Sandy's police force at full staff
Newest officer hired began training Monday at Oregon law enforcement academy
Jim Hart / Sandy Post
Before he joins a Sandy police training officer for the graveyard shift last week, newly sworn officer Sam Craven stands beside a local police car.
Sam Craven, recently sworn in as Sandy’s newest police officer, is an outdoorsman. That’s why he is excited to have been hired in Sandy.
A native of eastern Clackamas County, Craven grew up near the Clackamas River outside of Damascus.
His aspirations to become a law enforcement officer were piqued during a career search after he graduated from George Fox University with a major in history and minor in Spanish.
That career search began after he returned from his job of several summers on-board a charter fishing boat.
While researching careers, Craven discovered that among the things appealing to him about a career in law enforcement was being trained to act in situations that local residents would not encounter.
He also likes the idea of teamwork – working alongside other people who have received similar training.
“Law enforcement officers are always learning,” he said, “learning to stay current with the changing realities, changing laws.”
Craven’s closest encounter with law enforcement was as a teenager, when he worked with the Oregon State Police checking businesses’ compliance with tobacco laws.
A couple of years ago, as soon as he thought he wanted to be an officer of the law, he started reading about the career and did a lot of ride-alongs. He had to prove his interest to himself at ground zero.
“Those ride-alongs confirmed to me that this is something I wanted to do,” he said.
Besides the training aspect of his new career, Craven loves the idea of investigating the unknown. Let’s just say he’s curious and wants answers.
“This is about the need to look into what’s going on around you,” he said. “A lot of law enforcement, as I see it, is proactive.”
He called it a challenge to find out who is involved in illegal activity and prevent it from happening again.
He’s looking forward to four months of full-time attendance at the law enforcement academy near Salem. He begins that part of his training Monday, Nov. 16.
Of special interest is firearm training, since he is a hunter and already has some knowledge.
“This (training) should broaden an area of my expertise,” he said.
When he returns to Sandy next spring, he’ll begin four months of field training, which involves ride-alongs with training officers, before he is allowed to serve alone.
According to Police Chief Harold Skelton, Craven received high praise after the exhaustive testing, which included general knowledge, physical, reasoning, comprehension, psychological, face-to-face verbal questioning and background checks.
Craven is looking forward to living in the Sandy area, and should be looking for a home in March or April – as soon as he graduates from the academy.
“It seems like this is a good community,” he said.
“I have always liked this area. I grew up less than 10 miles from here, and I like a lot of outdoor stuff. I like being outside of Portland; I don’t like the big city.”