Most OR police reform laws don’t impact PPD

By Terry Murry on Thursday, August 12th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

PENDLETON – The Oregon Legislature passed a package of police reform measures, but Pendleton Police Chief Chuck Byram says they will have little to no impact on how his officers do their jobs.

“There’s not much out there that’s really affecting us right now, but that doesn’t mean that’s not going to happen come next round,” Byram said.

The laws include standardized background checks, which is the responsibility of the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. There’s also a duty to report within 72 hours requirement if a police officer witnesses misconduct from another officer.

“It’s already built within our policies that officers are required to report misconduct,” he said. “If they don’t do that, they are liable as well.”

Byram noted that some of the changes specify they apply to larger cities only, and some are changes at jails, which PPD does not operate. One law requires CPR training, which Pendleton already does. It adds that police should also be trained in airway and circulatory anatomy and physiology training.

“This is great,” he said. “There’s just more information for them and we can plug that into the CPR training.”