Hillsboro Police Department

Infobox Police Department
name = Hillsboro Police Department

motto = Your Human Resource
established =
sworn = 115 [http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_78_or.html Table 78: Oregon: Full-time Law Enforcement Employees.] Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on October 31 2007.]
non-sworn = 35
CSO =
jurisdiction = City of Hillsboro
stations = 2 (plus 1 mobile)
jails =
helicopters =
policeboats =
chief = Lila Ashenbrenner
sheriff =
commissioner =
supervisor = Mark Bonnett
Chris Skinner
website = [http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/Police/ Hillsboro Police]

The Hillsboro Police Department (HPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the city of Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. HPD is a nationally accredited agency with 155 sworn officers on the force. As of July 2007, the chief is Lila Ashenbrenner, the agency's first female leader in the city of over 88,300 residents west of Portland, Oregon in Washington County. With 150 employees as of 2006, the department is the largest police force in the county and sixth largest in Oregon.

History

The Hillsboro Police Department grew to five employees in 1947, and expanded to 31 employees by 1976.Campbell, Rae Anne. Police Dept. operates on ideals. "The Hillsboro Argus", October 19 1976.] In 1980, officer Gerald H. Erickson became the only officer in the department to die in the line of duty. [The one hundred fifty -two Oregon law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. "Statesman Journal", September 9 2001.] The department hired Ron Louie as chief of police in 1992.Eckert, Kurt. [http://www.oregonlive.com/argus/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1181937220248320.xml&coll=6 Chief goes out, Chief comes in Hillsboro Police Chief Ron Louie expects a seamless transition when he is replaced by Deputy Chief Lila Ashenbrenner as of July 2.] "The Hillsboro Argus", June 15 2007.]

The department had grown to 54 sworn officers in 1994. [Frank, Ryan. Hillsboro Police patrol job market for qualified officers. "The Oregonian", June 8 2000.]

In 1995, Hillsboro police partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Intel Corporation to start the Oregon High-Tech Crime Team to investigate and prosecute computer based crimes. [Baker, Isaac. FBI Asks Oregon Group to Join in the Fight Against Cyber Crime. "The Oregonian", October 30 2000.] Intel donated $100,000 to the program. [Best force Intel can buy. "The Australian", August 6 1996.] By 1999, the department had seven officers assigned to the team. [Huffstutter, P.J. Tech firms pay police agencies to fight cyber crime; law enforcement: Intel funds sheriff’s unit that chases computer pirates. Some fear conflict of interest. "Los Angeles Times", July 26 1999.] In 2003, the unit was dissolved after 93 arrests and the recovery of $208 million, after private funding ended and a new FBI lab was opened. [Frank, Ryan. Hillsboro’s cybercrime unit breaks up. "The Oregonian", November 3 2003. ]

The department became the first police agency in Oregon to collect racial information from traffic stops in May 2000.Steves, David. Oregon House Approves Bill to Study Police Stops for Racial Profiling. "The Register Guard", April 13 2001.] Bernstein, Maxine. Data on police traffic stops sit incomplete and unused. "The Oregonian", May 9 2004.] The information was collected to train officers to not target minority groups. Hillsboro PD examines the data monthly to analyze any numbers that appear disproportionate to Census data. By 2001, the department offered increase pay for officers who could speak Spanish. [Greenblatt, Alan. Police officers primed en Espanol. "Governing Magazine", April 2001.] In 2006, police chief Ron Louie and one other officer were appointed to a six-person, state-wide task force to analyze racial profiling along with the American Civil Liberties Union’s top person in the state, and former Oregon Supreme Court justice Edwin J. Peterson. [The cast; Listening Post. "Statesman Journal", February 19 2006.]

The department established a mediation program in 1997. [http://www.law.uoregon.edu/alumni/ol/olupdate2007.pdf RESOLUTION: Learning the skills.] "Oregon Lawyer", update 2007.] That program reached its goal of providing 32 hours of formal training for its entire workforce, becoming the first law enforcement agency in the United States accomplish this task. HPD has documented that mediation can lead to fewer repeat calls to police from those involved in disputes. [Cooper, Christopher. Training Patrol Officers to Mediate Disputes. "The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin", February 1 2000.]

In December 2001, the department took issue with the appropriateness of some of the questions in the United States Department of Justice’s anti-terrorism interviews that followed the September 11 attacks. [Correction * A Sunday commentary article listed Hillsboro. "The Oregonian", December 5 2001.] HPD became nationally accredited in 2004; and regionally accredited in 2008 by the Oregon Accrediiation Alliance.

In 2003 officer Lila Ashenbrenner became the first woman in the department with a command position. Danks, Holly. Ever-watchful pioneer. "The Oregonian", August 4 2003.] At that time women made up 19% of the 106 officer force. On July 2 2007, Ashenbrenner would become the departments first female chief of police when Louie retired. Prior chiefs of police include M. E. DeRock (1947-77), Herman Woll (1977-1991), [Anderson, David R. Former Hillsboro police chief dies. "The Oregonian", October 5 2001.] and Ron Louie (1992-2007).

In 1997, a police dog on the force was shot and killed in the line of duty, and in 2007 Hondo Dog Park was built by the city and named in honor of the fallen canine.Diehl, Angella Foret. New bark park has room to run. "The Oregonian", September 14 2007.]

Operations

HPD operates two stations, a West Precinct located in downtown on 10th Street near the Washington/Southeast 12th Avenue MAX Station. The Tanasbourne Precinct is located in the Tanasbourne neighborhood on the city’s eastside. [ [http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/Police/Emergency.aspx Hillsboro Police: Contact Us.] City of Hillsboro. Retrieved on October 5 2007.] Divisions include a patrol unit, detectives, emergency response team created in 1993, K-9 units, reserve units, and a Citizen's Enhancement Team, amongothers. [ [http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/Police/Departments.aspx Hillsboro Police: Departments.] City of Hillsboro. Retrieved on October 5 2007.] The department utilizes automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles in its enforcement mission. Some detectives and staff drive hybrid vehicles, as HPD's part in helping the City of Hillsboro go "green."

The department employs non-lethal weapons such as a special launcher that fires paintball-like pepper balls to incapacitate suspects. [Frank, Ryan. Police add pepper guns to nonlethal arsenal. "The Oregonian", January 22 2002.] To reduce repeat calls for service, the department utilizes a mediation program that trains every member of the department. The department also utilizes police cadets to perform tasks that may otherwise take up the time of full time officers. These tasks include participating in community events, traffic details, officer ride-a-longs, and graffiti clean up. [ [http://www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/police/documents/CadetBrochure.pdf Police Cadet Brochure.] City of Hillsboro. Retrieved on November 6 2007.]

ee also

*List of law enforcement agencies in Oregon
*Hillsboro Civic Center

References

External links

* [http://www.hpdlife.com HPD's (Un)official Website]
* [http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=842&issue_id=32006 The Police Chief]
* [http://www.odmp.org/officer/4623-reserve-officer-gerald-h.-erickson Fallen officer Gerald H. Erickson]