Sheriff Michael Reese and Fairview Mayor Ted Tosterud.
Multnomah County Sheriff
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s office says Fairview residents can expect quicker response times for 911 calls and more officers out on the streets after county commissioners approved a consolidation between the sheriff’s office and the city police department.
The merger, approved Thursday morning, was part of an attempt to understand what needs could be met if a stand-alone police agency had the support of the county’s 800-person team.
“Day to day, it’s probably something most realized by the police officers working the street,” said Lieutenant Chad Gaidos with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
“In terms of supervisory capacity and additional back up, those are really things a person working on the street is going to feel.”
Fairview police will also have a full-time public information officer.
Whether Fairview police will be dispersed to serve the entire county or just the city of Fairview, will depend on union contracts, Gaido said.
All Fairview police department employees will be sworn in July 31, and no jobs will be eliminated as a result of the merger.
Gaidos says these kinds of mergers are common in the Portland Metro area. Clackamas and Washington Counties have similar contracts with cities.
“A lot of times for a small city, the budgetary load that comes from fleet and training and the specialty services that are needed to support a police organization can be very costly,” said Gaidos.
“When you’re able to merge and streamline some of those high-level processes then it becomes much more efficient for more police officers to be on the street ultimately.”
