Sheriff Dan Staton
Sheriff Daniel W. Staton was born in California and moved to Oregon shortly thereafter. He attended Portland’s Rose City Park Elementary School and graduated from Madison High School in 1977. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1978. Upon completing his Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and he was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington. He was honorably discharged in 1982. During his service in the USAF, he earned the Commendation Medal as well as Medals for Meritorious Service, Humanitarian Service and Good Conduct. He continued to serve his country from 1983 to 1989 in the Air National Guard in Massachusetts as well as Portland, Oregon. While with the Massachusetts Air National Guard he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. He was honorably discharged from the Air National Guard in 1989.
Sheriff Staton attended Middlesex Community College where he earned an associates degree in Business Administration. He continued his education at Salem State College where he graduated with a degree in Accounting and Finance. He returned to Portland in 1987 and went to work for Automated Office Systems, a subsidiary of ALCO Standard, where he was employed as an Assistant Controller then as their Regional Inventory Manager.
In 1989, Sheriff Staton was hired by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. During his 20 years of service with MCSO he has served in leadership roles as a Lieutenant with the Training Unit for law enforcement, corrections and civilian staff; and managed the countywide exclusion process per Executive Order 122. In this role, he also coordinated certification and training with DPSST, procured offensive and defensive tools for the agency and established specialized training for staff in critical assignments.
As a Sergeant he provided leadership on the HAZMAT/Drug Lab Response Team, on the Search and Rescue Team, on the Dive Rescue Team and as an Internal Affairs Investigator. He was also a Sergeant for the Law Enforcement Division and in Court Services, which provide security for the Downtown Courthouse, the Donald E. Long Juvenile Justice facility as well as security operations for 5 other facilities including Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) and Inverness Jail (MCIJ). His experience has included staff management, planning and research, budget development, statistical analysis, writing and administration of grant programs, monitoring and updating agency procedures as well as supervising River Patrol operations for both the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. He has supervised shift operations, provided contract services for the cities of Maywood Park and Wood Village and acted as a Community Liaison and Resource Officer for the cities of Springdale and Corbett. Staton was also the Sheriff’s Office representative to Commissioner Serena Cruz-Walsh’s’ Eastside Charter Team which focused on budget analysis and the restructuring of Eastside patrol coverage.
Staton has received commendations and/or citations as part of the Special Unit Hazardous Materials Team 3 by the City of Gresham (2007), a Unit Citation as part of the Special Investigations Unit/Clandestine Lab Team (2005); a MCSO letter of Commendation (2001); a MCSO Unit Citation as part of the Dive Rescue/Recovery Team (2000); another MCSO Letter of Commendation (1999); was given the “National Police Officer of the Year” Award by the Portland American Indian Community for his work on Cultural Sensitivity and Promoting Cultural Awareness (1998); was presented with the MCSO Sheriff’s Award for Outstanding Service (1997); was given the MCSO Community Service Award and the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association (OSSA) “Life Saving” Award (1995); and, in 1993 was awarded with the iconic “Medal of Valor” Award which has been awarded approximately 14 times in the 155 year history of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. He is considered to be one of the most decorated members of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Staton was named the Assistant Sheriff in September 2009 and sworn into his current role November 5, 2009.
