DPSST Stakeholder Update - April 15, 2020

COVID-19 on the OPSA Campus: Last Wednesday (4/8), the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) contacted DPSST confirming positive COVID-19 tests for individuals known to have been on the Oregon Public Safety Academy (OPSA) campus prior its closure on March 17. Since passing that information on to our partners, we had a handful of calls and emails asking for additional information or clarification. To continue our efforts of transparency, we wanted to share the questions being asked and our general responses.

Who? When? Where? Unfortunately there is no additional information to share regarding the positive cases, and based on our discussion with OHA, we don’t expect any additional information. The only information OHA was able to share was that there were three, possibly four individuals who had engaged in training on the OPSA campus who have tested positive for COVID-19. Under HIPPA, we were denied information about who the individuals were, if they were roommates, where they worked, when they were tested, or what training course they were engaged in. We weren't even able to glean if they were DPSST students, or students/employees from other agencies engaged in training on campus. We also don’t know why it took OHA so long to make the notification to our agency. (At the time of the OHA notification last Wednesday, all training had been suspended on campus for three and a half weeks.)

Who was notified? Even though the notification from OHA was for an exposure that occurred several weeks ago, we felt we had an obligation to pass the information along as soon as we received it, which is what we did. Our notification went out to anyone who may have been on our campus the month before it was closed, including:

o   All DPSST Staff and OPSA Tenants via email;

o   All APTs and role players via email through Amber Preble;

o   All students and employers of students of classes on campus, or classes that had been on campus in February or March through the respective class coordinator;

o   All potentially affected OYA staff and students through Dallas Tulley;

o   All potentially affected OSP staff and students through Capt. Judah;

o   All criminal justice agency heads via GovDelivery and OSSA and OACP listservs

o   All subscribers of the CJ LE administration, CJ training, Tele administration, and Tele training GovDelivery lists;

o   Aramark employees through Josh Bonds;

o   Board and Committee members via email through Mona Riesterer;

o   DOC employees of OSCI and SCI through the respective Superintendents;

o   The Governor’s office and DAS through Eriks (as information only),

o   Attendees and instructors of Winter Fire School through Barb Slinger;

o   Subscribers to the Fire GovDelivery list;

o   All attendees of on-campus private security or private investigator courses through Suzy Herring;

o   All subscribers of the PS, PI and Polygraph GovDelivery lists; and

o   The event coordinator on record for any outside event that occurred on campus from Feb 15th through Mar 17th through Kayla Smith.

o   Any contractor who was on campus through Facilities; and

o   Anyone who may have been staying in the dorms who wasn’t affiliated with an on-campus event.

What do I do following a possible exposure? The advice from OHA following a possible exposure is exactly the same advice OHA is giving anyone who wasn’t exposed - wash your hands, socially distance, self-monitor for symptoms, and stay home if you’re sick. Our campus has been closed for over three weeks. If someone was on campus prior to the closure and hasn’t shown symptoms, the confirmation of cases on the OPSA campus shouldn’t impact them. 

Why didn’t OPSA close sooner? The confirmation that the virus was present on our campus prior to the decision to cancel classes on March 17^th may cause some to question or criticize our decision to not close the Academy sooner. Please know that we were working off of the same information as everyone else at the time. DPSST followed the Governor's large group social distancing order which resulted in the cancellation of a Basic Police class graduation the previous Friday. That social distancing guidance was updated the following week, limiting groups to 25 people. That guidance coupled with the presence of a students on campus demonstrating flu-like symptoms, ultimately cemented the decision to suspend all academy training classes immediately.  

Were there sick students on campus prior to closing the OPSA campus? It is true that we had students on campus who were ill during the months of February and March – but it is not at all uncommon to have sick students on campus. There were two students who demonstrated flu-like symptoms who saw medical professionals. Both were told by medical staff they did not have COVID (though they were not tested) and both were told to return to the Academy and self-monitor. These students were given no orders to quarantine. DPSST sought advice from the Marion County Health Authority and was told to do nothing beyond encouraging self-monitoring.

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We hope this additional clarification provides some piece of mind. If you’d have other questions or concerns about these events, please let us know.

Basic/Leadership Criminal Justice Training: Training Division staff continue to develop a schedule that would allow DPSST to return fully to operational status once the statewide restrictions are loosened or lifted. Notifications and scheduling of venues and instructors will happen as soon as we have a solid date to work from. Planning has been done in recognition of the necessity for allowing students who were sent off campus in the middle of a training course an opportunity to acclimate prior to reengaging in their training, and also recognizes the need for increased flexibility given the impacts to and schedules of the student’s employers.  

Certification Maintenance Training: Professional Standards Division staff continue to explore long-term options to present to our governing Board that will allow for the reconciliation of maintenance training hours/cycles following the conclusion of this pandemic event. Much like the discussions about restarting training, our ability to line out specific plans is limited until we know when this pandemic event will be over. Regardless, we will keep our partners apprised as these discussions continue.

 

I'll end by again thanking everyone for their continued patience, flexibility and support. We will continue to use this platform to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information about DPSST’s operations and our plans for continuing to meet our agency’s mission. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns that are not being addressed, or if there is any other way we can be of assistance.

 

Stay safe,

Linsay Hale

Professional Standards/Interim Training Division Director

DPSST