Issue: Public Safety

Legislative priorities:

• Lower people’s stress responses, which contribute to crime, civic unrest, and suicide by broadening the use of trauma-informed practices to help communities . The Dalles and Columbia River Gorge area have experience implementing these cutting-edge practices.
• Recognize that responsible gun ownership is a cultural mainstay of rural communities, and boost gun safety training to ensure even wider use of safe practices. Strengthen or support common-sense gun safety laws such as safe storage and background checks. [Article]
• Address the role of economic insecurity in driving crime.
• Prioritize de-escalation training for police departments and evidence-based use of force practices. Such training allowed San Francisco police to peacefully resolve 99.9% of crisis-related calls in 2020. [Article]
• Support properly funded community-based policing practices, including police + mental health teams. [See the “Resources” box above for several successful examples.]
• As more private security officers are deployed – and harmed – in pursuit of public safety, expand practical and legal training requirements for licensure through Oregon’s Department of Public Safety Standards & Training (DPSST).
• Ensure police departments report hate crimes, and continue building understanding between members of often-targeted communities and law enforcement officers. [Article]
• Strengthen public and private protections against cyberattacks.

Background:

Raz Mason’s public safety experience will benefit the people of Oregon. She currently works as a security officer and holds both unarmed and armed licenses in Oregon, with advanced training in executive protection and baton, taser, and OC, or pepper spray. She is a member and former Board Member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Chaplain Section.

In early adulthood she volunteered at Call to Safety, formerly the Portland Women’s Crisis Line. Often, volunteers drove women fleeing domestic violence to the safety of confidential shelters. If an abuser might be present, volunteers requested a police escort. Raz Mason says, “I realized that, as fast as my heart was beating, and as scary as this situation was for me, it was something police officers faced each day. That began my appreciation for the risks police officers take on for the rest of us.”

Over years of work in the domestic abuse field, Raz Mason often worked overnight as a shelter case manager, charged with the safety of women and children – many of whom were actively sought by violent ex-partners.

To better understand men’s experiences of violence and trauma, Raz Mason completed 2,400 hours of clinical chaplaincy training in two VA hospitals. In this role, she offered spiritual care to veterans (the majority of whom were men) going through illness and sometimes death. They’d often wrestled with experiences of violence on the battlefield.

Expecting to serve as a Navy Chaplain, Raz was commissioned as a naval officer and participated in the U.S. Navy’s Chaplain Candidate program. A lack of training openings led her to reluctantly resign her commission, but the Oath of Office she took upon commissioning inspires her continued commitment to public service.