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| OSP Central Point Fish & Wildlife Troopers Selected as 2006 "Team of the Year" | ||
| 04/06/2007 | ||
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Captain Walt Markee Director - Fish & Wildlife Division Office: (503) 378-3725 ext. 4300  (Pictured are (left to right standing) Sergeant Kirk Meyer, Senior Trooper Mike Cushman, Senior Trooper Jeff Allison and Senior Trooper Jeff Thompson. (left to right kneeling) Trooper Jim Collom, Senior Trooper DeWayne Price and Southwest Region Lieutenant David Gifford) Fish and wildlife enforcement troopers from the Oregon State Police (OSP) Central Point Area Command office were recipients of the first presentation of the division's "Team of the Year" award for 2006. Captain Walt Markee, OSP Fish & Wildlife Division Director, made the surprise presentation Friday at the OSP Central Point office. "The OSP Fish & Wildlife Division has implemented a new program celebrating and recognizing the outstanding team work by our troopers in protecting Oregon's natural resources," said Captain Markee. "We recently recognized one of our troopers with the presentation of the "Trooper of the Year" award for 2006, but just as important is the team work done by our troopers at our individual offices in conducting fish and wildlife enforcement efforts." The OSP Fish & Wildlife Division personnel at the Central Point office are supervised by Sergeant Kirk Meyer. Team members are Senior Trooper DeWayne Price, Senior Trooper Jeff Thompson, Senior Trooper Mike Cushman, Senior Trooper Jeff Allison, and Trooper Jim Collom. This experienced group has 98 years of total law enforcement service. During 2006, the OSP Central Point Fish & Wildlife Division team investigated 370 complaints, issued over 450 violation citations, and checked more than 3200 hunters and anglers in the field. Highlights of some of the cases developed by these troopers include: • A deer poaching ring investigation in the Eagle Point area that was broken up following a two month long investigation into trophy deer being illegally spotlighted and killed in the Rogue Valley. An investigation described by one of the troopers as "the grossest, most disgusting type of poaching I've ever seen", led to a total of 130 charges, including 23 felonies, brought to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office against 8 suspects. • An investigation into the killing of four beef cows east of Medford that resulted in the conviction of a Medford man on two felony charges. • Assisting Washington Fish & Game officers with an investigation of a Medford-area man found elk hunting in Washington. Many antlers from poached deer and a set of elk antlers were seized. • A deer poaching investigation led to the recovery of 9 sets of poached deer antlers and some methamphetamine that led to the suspect being lodged on several felony and misdemeanor charges. • Camping out in remote areas to work High Cascade buck deer season and road closures, and interagency assistance during the Diamond Lake Restoration Project and Kim family search effort. Criteria for the award included professionalism, dedication to citizens and natural resources of our State, and team work ethic. Nominations received from the three OSP region lieutenants were reviewed to choose the team award winner. The primary responsibility of the Fish & Wildlife Division is enforcement of fish, wildlife, and commercial fishing laws and protection of natural resources. The members of the Fish and Wildlife Division also enforce traffic, criminal, boating, livestock and environmental protection laws in addition to responding to emergency situations. Additional information about the OSP Fish & Wildlife Division is available on our Department web site at http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/FW/index.shtml. ### www.oregon.gov/OSP ###
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