Category Public Safety
Salem saw fewer murders, serious assaults, thefts in 2025, new report shows
A new report from the Salem Police Department shows that many types of crime, including violent assaults, homicides and car thefts, dropped in 2025. The department is crediting some of the decrease in violent crime to community-led work to address and prevent shootings.
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Oregon lawmakers propose criminal penalties for alarming, threatening public officials
Threats of violence against local and national public officials have climbed nationwide, including multiple high-profile bomb threats in Oregon.
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Targeting debunked forensics, Oregon lawmakers propose narrowed wrongful conviction bill
State Sen. Kim Thatcher, who represents north Salem and Keizer, is among the backers of a measure to allow people convicted based on junk science to have their cases reviewed.
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Judge restricts warrantless ICE arrests in Oregon, finding threat of ‘severe harm’
A federal judge on Wednesday found “broad-reaching dragnet, sweeping approaches” will continue to force people who would otherwise not be targets to be “caught up again and again” by federal immigration officers.
Salem man charged with murder for the killing of his mother
Aaron White, 43, is accused of stabbing his mother in their northeast Salem home. He was committed to the Oregon State Hospital after being found unable to assist in his defense in an unrelated criminal case last year.
City officials condemn use of illegal force after reports of federal agents injuring resident
In a statement on Monday, the city of Salem called for Oregon’s federal policymakers to work to protect immigrants after reports that federal agents pulled a Salem resident and U.S. citizen from her car, injuring her, last Thursday. The Salem Police Department said it did not respond to the scene because the call to dispatch came in after the fact.
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U.S. citizen injured by federal agents in Salem who demanded to see “papers,” union says
A home care worker and union worker was pulled from her car and injured by federal agents Thursday according to a statement by SEIU 503.
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COLUMN: Salem’s Community Emergency Response Team needs you
Mark Wardell, the leader of West Salem’s Community Emergency Response Team, explains why and how you should get trained to aid your neighborhood in disaster.
5 takeaways: Salem’s new ambulance system financially stable, more reliable, after 6 months
Salem Fire Chief David Gerboth told Salem city councilors Monday that the city’s new ambulance system is both financially and operationally healthy with improved service and stable revenues.
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