Conducting Effective Public Safety Background Investigations

Class Title:

Target Audience:

Priority seating for Law Enforcement, Corrections, Fire, Communications, HR and Hiring Managers

Sponsoring Agency

Date and Time:

Cost:

$250 current OPOA member

$275 non-member (Includes 1-year OPOA membership for qualified applicants)

$315 for non-public safety

Training Location:

Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office 63333 W. Highway 20, Bend, OR 97703

Instructors:

Royanne Mathiesen

Royanne is a retired police officer/supervisor with over 30 years of experience in criminal investigation and conducting employment background investigations. Royanne has been teaching recruit officers and deputies at DPSST for the past 17 years and since 2016 has been teaching background investigative classes throughout the state with OPOA.

Currently she is a background Investigator for the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, the McMinnville Police Department, and the Madras Police Department. For over 9 years she was a background investigator for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Sgt. Blair Barkhurst

Blair is the Professional Standards Manager with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.  Blair has served Deschutes County for 13 years.  Blair volunteered on the Background Workgroup at DPSST that helped shape the requirements of backgrounds in Oregon that were brought about by HB 2936.  Blair has worked as a Reserve Deputy, Field Law Enforcement Technician, Corrections Deputy and Corrections Sergeant before moving into background investigations full time.  Blair has over eight years of experience conducting background investigations. 

Deputy Jeff Denning

Deputy Jeff Denning is a Background Investigator with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Professional Standards Unit.  Jeff has worked in public safety for over 28 years and has over 4 years of experience as a background investigator. Jeff has also conducted background investigations for the Oregon State Department of Corrections and private organizations.

Jeff has worked as an Oregon Corrections Officer, Professional Firefighter / Paramedic, Metropolitan Paramedic, Fire / EMS Dispatcher and Corrections Deputy.

Todd Baker

Todd is the Background Unit supervisor for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.  Todd has served with WCSO for 24 years. From 2018 to 2023 Todd was a Sergeant in the Professional Standards unit where he worked internal affairs along with supervising the Background Unit. In 2024, WCSO restructured the Professional Standards Unit and Todd became the full-time background unit supervisor.

Todd has experience as an Explorer for PPB, conducting internal investigations in the private sector, Corrections Deputy, Interagency Gang Enforcement team, Transport / Extradition Unit and Sergeant of the Jail Drug and Gang team.

Brief Overview:

This 2-day (16 hour) interactive course is designed for individuals who are involved in public safety background investigation processes including background investigators, hiring officials, human resources, and legal representatives.  This will be much more than a simple how-to background investigation course and will answer the question as to why you conduct legally sufficient background investigations and what happens if you don’t. This course will examine:

• Practical strategies for background investigations, interviews, documentation, and report writing.

• The current and best practices in background investigations in order to mitigate, to the extent possible, some of the risks associated with hiring.

• The importance of social media screenings in background investigations.

• Issues and “red flags” to be aware of in background investigations.

• Assuring compliance with all applicable minimum standards for employment

• How Federal Statutes and court decisions impact background investigations.

• How background investigation failures can impact your organization.

Contact Information:

Attire:

Business Casual

Parking Information:

Supplies Needed: