual expressed a strong desire to work at the St. Helens Police Department to spread joy and goodwill in the St. Helens community. The deputy city recorder also noted that the applicant "looked strangely familiar" but she could not remember where she had seen the individual before. 

November 29, 2017

Thanks to online community assistance, the St. Helens Police Department was able to track down yesterday’s unidentified police officer applicant.

Today, the individual did a ride along with Sgt. Jose Castilleja. While driving around St. Helens, Sgt. Castilleja was impressed with the applicant’s natural ability to assess a situation and recognize when someone was up to mischief or merriment. 

November 30, 2017

Our new police officer candidate continues to move through the stages of our hiring process with the St. Helens Police Department. One hurdle that might prove to be a challenge to clear: The Oregon Physical Abilities Test (ORPAT).

After several years of following a strange fad-diet that he called the “Dairy and Cookies Plan,” our applicant asked us for some training tips as he prepares for the required ORPAT testing that he will have to pass through the National Testing Network.

Today we walked him through several exercises to help him tone up and slim down for this physical skills test. While he demonstrated an uncanny ability to maneuver through extremely tight spots, we gave him some pointers for improving his mobility run and controlled falls skills. 

December 1, 2017

Today was a big day for our potential police officer recruit. He spent several hours at St. Helens City Hall for his official job interview. The interview panel was impressed with his extensive work history with children and youth. He also has an exemplary record of transforming bad behavior into good deeds. The St. Helens Police Department hopes to make an official announcement regarding the candidate's job status next week. 

December 4, 2017

St. Helens Police Chief Moss is performing a thorough background check of our police applicant today. Our candidate has an extensive list of worldwide references. Amazingly, everyone that we have called agrees that he has never missed a day of work, and he seems to never run out of good cheer no matter what situation he finds himself in.

Since our applicant also owns and built an international business from scratch, we were a little worried about possible time commitment conflicts. However, after completing his family background check, his wife assures us that he has a very capable and efficient staff that can oversee the production process while he is away.   

December 5, 2017

After passing all background checks, completing required testing, and meeting for a final police chief interview, we are pleased to announce that the St. Helens Police Department has offered a job to our police recruit and that the offer has been officially accepted. Please join us on Wednesday, December 6 for Officer Santa Claus' swearing in at the St. Helens City Council Regular Session meeting at 7 p.m. Read our press release for details about the swearing in and job offer. 

December 6, 2017

We are pleased to welcome Officer Santa Claus as St. Helens Police Department's newest patrol officer! Officer Claus was sworn in at the St. Helens City Council meeting on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. Stay tuned as we feature Officer Claus over the next few weeks on our Facebook page, Twitter account, and this web page as he learns the role of patrol officer with the SHPD. 

December 7, 2017

Today is Officer Claus’ first official day on the job at St. Helens Police Department. While he took his morning break in our squad room, he helped us test our donut quality for Saturday’s upcoming Donut Day benefit and caught up on the latest American Police Beat news.

Officer Claus and Mrs. Claus will be at the 15th annual Donut Day on Saturday, December 9. Visit the St. Helens Police Department starting at 7 a.m. to trade canned food or cash for 325 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts to benefit the Columbia Pacific Food Bank. It’s first come, first served. The event will run until all the donuts are gone.

Bring your cameras for holiday photos with Officer Claus, Mrs. Claus and some of their special guests. KOHI AM 1600 will be broadcasting live from the event. There will also be live musical performances throughout the day.

December 8, 2017

Officer Claus has a busy day at schools in the St Helens School District today. First stop: a visit to McBride Elementary School to visit Mrs. Luttrell's class. Third grader Haviland Kennedy won a donut party from the Police Department for her winning artwork that will appear on this year's SHPD holiday card.

Next, Officer Claus stopped at Lewis & Clark Elementary School to help with crosswalk duty as students left school for the day. 

Did you know that unintentional pedestrian injuries are the fifth leading cause of injury-related death in the United States for children ages 5 to 19? Teenagers are now at greatest risk. Teens have a death rate twice that of younger children and account for half of all child pedestrian deaths. Talk to your kids about how to stay safe while walking to school with these resources from Safe Kids Worldwide: https://www.safekids.org/blog/things-you-need-know-you-head-back-school. 

December 9, 2017

Officer Claus and Mrs. Claus are at the 15th annual Donut Day at the St. Helens Police Department to help collect canned food and cash donations to benefit the Columbia Pacific Food Bank. Over the years, Donut Day has resulted in the collection of 50,000 pounds of food and over $40,000 in cash for the Columbia Pacific Food Bank.

December 11, 2017

Bumble drove.

Bumble texted.

Bumble got pulled over.

Don’t be a Bumble this holiday season.

SHPD Officer Claus pulled over his first distracted driver today and would like to remind the St. Helens community that new distracted driving laws are now in effect in Oregon. The holiday season is expensive enough without facing a newly increased distracted driving fine.  

With Oregon traffic fatalities on the rise and a distracted driving related injury happening every three hours in Oregon, ODOT, the OSP and friends are asking Oregonians to keep their hands on the wheel and minds on the road.

Learn more about the new distracted driving rules on ODOT's website.

Join Oregon’s Drive Healthy campaign. 

December 12, 2017

SHPD K-9 Ryder officially met with Officer Claus today to help teach our newest officer the differences between police canine handling and caribou training.

While Officer Claus has decades of experience training animals to assist in his international delivery business, K-9 Ryder thinks he has a long way to go before he can transition to police canine handling. Priority number one? Teaching Officer Claus the difference in diet and feeding schedules of a police K-9 and delivery caribou.

K-9 Ryder is not food oriented. He eats a higher-end dog food with minimal filler ingredients and limited treats.  

December 13, 2017

Are there any perks to being an honorary sworn officer? One big one for Officer Claus is having some wiggle room when it comes to following certain standards found in the St. Helens Police Department’s policy manual.

• Hair length past the shirt collar and a snowy white beard? Not a problem.
• Non-standard patrol officer uniform? His specialized unit uniform was officially authorized by the Chief of Police.
• Festive vehicle accessories? We’ll give Officer Claus a pass, but he has to remove the items before the end of each shift.

If you see a patrol car with some extra sparkle in St. Helens this December, Officer Claus might be checking up on you to see if you’re being naughty or nice. And if he sees you being good (a.k.a. wearing your bike helmet, using a turn signal, following the speed limit in a school zone), you may just find yourself as the recipient of a good deeds citation.

December 14, 2017

Officer Claus is making a list and checking it twice today. He doesn't want to see your name end up on THIS naughty list, so be good for goodness sake this holiday season! 

December 15, 2017

K-9 powered patrol car versus reindeer powered sleigh.

After observing K-9 Ryder’s speed and extreme agility during training exercises, Officer Claus thought that nothing would be better than a K-9 powered patrol car to drive the streets of St. Helens. While K-9 Ryder is eager to please, we had to tell Officer Claus that he’ll need to make do with the standard issue mechanical engine that’s currently powering his patrol car. K-9 Ryder has more important duties to sniff out for the St. Helens Police Department.

Don’t be too surprised if you hear the pitter patter of paws instead of the clip clop of hooves on your rooftop this Christmas Eve. Officer Claus might be making a few changes to his North Pole-based delivery business this holiday season. 

December 18, 2017

In the early morning hours of Monday, December 18, officers of the St. Helens Police Department made their first impaired driving arrest as part of an increased effort to keep St. Helens streets safe this holiday season. 

The St. Helens Police Department is participating in a high visibility enforcement (HVE) campaign to crackdown on drunk, drugged and high drivers during the holiday season. The campaign increases the number of officers on the streets between December 15 and January 1, some of the most dangerous driving days of the year in the United States. 

Officer Claus, St. Helens Police Department’s new honorary patrol officer, is participating in the campaign as well. At 8 a.m. on Monday, December 18, Officer Claus assisted St. Helens officers with a traffic stop of St. Helens resident Abominable T. Snowman after receiving calls of a driver swerving between lanes on Columbia Boulevard and sideswiping a parked vehicle.

Abominable was arrested on charges of DUII and reckless driving after his blood alcohol level measured at .16 percent, twice the legal limit in Oregon.

“Mr. Snowman admitted that he was driving home from a holiday party where he drank a little too much peppermint schnapps,” said Officer Claus. “He thought that he would be okay to drive the short distance back to his house. Clearly, that was not the case.”

Abominable is scheduled to be arraigned at the Columbia County Courthouse on Wednesday, December 20 and faces up to 365 days in jail and a maximum fine of $6,250.

“Mr. Snowman is very lucky that more serious property damage or injury to a pedestrian or fellow driver did not occur,” said Claus. “However, his holiday season will be significantly less cheery this year as he faces potential jail time and fines. We hope that he can be a lesson to anyone that may consider drinking and driving during the holidays.” 

Learn more about the SHPD's impaired driving campaign and tips keep your holiday celebrations safe on the enforcement campaign's webpage. 

December 19, 2017

St. Helens police officers must be certified to respond to a number of potential injuries that they may encounter while on the job. Officer Claus spent time in a tactical first aid training course today with other officers to learn the skills necessary to respond to more serious injuries until emergency medical services (EMS) arrive on the scene.

All of our St. Helens police officers are required to be certified in basic first aid, tactical first aid (which includes using tourniquets or dealing with gunshot wounds), CPR, and the use of an AED machine. Additionally, the St. Helens Police Department has one available AED machine for each of our regularly scheduled patrol officers on duty. 

December 20, 2017

Don’t wreck your holidays -- or someone else’s -- this season. St. Helens Police Department is cracking down on impaired (a.k.a drunk, drugged and high) drivers from December 15 to January 1.

As part of the kick-off to our holiday impaired driving enforcement campaign, St. Helens Officer Claus arrested Abominable T. Snowman on Monday, December 18 on charges of DUII and reckless driving. Officer Claus appeared at Mr. Snowman’s arraignment in court on Wednesday, December 20 where Mr. Snowman pleaded guilty to the initial charges.

Considering the unusual circumstances of this case, including Officer Claus’ inability to work for the St. Helens Police Department past December 24 and health concerns related to Abominable T. Snowman making an appearance when temperatures begin to warm up in the spring, the judge decided to proceed with an expedited sentencing that reflects typical first-time DUII charges.

Since Mr. Snowman would not be able to successfully complete a full year’s diversion, a conviction was entered and sentencing imposed. The mandatory 2-day jail sentence was ordered along with a basic fine. Three months’ probation was also imposed to take into account his health concerns.

In all seriousness, while we’ve enjoyed helping spread the word about impaired driving in a lighthearted manner, we ask that you do not drive impaired this holiday season.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over the past 5 years, an average of 300 people died in drunk-driving crashes during the Christmas through New Year’s holiday period.

In December 2016 alone, 781 people lost their lives in drunk-driving crashes.

Keep your holiday celebrations merry this season by following these important tips from Columbia County law enforcement agencies:

• Plan ahead. If you are planning to drink, plan ahead. Volunteer to be a designated driver, designate a sober driver or arrange for a taxi to pick you up at a set time.
• Be responsible. If you are hosting a party, offer plenty of non-alcoholic beverages and help your guests be responsible. Don't let someone who has been drinking get behind the wheel.
• Walking or bicycling after dark? Wear bright clothes to help you stand out.
• Buckle up, every trip, every time.
• Drive defensively at all times.

December 21, 2017

We are sad to announce that Officer Claus will soon be leaving us at the St. Helens Police Department. He’s received word from his business headquarters in the North Pole that they need him to return by December 24 to personally oversee some very important international package deliveries for several billion children. We found Officer Claus in the police station parking lot this afternoon attempting to pack his patrol car with the many packages that he’s collected while in St. Helens. Apparently patrol cars aren’t as magically roomy as Christmas sleighs. 

December 22, 2017

Officer Claus has been making a list and checking it twice all month long. He couldn't finish his time in St. Helens without stopping some of the residents on his nice list. While he was on patrol today, he made sure to say hi and pass out candy canes and/or gift cards when he saw people being good. 

December 23, 2017

Today was Officer Claus’ last day working as a patrol officer for the St. Helens Police Department. He’s hopping on an express jet to the North Pole later today so that he can get ready for his big day of international package deliveries on Christmas Eve.

After his final shift, Officer Claus took a few minutes to sit back and reflect on his work as a patrol officer for the St. Helens Police Department. The job was challenging, but he told us that his favorite - and most rewarding - part was working with all the children that he was able to meet.

The St. Helens Police Department would like to extend its deepest thanks to Officer Claus for his volunteer work for our agency this month. We wish him all the best as he returns to the North Pole. We hope to see him in St. Helens again next year.