First, as a 43-year law enforcement veteran of law enforcement and a long-time law enforcement administrator, I grieve for Mr. Floyd’s senseless death and my heart goes out to him, his family, friends, and associates.
Secondly, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) strives every day to protect and serve the great citizens of our jurisdiction and we have been careful to adopt policies, practices, techniques, tactics, and procedures with which to prevent unnecessary applications of force and to preserve life. We take each application of force and our encounters with the citizens we serve very seriously. We have attempted to espouse but also practice the principles of community-oriented policing by learning about the people we serve and applying solutions that arise in our communities in a fair, impartial, and professional way. Our organizational values reflect that – SCSO PRIDE, which means we strive to be professional, we respect others and treat them with dignity and respect; we practice integrity in all that we do, on and off-duty; we are dedicated to our citizens, our Department, and to the law enforcement profession, and we attempt to achieve excellence in all that we do. These are words and they must be practiced each and every day. As an organization, we strive to select the type of co-workers that have demonstrated the capacity and intention of espousing and practicing these values. We thoroughly screen applicants for employment, we test them, we evaluate them, and they undergo extensive psychological testing. We conduct 16-hours of racial and cultural diversity training in our Academy and we follow-up with the implementation of sound and stringent policies that reflect these tenets and principles. Trainees undergo a minimum 20-week field training officer program and they are tested thereafter each and every day through evaluations, leader observations, and if necessary accountability through re-training or disciplinary action. We attempt to hire a workforce that reflects the diversity of our county and we engage in proactive engagement in all communities through community liaison deputies, town halls, community meetings, and problem identification and problem solving.
Members of the SCSO are dedicated to the imperatives and tenets of fairness, equality, integrity, and professionalism in all that we do.
Mr. Floyd’s death was a tragedy and this Department is taking this opportunity to re-evaluate our policies, procedures, and methods of operation to determine if there is anything we can do better.
Serving the public is something that is more than a “buzz word” or tenet, it is believing in selfless service and practicing our organizational values each and every day. This Department, its leadership, and our co-workers are dedicated to these values and we strive each and every day to do a better job than the one before.
The death of Mr. Floyd illustrates the fact that it only takes one bad decision or ill-conceived action to lose the trust of the citizens we serve and that trust is something we have to earn every second, minute, hour, and day we wear the badge.
Again, on behalf of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office grieve the loss of Mr. Floyd but at the same time dedicate our lives and our purpose as law enforcement professionals to do our best and to prevent such a tragedy from happening here in Siskiyou County.
I think this is a good opportunity for all of us as citizens and as public servants to unite in a common cause to recognize we can do better but at the same time, constrain ourselves by protesting Mr. Floyd’s death in a meaningful way, free of violence, needless property damage, and destruction we have unfortunately seen in other parts of the state and nation. We stand united in a common cause to promote the very best for all of our citizens – To protect and to serve in such a way that everyone feels safe and trusts its law enforcement professionals and in peaceful protest we can more readily and justly honor the memory of Mr. George Floyd in a way that encourages and promotes meaningful dialogue and justifiable change in the hearts, minds, and actions of our citizens and all public servants.
Sheriff Jon E. Lopey, Sheriff-Coroner
Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office