Ethan Hoagland
Sweet Home residents will start to see two new police officers about town. The New Era sat down with each of them to learn what brought them to our community. One of them might be familiar to some: Officer Mark Birkett. But first, let’s meet the newest face in town: Officer Jayson Sanchez.
Meet Officer Jayson
Sanchez
Jayson Sanchez, 22, grew up in Los Angeles and came to the Sweet Home Police Department with a mission: to bridge the rift between young people and police.
“Definitely different than Linn County,” Sanchez said of his time growing up in LA. “As far as law enforcement goes, law enforcement was not positive where I grew up. And I was looking to go into that career field as a kid. It already presented a challenge at a young age.”
When Sanchez and his family first arrived in Linn County in 2016, they moved to Lebanon where Sanchez later took a remote accounting job with Samaritan Health Services’ corporate office. Keeping the books wasn’t enough to engage Sanchez’s desire to take a more active role in his community.
“You kind of have more of a position to help somebody,” Sanchez said.
It’ll be a few months before Sanchez is out on patrol. He still needs to complete the state’s police academy, which he will start in January. Between now and then, Sanchez will focus on learning the ins and outs of policing in Sweet Home.
“Before I go to academy in January, I have to do my training here, kinda knowing policies, laws, things like that. Watching officers, observing how they interact with the public, do stops,” Sanchez said. “Once I go to academy I’ll come back, go on the road and then have a training officer with me. And then once they think I’m ready, I’ll go solo.”
Sanchez knew he had options when it came to finding the right department for him. A ride-along with Officer Daniel Gerkman helped Sanchez make his choice.
“When I did my ride-along with Sweet Home, Officer Gerkman was my officer that was taking me along, and he just kinda showed me that Sweet Home was a place where they care about their officers,” he said. “They care about their community, they definitely make an effort more than I’ve seen in other departments and I just feel like they were more personal.”
Sanchez is eager to bring his own personal touch to police work as one of the youngest officers in the Sweet Home Police Department.
“I think what I wanted to do mainly is helping youth,” Sanchez said. “Growing up I didn’t really have a role model. My dad wasn’t too much in the picture, so I kinda wanna be that positive force for youth coming up. If they feel like they don’t have somebody to talk to, I want to be there for them. Just if it’s to talk about their day, if school is going bad or something like that, I want to be that person they can come to.”
On top of his age, Sanchez plans to use his roots as a way to build connections with Sweet Home community members.
“I also bring a perspective of growing up in a place with a population of over three, four million people,” Sanchez said. “It’s a trend to not like police or law enforcement, so I bring that perspective. I understand. Hoping I can bring that, work with community and kind of bring us together.”
Sweet Home isn’t just an opportunity for Sanchez to exercise his passion for community through police work. With the South Santiam River running through town, it’s also a place where Sanchez can dig into his love for fishing.
“I’m a big fisherman, I love going to the river. There’s a bunch of locals there I know, everyone’s super friendly.”
Sanchez said his biggest catch is a 15 pounds, 6 ounces salmon he caught at Wiley Creek.
“I just want to thank everyone for giving me this opportunity,” Sanchez said. “I’m excited.”
Meet Officer Mark
Birkett
Of course, some folks in town may have already done just that. Birkett has spent 18 years in law enforcement, inspired by his father’s own 24 years as a police officer. He grew up on the south side of Chicago. After Birkett turned 14, his father moved the family to rural Indiana. Following his father’s footsteps, he joined the police department at Gary, Ind.
“Great place to be a cop,” Birkett said. In the 90’s, Gary became known as the murder capital of the U.S. “Even just in patrol, you learn every aspect of law enforcement. It’s pretty amazing.”
It was the rural aspects of Indiana Birkett was most fond of, so when the beckoning of the Pacific Northwest became too strong to ignore, he set his sights on Sweet Home.
“I actually moved out here in 2013 and I was hired directly into the Sweet Home Police Department.”
He was hired while Bob Burford was still police chief, and worked with current chief Jason Ogden while Ogden was still a sergeant. From there, he moved on to the Linn County Sheriff’s office for seven years. Birkett said the SHPD’s current leadership played a key role in his decision to return.
“In 18 years, I’ve developed a pretty keen sense as to whether an administration is good or bad,” Birkett said. “I’ve worked with Jason Ogden before. He was my sergeant. I know he’s a good leader. Same with Ryan Cummings, the captain here. I’ve worked with him before. I know he’s a good leader. They’re both respected, they both genuinely care about the well-being of the officers, the community. There’s nothing fake about them.”
While the Linn County Sheriff’s Office could offer things like the marine division and mountain patrol, Birkett said working for SHPD offers him the exact speed of law enforcement he enjoys.
“In 18 years I have filled nearly every role in law enforcement that you can. And I’ve always come back to patrol. I enjoy patrol the most,” Birkett said. “I’m not looking for rank. I’m not looking to go into any other divisions. I enjoy patrol and the day-to-day interaction with the public.”
Hiring Birkett is a major win for SHPD because he’s a lateral hire, meaning he won’t have to go through the state’s Department of Public Safety Standards and Training academy. He’s the first lateral hire since the city of Sweet Home approved a new contract with the police department aimed at making SHPD more competitive. Officers who don’t have to go through the full DPSST academy qualify for an $8,000 hiring incentive, with $3,000 on the first check and an additional $5,000 after a year of probation.
“Sweet Home has always struggled to compete with other agencies. So yeah, I feel this new contract is definitely an incentive. I think it will attract more laterals. And it’s important to stay competitive with other agencies,” Birkett said. “That’s part of what lured me back here as well.”
Even while serving as a Linn County deputy, Birkett never lost his love for the Sweet Home area.
“The lakes, the mountains – I think it’s just one of the most beautiful cities around,” he said.
He believes there’s a lot of potential in Sweet Home, potential he wants to be a part of.
If he’s not patrolling, one of Birkett’s favorite things to do is take his pontoon out to Green Peter with his family. While he loves getting to interact with the community face to face, the pontoon offers Birkett a different peace.
“That’s one of the advantages to this schedule. A lot of people say ‘Oh I wouldn’t wanna be a cop, you gotta work on weekends,’ things like that. But I actually enjoy working weekends because when I’m off Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ve got the lake to myself.”
Both officers made their official start on Monday, Oct. 30. Sweet Home City Manager Kelcey Young swore them in during the Oct. 24 city council meeting attended by their families.