A new police station on the horizon

Meanwhile, McDonald said he is cautiously optimistic about plans to build a new police station — along with a new public works building/equipment yard on Wall Street — after having been publicly supported by the Tigard City Council.

“The reality is, we outgrew this building a long time ago and it just doesn’t meet the needs of a modern police facility,” he said, noting that many smaller surrounding communities have nicer facilities.

“So, what will it look like to build a new facility? I don’t know. I think it’s still it’s still a little early to tell what that might look like and to even really think about a timeframe, but what we do know is that the size that the city has purchased is enough to put Public Works and the (police department) on that site, which is really encouraging,” he said.

Another big reason to build a new police facility is to ensure survivability when the so-called “The Big One,” the predicted catastrophic earthquake expected to hit the West Coast at some point.

“We’re worried about what’s going to happen to our facilities,” he said about the catastrophic event, noting that both the police and public works buildings were built well before the current earthquake standards were put into place.

“I guess what I would love to accomplish would be to see a new facility get developed,” he said. “I would love to see us be able to do that.”

McDonald is hoping such a building would be meet local needs for the next 30 to 40 years.

At the same time, he said his department will continue to be engaged in the community — saying TPD attended more than 120 events last year and made over 8,000 contacts with members of the community that were not related to police activity. Those included neighborhood gatherings, festivals and other events.

“You know, being involved in the community is a big deal and so keeping up that relationship with the Tigard community members is key,” he said. “We want people to be engaged so we have to be engaged with the community in order for us to be able to continue those conversations.”

A lifelong Oregonian, McDonald is a competitive soccer player. Now a grandfather, he is also a competitive soccer player. He also camps, snow skis, hikes, fishes and hunts in his spare time.

“I spend as much time outside as possible,” he said.