Category Public Safety
Salem Police Chief Moore retiring
Salem Police Chief Jerry Moore (Courtesy/City of Salem) Salem Police Department’s top officer will begin winding down his four-decade career. Chief Jerry Moore announced Thursday he plans to retire Nov. 30, according to a press release from the city of Salem. He will continue to…
Wildfire council releases report detailing $4 billion in investment
The Governor’s Council on Wildfire Response met Thursday for its final meeting. (Sam Stites/ Oregon Capitol Bureau) After revealing last month that it will take $4 billion to improve the state’s ability to respond to catastrophic wildfires, Gov. Kate Brown’s Council on Wildfire Response on…
Finding police orders unjustified, Supreme Court reverses conviction
(Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons) Determining that police need more than a “hunch” to stop citizens, the Oregon Supreme Court has reversed a man’s conviction of interfering with a peace officer. The decision, issued last week, could affect encounters between police and the public as well as how…
Appeals court denies Bend teacher’s worker compensation claim after parking lot fall
(Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons) SALEM – A teacher injured in a fall in a Bend elementary school parking lot isn’t eligible for workers compensation because she was not on the clock at the time of the accident. That’s the conclusion of the Oregon Court of Appeals in…
Seeking to curb ICE courthouse arrests, immigrant advocates push for new court rule
Leland Baxter-Neal, staff attorney with the ACLU of Oregon, and Nadia Dahab, an attorney working with Innovation Law Lab, make their case for a new court rule aimed restricting ICE arrests at state courthouses. (Jake Thomas/Salem Reporter) SALEM – Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would…
Gunman opens fire outside bar, kills one; police planning to boost Salem patrols
A Salem police evidence marker indicates a possible bullet hole from an early Sunday shooting on Aug. 18 on Northeast Pine Street that killed a woman and hospitalized a man. (Salem Reporter/Aubrey Wieber) Nearly 12 hours after a fatal shooting, several eyewitnesses stood out front…
Cops, officials preview new Salem police HQ as construction hits turning point
Salem’s Deputy Chief Steve Bellshaw, right, leads a tour of officers through the site. The building is slated to open September 2020, officials said. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Three Salem Police Department officers stood at the foot of a hulking, concrete frame on Friday. It will…
Ex-Salem cop who fled charges in Oregon arrested in Florida
Seth Thayres, in red, pictured while volunteering with cadets in Gulfport, Fla. The former Salem Police Department officer was arrested Tuesday by U.S. Marshals in nearby Clearwater, Fla. (Courtesy of Seth Thayres) Former Salem cop-turned-fugitive Seth Thayres is back in jail, the U.S. Marshals said…
Updated: 2-year-old girl hospitalized with gunshot wound
Update 5:30 p.m. Thursday: A 2-year-old Salem girl shot Wednesday night remains in critical condition at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, the Salem Police Department said Thursday evening. The girl was shot inside her home Wednesday night, police said. No arrests have been made and the investigation…