Records & communications Division

The Records/Communications Division is responsible for the management of all records of the department in regard to the activities of the department in its law enforcement functions. Additionally the Florence Police Department houses the West Lane County Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) 911 Dispatch Center. This is where all 911 phones calls are received for the western region of Lane County.

Mission Statement:

To provide all people in Western Lane County with prompt, professional, competent and courteous access to public safety services and referral to social service agencies. We seek to enhance the quality of life by efficiently handling 911 calls and all other calls for service to help save lives, protect property, enhance the quality of life, reduce crime and educate our patrons.

Organizational Values

• We value the life and safety of individuals who live, work, play or visit the area covered by West Lane Communications.
• We value compassion and courtesy in all of our contacts
• We value integrity reflected in the manner in which we perform our duties with competence and diligence
• We value the quality of service we render to our user agencies
• We value accountability for our actions and decisions
• We value professional, well-trained and committed employees
• We value individual and organization honesty
• We value a supportive environment that benefits the individual while engendering strong work teams.

Records

Managing police records is an extremely detailed and extensive responsibility to discharge. All reports that are created within the department by the officers must be filed and stored for ease in retrieval. Copies of reports must also be disseminated to the Municipal Court, to the City Prosecutor, and to the District Attorney’s office and other interested parties as required. The Records/Communications staff also enters and clear arrest warrants whenever they are received or whenever they are served by an arresting police officer.

Copies of reports must be prepared and disseminated to the public when not exempted under the Oregon Open Records Law. Requests for copies of a police report are usually handled within 24 business hours providing the report is cleared for release. Requests for reports must be made either in person or by mail with the fees enclosed. The fees charged to the public for this service as follows:

• Computer Aided Dispatch Incident Printout • Crime/Arrest Reports • Audio Tapes • Video Tapes • Copies of Citations

$5.00 $10.00 $10.00 $25.00 $5.00

If a search of records requires going back into archives and making copies, we charge the hourly rate of the Chief Communications Officer Kim Greenwood in addition to the cost of the individual reports. Inquires as to these costs should be directed to the Chief Communications Officer who is the Custodian of Records at (541) 997-3515.

Communications

The West Lane County Public Safety Answering Point for 9-1-1 provides twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week public safety emergency dispatch service, and is the focal point for the 911 telephone system. Dispatching is handled by one to two radio console positions which operate 24x7 and dispatch Siuslaw Fire and Rescue, West Lane Ambulance, the Tribal Police for the Confederated Tribes, Mapleton Fire, Swisshome-Deadwood Fire, and the Florence Police Department.

The responsibilities of the Communications Officers who staff these radio consoles include emergency medical and fire dispatch, emergency police dispatch, routine police dispatch, counter reception, computer entry of all calls for service and records searches in the various computer systems available, statewide teletype communications, jail monitoring, communications coordination between agencies, and miscellaneous essential clerical tasks.

The current authorized positions are 6 Communications Officers and 1 Chief Communications Officer, Kim Greenwood.