HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 03 Employee Recognition, Tana Steers, 20 Years
April 2, 2007
Springfield Upbeat
Employee Recognition, Tana Steers, 20 years of service
Professional history:
· Tana began her career with the Springfield Police Department in 1981 as a student intern.
· She was hired as a Law Enforcement trainee in 1982 and began working at that time in the
development of the Police Department Reserve program. She attained the rank of Reserve
Commander and she worked as a Law Enforcement technician and eventually was classified
as a Crime Prevention Specialist.
· In 1985, due to budget cuts, her position was eliminated and she went to work with the
Woodburn Police Department as a Police Officer
· Tana returned to the Springfield Police Department in 1990 as Crime Prevention Specialist,
which included the following:
1. establishing and continuing the annual Citizens Police Academy.
2. being a major supporter and organizer ofthe Neighborhood Watch program, which has
nearly 1500 volunteers.
3. working with a number of schools, from elementary to high school, to promote safety and
student awareness.
4. working with the school district and other organizations to promote safety and training to
those children just entering the school systems.
5. coordinating numerous events to assure that the public can see and talk with their Law
Enforcement personnel as well as see and experience many of the vehicles and tools
commonly used in this profession.
· Tana received her Intermediate certificate during the time that she was a certified Police
Officer and she has been involved integrally in the Crime Prevention Association of Oregon
for many years.
· Tana has held the following Crime Prevention Association of Oregon Board positions;
Director 1993-1996 and 2002/2003, Vice President 96/97 and 97/98, Immediate Past
President 2001 and 2002 and President for the years 1998-2000. She also received the
CPAO's Ken Mainwaring Award for 2000 and the Presidents Award for 2001. She also
received the Woman of the Year award from the Woodburn Business Woman's Association.
The department ten years ago:
· The Police Department was able to focus more energy in the Crime Prevention and
Community Service aspects. At that time there were 3 persons involved in these areas and
there were new programs being developed.
· Tana believes that one of the major changes she has seen is the involvement of females in the
Law Enforcement community. In the beginning of her career there was a significant amount
of skepticism as to whether females could do the job, but it appears that there is general
acceptance in most agencies and active recruitment in many.
Humorous experiences:
· Tana said that she had an experience in Woodburn that at the time WaS quite strange, but now
seems quite funny. She was assisting another agency in the arrest of a violent subject and
when she escorted one of the house occupants back to another room she saw a full sized
poster of her photo from the Woman of the Year award. She reported this to the supervisor at
the scene and he directed her to a second full sized poster in the living room.
· Tana once performed field sobriety tests on a Spanish speaker and inadvertently switched to
French, a language she had studied.
· In her current duties Tana is known for her prolific use of sticky notes to keep track of her
daily activities and appointments. It is not uncommon to see sticky notes pasted all over her
appointment book, computer screen and all available space at her desk. She claims this is all
due to memory issues, but many of us believe she owns some stock in a paper company.
Significant events:
· The Springfield Citizens Police Academy is one of the most significant events during Tana's
years with the Springfield Police Department. Springfield Was the first agency in the state to
start this program and it has continued to improve since that first class. It has been an
extremely beneficial program for this department and currently there is an Alumni
association which is growing each year. These persons have been able to experience much of
the actual Law Enforcement day to day activities and many have become vocal advocates for
this department.