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MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm Michael Dunne. If I were to ask you to imagine what a typical police chief looks like, chances are you wouldn't imagine Jami Resch Springfield's new top cop. And in some ways, that's the point. Resch, Springfield's first ever woman police chief, believes that by breaking the mold, it could certainly help recruit more women into the career of law enforcement. Today on the show you'll meet Resch, learn about her career and learn about her leadership style and the way she wants to enhance Springfield PD’s collaboration with the community. When recruiting for police officers is a challenge, locally and nationally, having a new voice at the top could go a long way toward bringing in new blood for the department. Jami Resch, the new Springfield Police Chief. Thanks so much for talking with us.
JAMI RESCH: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Why don't you give for folks that don't know you talk about your career in law enforcement?
JAMI RESCH: Okay, well, this is my 26th year in law enforcement. I did the vast majority so over 24 of those years with the City of Portland. And so, I started there in 1999 and I held just about every rank from officer all the way up to the chief of police, and then I retired as the Assistant Chief of investigations. And when I say I retired, I left after 24 years, so not quite all the way up to retirement.
MICHAEL DUNNE: What was it like being a much larger city, but also just doing all of those different jobs in a big city police department? What was that? How did that kind of inform your view of law enforcement, but how did it also prepare you for the top job in a city like Springfield?
JAMI RESCH: So, I mean, obviously working in a larger department, you experience more just based on the volume of things that happened. And I had the opportunity to experience a lot of really great things in my career, supervised different units, and was able to, you know, participate in a lot of great investigations. So, I think it did provide me a lot of experience to bring down here, some of which is applicable to Springfield, and some of which is not, but I think it did give me a wide variety of experiences.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Did you have a favorite kind of job? Did you enjoy investigations? Did you enjoy being on the street? Kind of talk about some of the things that really kind of informed who you are as a law enforcement professional?
JAMI RESCH: I think when I was an officer on patrol, I really enjoyed that. You know, it is very true that in policing, no two days are the same. So, every single day I came to work, you're not knowing what you're going to do, but you always have the ability to have an impact on someone. So, I enjoyed that part when I was an officer, when I moved more into a supervisory role, I enjoyed the ability I had then to make people's jobs better, to look for ways so that they enjoyed coming to work and so that they could do the things that they really liked and enjoyed. So I think I've enjoyed policing differently based on the roles that I've had. You know, I as a sergeant, a relatively new sergeant, I was able to supervise our gun Task Force. That was probably one of the most fun jobs that I had just because it was, it was very rewarding, it was very busy, but it also gave me a lot of experience as a relatively new supervisor as well.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Now that kind of leads nicely into my next question, which is, describe your leadership style? Obviously, you've, you've had so many jobs in law enforcement, again, you know now that you're the boss, talk about, sort of how you plan to be a leader for Springfield?
JAMI RESCH: I think leading in various capacities throughout my career, one of the things that I've learned, or probably what I feel is the most important thing, is that ability to listen. Right? You know, people want to be heard, so I try to do that as much as possible. Kind of, that style that I have is more collaborative when it's applicable. Obviously, times in law enforcement, we don't always have all of the time to sit around and see what everybody really wants to do, but I think if you outside of those times when that's not possible, if you take the time when it is possible to really sit down, listen to people, learn what they want, learn what they think would work, when you have to make those decisions that don't allow for that. There's less question about that, because they know who you are, they know your style, they know what they're going to expect. So, I try to, you know, lead as collaboratively as I can when, when it fits the situation.
MICHAEL DUNNE: What about when you're out in the community? Talk about ways in which you like to interact with. With business owners, with people on the streets, you know, with other leaders in the city, the mayor and council, that sort of thing?
JAMI RESCH: When I am out and about, I really appreciate that I've been invited to lots of different events to speak at since I've been down here in Springfield. And I like that. I like going into smaller events, talking with community members and just simply answering their questions. You know, if it's, you know, my history specifically, or whether it's law enforcement or things that I would like to see. I like those small group environments where it's just an open conversation. I feel like I have a really good relationship with our city manager, with the mayor, with the council. They've all been wonderful and welcoming since I've been here. They've all met with me. We've had conversations. I feel very supported. So, I feel like I can go out and talk to the community openly and honestly.
MICHAEL DUNNE: As I've learned about leadership positions in law enforcement, so much of it is about collaboration. Maybe talk a little bit about that, because obviously you need to collaborate with other law enforcement agencies as well as you just talked about the mayor, the council, the city manager, or just, you know, business districts and whatnot. Talk about that element of law enforcement.
JAMI RESCH: For sure, there's no one department, no one police department, that can do it all on their own, especially in smaller departments where we may have major incidents and that require our partner agencies to come in, whether that's Eugene the county and I think here we all work together because we know that. We know we are all not very large agencies here. We're not what's considered really small, but we definitely rely on each other, so we have to train together. We have to be able to communicate with each other. And that goes the same with other partners, whether that's, you know, Behavioral Health Partners, or other resource partners. It's that relationship that you build from the very beginning so that you know who to reach out to when you need a resource.
MICHAEL DUNNE: There are vulnerable populations in any city, and certainly in Springfield, people who live unhoused, plus we have such a crisis level of mental health challenges. Maybe talk a little bit about your philosophy in sort of policing those populations. But probably more important than policing just interacting with those populations?
JAMI RESCH: That's a really challenging aspect of police work. A lot of times you are called to a situation because of something maybe somebody has done, whether or not you know they've committed a crime, like, let's say, theft or something like that, and you'll show up to that situation. And we have a victim, right? A victim who wants something to be done. We also have a person who maybe has committed that crime because of something, whether that's mental health, whether that's addiction, whether that's a combination of both. So, the officers each day are trying to figure out what's the best answer to that problem. Is it a criminal justice answer? Is it a resource answer, whether or not that's a behavioral health partner, or if it's Cahoots, or if it's deflection, or another program like that? So, I think again, having those partnerships and then looking for what's the best short term and long-term solution. And over time, we've seen a lot of resources decline, I guess, as far as services that are available out there to folks. And what I want people to understand is officers are just looking for the right resource, the right way to address the problem, and so they are continually balancing that. When they're out there.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Your staff oftentimes is the last resort, and you have to do things which you may not, some of your officers, some of your staff, aren't necessarily trained to talk about that challenge.
JAMI RESCH: Oh, for sure. I mean, I think when you talk about that, like the social service aspect of policing, over my career, we have gotten so much more training in that, because you're correct. A lot of times we are the resource that is available at that moment. And so that's why we are looking to continually train in that. Because sometimes we are the only answer that is available. We're always looking for what resources we can add to or who we can work with at that moment? Because a lot of times law enforcement is not the correct answer, but at two o'clock in the morning, you know, we may be the only person that's able to respond, and we have to do that. So, our toolbox has greatly increased over my career.
MICHAEL DUNNE: And to that point, what makes a good law enforcement officer? What makes a good cop these days? Because in some ways, there is an element of jack of all trades with what you're going to deal with.
JAMI RESCH: I think people ask me that all the time when they ask about who am I trying to hire, you know? And I, some people, always wanted to be a police officer ever since they were little. Some people like myself, we just kind of happened into this career, and this is what I tell people. I am looking for good people. I can teach you police work, but I cannot teach you to be a good person. I am looking for people who come with integrity and with honesty and with the ability to make good decisions. Those people we can teach police work. Aspects of it. So, I think that's what makes a good police officer.
MICHAEL DUNNE: You're the first woman to be police chief in Springfield. Maybe talk about that in terms of, you know, both in terms of what it means for the community, but also, as we were talking about finding law enforcement officers. Do you think it might help in terms of recruiting more women to join the ranks of a police force?
JAMI RESCH: It's kind of funny. When I first got hired, and I used to tell people what I do, I would routinely hear like, oh, I would never guess that. Or you don't look like a police officer. And I am happy to say that I hear that less and less. So, I think that idea of what a police officer was, or what a police officer would look like, has changed drastically over my career. And I'm happy to say that I'm hopeful that seeing somebody you know, seeing a woman in this role, maybe lets other women know that, yes, absolutely, you can do this job. You can do this job, and you can do any aspect of it, whether or not you want to be an officer and stay an officer, whether or not you want to promote to Sergeant, or whether or not you want to try to go all the way up to the level of chief, you are absolutely able to do that. And I hope, actually, that it influences anybody who maybe didn't fit that typical kind of what people thought officers were a while ago, and just really shows that you absolutely can.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Okay, let's talk about recruiting. Because, as I understand it, it's a challenge for almost any, any, any police force to recruit new officers, you know what? What's a pitch that you perhaps make, or maybe was made to you when you started your career? Because obviously, you know, we need more police. Talk about that. Talk about getting again, like you said, good people who want to come to work for something like the Springfield Police Department.
JAMI RESCH: I think a lot of it comes down to support, right? People want to feel supported in their jobs, and they don't want to have to necessarily worry about that. So, what I try to do, and what I tell all of our officers here, is they are our number one recruiter. I can do the best video. I don't have social media, but I have people who could make, you know, Tiktoks and Facebook and all of the other things, right? But that's not necessarily what's going to draw people here. What's going to draw people here are the people who already work here. And so, if I can make an environment where they feel supported and they feel that they're able to come up with good ideas, maybe, you know, everybody makes mistakes. I always say that, you know, I like creative mistakes. I don't necessarily like common sense mistakes, but creative mistakes. And we all know the difference when I'm talking about being able to make mistakes, but then feeling supported and saying, Okay, well, we tried that, and it didn't work. And so I think again, if I can build that environment and spread that out to everybody that works here, they're going to be our best recruiting tool.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I always think that, you know, there's, there's sort of two sides to being a police officer, and I think one of them is, it's a challenge, obviously, you deal with people who are probably having their worst day, but also, you know, like, like you're sitting here to uniform people know your police officers, so you're constantly in the public view. Talk about that in terms of training, but also just talking to law enforcement officers that every single moment you're a representative of something larger than yourself.
JAMI RESCH: Yes. And you're not just a representative of the Springfield Police Department. You are a representative of everybody who wears this badge all across the country, all across the world, I guess. But yeah, I mean, I think that takes a little bit of getting used to, people will always pay attention when you walk into a room, right? Because you're wearing a uniform, you're a symbol of that. And just getting used to the fact that everything you say and everything you do is probably, you know, being recorded, is being noted, and people are using that as their judgment for police and their interaction. So you could have a very positive interaction with somebody, and somebody could see that, somebody could come across a situation later, and they may take that as negative, and they're going to put their own spin on that. So, every single time you put this on, there is a lot of responsibility that comes with wearing this uniform.
MICHAEL DUNNE: And of course, a mistake may happen in Florida or something like that, and because of social media or television or other members of the media that can suddenly become an issue everywhere. How do you sort of talk to your downline? That something is elevated in national consciousness. What do you talk to them about in terms of how you're going to respond? Because people may say, Oh, this terrible thing happened. What are you going to do?
JAMI RESCH: Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of times it's just telling the officers like, you have to go back out and you have to engage the community. When we talk about, you know, a lot of times we talk about building trust. And, you know, I always think I wish I could have a better way to frame it, because, to me, building things like we're going to get to a completion and it's built, and trust doesn't work that way. And that's when, you know, it's a perfect example, something can happen in Florida, and it impacts the trust the community has with the Springfield Police Department, even though we're a country away from that, right? They're on the other side. And so, I think. It's imperative that officers understand that every single time you go out and interact with somebody, that is your opportunity to build that trust, to build that rapport, and it is ongoing forever, your entire career.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Yeah, and certainly, as we're seeing right now, there's a lot of activity around immigration and certainly an entirely different law enforcement organization ICE, is in the news a lot, and of course, you have a difficult job, because you exist in a sanctuary state. And to remind people, that means that if the Immigration and Customs Enforcement asks you to help them arrest someone who is in violation of immigration, you're supposed to say, No. What's it like, kind of existing in that sort of a situation? Because obviously ICE, whatever your opinion is, they are a legitimate law enforcement organization that has just as much right to do what they do as you do. Talk a little bit about how that interaction feels.
JAMI RESCH: So there have been, you know, sanctuary laws before my career even started 26 years ago. So, this is not new for local law enforcement, and it's not new for the federal agencies that work in this state. I think it's very clear. Oregon has been very clear that they do not want their local law enforcement enforcing immigration. In fact, they have prohibited it by law. So, for me, it's never impacted my career, because it's just been how we've done business the entire time. Our focus is on safety and safety for everybody that's here. Nobody should be the victim of a crime, and in order to do that, Oregon has said you will not enforce immigration laws. So, I think it's very well-known among the officers who are involved that we cannot help you. So, don't ask.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Okay, switching gears from law enforcement to yu're the boss. So, the chief administrator, if you will, talks about sort of running a medium sized police force. There's a lot of HR issues, there's a lot of payroll issues, there's a lot of resourcing. Talk about that aspect of the job, because I imagine it's quite different than when you were a cop on the street.
JAMI RESCH: Oh, for sure. When I got hired 26 years ago, I never thought I would have anything to do with budgets. And you know, like you said, HR, and then coming to Springfield from Portland, what's different is we have our own dispatchers here, which is amazing. But in Portland, dispatches a completely different department, and I had nothing to do with that. We have the Springfield municipal jail. When I was in Portland, we didn't have a jail. The county ran the jail. So, I am learning some new aspects of policing, which has actually been very interesting for me, because it's a different aspect of law enforcement. But yeah, you have to take into account there's so many little things that you don't realize necessarily at different levels even exist, and decisions that I made that I never even contemplated when I first got hired. So, it's challenging, but I do really enjoy it.
MICHAEL DUNNE: My last question for you is, sort of, you know, what are your top goals for the department moving forward? You know, talk about both in terms of if you have recruiting goals, but also just community policing, that sort of thing. What are some of the things you want to achieve?
JAMI RESCH: I mean, recruiting is definitely one of them. I would love to get up to, as close as we can to full staffing. Full staffing would be, you know, the dream that everybody that everybody would like. But I think if we get to that point, then we would be able to do some additional things. If we are more fully staffed. We can participate in more community engagement events. We can have things like walking beats. I can reach out to the officers and say, How would you like to engage with the community outside of calls for service? Because that's where really a lot of the relationships are built. When you respond to a call for service. I'm not saying it can't be done, but that's not the primary focus. Then, right? That is to solve the problem, and with more staffing, we would be able to do that. So I think a lot of my goals are staffing and then also community engagement, constantly building that trust that I talk about and is never finished being built, and just continue to do a lot of the good work that is being done every day by the members of this department. I cannot speak highly enough about the people who work here.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Okay, I lied, and I lied to the police chief. One last question. You talked about walking a beat. Is that a goal? Is that something that's achievable is actually having officers on the ground, whether they're on a bike or just walking?
JAMI RESCH: It is. And it can happen in obviously smaller geographical areas. Sometimes it's bigger when our districts are more in neighborhoods and there, you know, blocks and miles long, as opposed to, like the core downtown area. But if we can have that, or you'll see, you know, bike patrol, when we do something different, you know, if we have the block party or something like that, I mean, it really gets the officers more direct involvement with the community. So anytime that we're able to do that, I think it's beneficial.
MICHAEL DUNNE: The new Springfield Police Chief, Jami Resch, thank you so much for spending time. Time with us.
JAMI RESCH: Yes, thank you for having me. That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. A quick note, yesterday, we ran a show talking with Attorney General Dan Rayfield about efforts at the state to safeguard Oregon from actions by the Trump administration. And we want to hear your comments and opinions. How concerned are you that the federal government will attempt to interfere or even overturn Oregon laws around funding immigration rights and our status as a sanctuary state? Send us your comments via our pages on Facebook, Bluesky or Instagram, or email us at questions@klcc.org and we'll read them on the air. Tomorrow, on the show, we'll bring you a conversation with another new leader in the community, Alma Fumiku Hesus, who steps in to lead United Way of Lane County. I'm Michael Dunne, and this has been Oregon on the record from KLCC. Thanks for listening.
