The Benton County Sheriff’s Office increased deputy patrols, responded to more emergency calls and made more DUI arrests in 2023. It also booked nearly double the number of people into the jail compared to the previous year.
Sheriff Jeff Van Arsdal said his deputies led the charge, with 194 drunk driving arrests last year, up nearly 30% from the previous year, and following a particularly deadly 2022, which saw six fatal crashes.
“That number has grown to nearly 200, and the death toll has been cut by almost half,” Van Arsdal said by phone earlier this month. “Patrolmen have taken it personally.”
Van Arsdal called the campaign “Enough is Enough” and decided to dedicate extra patrol shifts and police cars to target drivers who appear intoxicated.
“At that time, I authorized overtime and traffic monitors to specifically look for drunk drivers,” Van Arsdal said.
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Twelve drivers have been killed in accidents in Benton County in 2022, including 47-year-old Andrea Thornberry, a civic leader from Corvallis, making it the deadliest year for accidents in more than two decades.
The sheriff’s annual report was released Thursday, June 13th.
This year may not be much better: Benton County is on track for an upward trend in fatal crashes in 2024, with an average of one fatality expected per month through mid-June, matching last year’s total for the six-month period, according to preliminary crash data from the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Arrest, booking
Sheriff’s deputies booked 946 people into the county jail in 2022. The following year, the inmate population increased to 1,402.
“I was kind of surprised at the total number of bookings,” Van Arsdal said.
That’s a 48 percent increase, which Van Arsdal attributes to more officers, improved response capabilities and an increase in 911 calls.
“It sounds very simple, but at the end of the day, people reported it,” Van Arsdal said. “What we’re hoping is that they’ll report it.”
The Benton County Jail charged and released 89 people without bond in 2022, about 9% of all inmates held that year. Van Arsdal said jail officials closed intakes 22 times that year, but the aging building’s two holding rooms and two waiting rooms were already full and couldn’t handle the additional arrests.
The jail holds people arrested by state police or Oregon State University’s Department of Public Safety in Corvallis, Philomath and in North Albany in Benton County.
Van Arsdal’s office also rents dozens of cells in jails in Linn, Polk and Wasco counties, and sheriff’s deputies transport detainees to the Benton jail when it is full.
Then, in 2023, prisons across Oregon adopted new standards for evaluating and releasing people in custody.
“So we’re seeing a decline in prison populations across the state of Oregon,” Van Arsdal said.
Benton County arrested 1,663 people in 2023, an increase of about 19% from the previous year. The department released 24% of the 1,402 people it arrested that year under the state’s new guidelines.
Van Arsdal said five deputies have been hired in the past two years, bringing the law enforcement department’s staffing to 38. The sheriff’s office is budgeted at $47 million for the two-year budget that began in July, which represents a 15% increase over the 2021-2023 county budget period.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office saw an 11.5% increase in calls to deputies, with about 20,300 calls.
Van Arsdal said there are more sheriffs on the payroll and more jail retirees, meaning more officers are available to patrol the city.
“If we see someone walking down the street who we know has an arrest warrant, that’s where we need to put extra vigilance,” Van Arsdal said.
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Alex Powers covers agribusiness, Benton County, the environment and the city of Lebanon for Mid-Valley Media. Call 541-812-6116 or tweet @OregonAlex.
