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"Sheriff" Skipper Skips School Multnomah County Sheriff Bob Skipper failed his police certification course. Skipper had been retired for 13 years until he replaced Sheriff Bernie Giusto in 2008 (PPR #46). The position of Sheriff requires that an individual keep their police certification current. In order for Skipper to be re-certified, he has to pass the certification test and go through basic training again. Skipper, 70, was unable to get a waiver for the standard requirements from the Department of Public Safety and Security Training. A clause was added to state Senate Bill 344 to specifically exempt Skipper. The clause waives the physical requirements for the certification of a sheriff "who has served at least 25 years as a police officer in Oregon, retired from law enforcement under honorable conditions, held state executive- level certification, [and] served as elected sheriff for at least four years." The clause sunsets in six months, in case it was unclear for whom this exception was made. The Portland Tribune wrote an editorial in favor of this exception: "Skipper won't be chasing crooks ... Rather, he'll be balancing budgets, directing his management staff and administering the county jails" (May 28). When Skipper first took the (open book!) written test on June 26, however, he flunked with a score of 66 percent, 9 points shy of the 75 percent needed to pass. He said, "I hadn't spent time refreshing myself at all on [Oregon statutes]. As a result, I will carry my [Oregon code book] in my back pocket until I go back and retest again" (Oregonian, July 1). He failed again with just 70 points in July, meaning he will be heading to basic training in October (Oregonian, July 24). |
September, 2009
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#48 Table of Contents
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