Westlund Announces Plan to Restore Police Patrols on State’s Highways

Westlund says $70 Million in Dedicated Funding Per Biennium Would Restore 24/7 State Police Patrols.

Senator Ben Westlund is running for the office of Oregon Governor Photo by: Tim King

(Bend) - Senator Ben Westlund (I-Bend), Independent candidate for Governor, today announced his plan to create a dedicated fund to restore twenty-four hour, seven day-a-week police patrols on Oregon’s highways.

He says the plan would generate $70 million each biennium specifically for Oregon State Police patrols by adding a small State Police surcharge to some fees paid to the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

“While we all agree that restoring twenty-four hour patrols on our highways is important, promising to do so without an actual plan to fund it sells our State Police short and places our citizens at risk,” said Westlund. “Making sure we have the funding to keep our highways safe impacts every Oregonian.”

According to the Oregon State Police, the number of State Police patrols on Oregon’s highways has decreased by nearly half since 1979 despite the fact that the number of registered vehicles has increased significantly.

Additionally, State Troopers since 9/11 face a host of new security challenges and must be specially trained and equipped to meet new emerging threats.

“Every time a politician promises to deliver a new program or increase funding to solve a problem they should be forced to answer how they will pay for it,” added Westlund. “My plan clearly shows how we would pay to double trooper strength statewide without diverting one cent from priorities such as education and healthcare.”

Westlund was recently endorsed by the Association of Oregon Corrections Employees (AOCE) where Bryan Goodman, President of the AOCE, explained that Ben “can see the direction Oregon needs to take in protecting public safety needs.”

Westlund does have a record when it comes to support for public safety and law enforcement. He was the chief sponsor for the Public Safety Memorial Fund in 1999 (HB 2391), which provides assistance to families of fallen police officers and firefighters, and was a strong advocate for workplace safety requirements for police and firefighters in 2005 (SB 321).

Westlund also supports the prevention of crime through funding programs like Oregon Youth Challenge that work to change at-risk youth into productive citizens.