Washington County sheriff's office outlines drones, body cameras and staffing gains; pauses ALPR rollout

The Washington County Sheriff's Office told residents it is stepping up community outreach and modernizing operations while pausing a controversial automated license-plate-reader rollout.

At a community forum, a sheriff's office spokesperson said the department distributes two newsletters and will be at local events this spring, including the Aloha Farmers Market, Bethany concerts and the county fair. "We usually bring some sort of fun vehicle, fun swag for kids and adults alike," the spokesperson said, offering copies of printed materials for attendees.

Sheriff's Office leadership highlighted several operational initiatives. An agency official described a Drone-as-First-Responder (DFR) pilot that places drones at centralized hubs so an unmanned aircraft can arrive ahead of a deputy to assess traffic crashes or other urgent calls. "A good example would be a traffic crash where this drone can get overhead in very little time, and let us know, hey, do we need fire trucks?" the official said.

Officials also said hiring has improved after a period of shortages. "We started to hire quality staff back," the agency official said, noting many new deputies are still in training. The department plans to expand the body-worn camera program into the jail to better document interactions across custody and patrol operations.

The official discussed an ongoing planning process for a long-term jail expansion, saying the county's facility is small by per-capita measures and that planning "won't happen overnight" but involves elected leaders and agency management.

On automatic license-plate readers (ALPRs), the sheriff's office said it has paused deployment while addressing technical issues and community concerns. "As of today, we have 0 automatic license plate readers out in the community working, but we are certainly looking towards that tech," an official said, adding the department pulled back to "work out all the bugs" and to meet public information needs.

The agency urged residents to be vigilant about phone scams that impersonate deputies. The official described recent scam calls that used real staff names and stressed that law enforcement will not call demanding money for warrants or jury duty. "Hang up on those folks, and we'll set you straight," the official said.

The sheriff's office closed by encouraging residents to contact them with questions and to register neighborhood requests for community events such as National Night Out.

The forum provided residents a chance to ask technical follow-ups about response-time metrics, mutual aid when a deputy is not close, and how drones, body cameras and staffing changes might affect service. Officials said some metrics (like travel times) draw on multiple data sources and that mutual aid across agencies remains an operational norm.

No formal policy actions were taken at the meeting; officials described ongoing trials and planning steps and invited continued public input.