Column: Local Grads Make the World A Better Place Episode 10; Meet Russell Spino
Editor’s Note - This is the tenth and final part in a series of columns looking at students who were educated within The Dalles School system and who have gone on to make major contributions to our community by bringing their skills and experience to make a positive impact for all of us. A huge thanks goes to Nancy Turner and Patty Rolen.
By Nancy Turner and Patty Rolen
Nancy Turner
The Dalles, Ore., Nov. 3, 2023 - Russell Spino was born and raised in The Dalles.
He graduated from The Dalles High School in 1997.
And not everything went smoothly during his teenage years. He was involved with a party crowd and was starting to get in trouble. He attended one semester at the community college in The Dalles, but that wasn’t enough to get him headed in a good direction.
At nineteen, he could see his life was not going anywhere positive. As he put it, “I was a sick tree in a forest that needed to be removed from that forest, and planted in a healthier place.”
Patty Rolen
So, he fittingly moved to Forest Grove to get away. He lived with a supportive aunt who helped him turn his life around. Russell worked at a computer chip plant, but he knew that wasn’t what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
A year later Russell returned to The Dalles because his girlfriend at the time was in The Dalles. For two years he worked for a local company installing carpet and flooring. Then he found out the minimum age to become a police officer was twenty-one, so he applied.
He past the test with a score higher than all other applicants. He got the job. A clean background was required, so it was good he had turned his life around during his respite in Forest Grove.
He went through a ten-week training program in Monmouth, at the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standard and Training.
At twenty-two he was hired to work for the Columbia Intertribal Police Department (CRITPD), out of Hood River. His patrol was between Bonneville and McNary Dams in Oregon and Washington. Originally he liked that their focus was on the conservation of salmon.
Now, as Captain of Police, he has the ability to influence how CRITPD police officers interact with the public. His department is racially mixed, with white, Latino, and a few Native Americans. His officers understand why some people within the tribal community don’t like the police, and why kids in this community haven’t wanted to grow up to become a policeman or policewoman.
Officers would tell people what to do instead of engaging in conversation. This approach only alienated people. This is changing, he said. He helps show his colleagues how to give the community a positive experience with the police. He calls it, “Community Service Policing.”
His rebellious teen years have helped him understand what kids are going through. Instead of force, he uses communication and compassion to solicit cooperation.
Russell participated in a Career Fair at the Warm Springs Middle School and the K-8 Academy in Warm Springs tribes to consider law enforcement as a career. He also presented at the 2023 Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s (CRITFC) Salmon Camp, where he spoke to Nez Perce, Yakama, Warm Springs, and Umatilla tribal youth on the benefits of conservation enforcement and the protection of tribal sovereignty.
Jennifer Spino, his wife, is from Hood River.
They have known each other since high school. They have a fifteen-year-old son, and two daughters, 13 and 11. Russell coaches the girls’ Gorge Hoops basketball. One of his daughter is into wrestling. Besides being a busy parent, he’s active in the Indian Education Parent Committee for the North Wasco and Hood River school districts.
As if this isn’t enough to keep him busy, he also works at a two-week day camp for a cultural camp partnered with the Education Services District and Next Door. They do crafts, make drums, and regalia (dresses, jewelry), and at the end of the two weeks, they have a PowWow for families. On average, there are 40 kids a day. He leads them in activities he saw his parents and aunts and uncles do in the past. The program provides school supplies and athletic equipment if they need help paying for it.
When I asked Russell if there was any particular person who influenced him the most to get into law enforcement, he didn’t have to think about it. Jennifer, his wife, is the one who encouraged him to go back school when he was in his 30s.
He attended the Columbia Gorge Community College. Furthering his education, he earned an associate degree as well as earning an advanced Police Certificate that qualified him to advance and move up. There was no pay raise for this, but it was important.
Besides his wife, there were others who had a significant influence in his life. Mr. Rolen, Mr. Radford, and Mr. Kramer were always there for him. He’s grateful they encouraged him to finish high school. They were pillars of strength, urging him to go beyond his background and develop discipline and accountability. Mr. Rolen was the disciplinarian and held Russell accountable for his actions. Mr. Kramer had a good heart, inspiring Russell to do his best. Mr. Radford was the soul and leader as the head coach. These men all believed in him and that made him believe in himself. At one point Russell had bad grades and was kicked off the wrestling team. These three men got him to work on his grades and get back to wrestling.
For fourteen years, Jennifer worked as the dispatcher when a 911 call came in. These days she works as an administrative specialist in the same office as Russell. If it hadn’t been for a few significant people in his life, like his aunt in Forest Grove, Jennifer, and the three coaches, he might not have made it.
Now he is helping turn around the way the police force deals with the public. Attitudes are shifting. We are fortunate to have this thoughtful, dedicated man serving our community.
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