By JAIMIE SORENSON

Council 75 Staff Representative

Edward Schulz, a Correctional Officer at Columbia River Correctional Institution in Northeast Portland and an Executive Board member of Local 3941 at CRCI, was called into work early on April 30. Schulz says he doesn't mind doing so because he lives close by and understands that mandatory overtime shifts are a hardship on his co-workers. Little did he realize he was about to play an important role in capturing an escaped felon.

Schulz was called to transport an inmate from a local hospital back to the institution. While in route to the hospital, Schulz noticed a man that seemed out of place at the Jack in the Box fast food restaurant at the corner of Columbia and MLK boulevards, a couple of miles from CRCI. What caught Schulz's eye were the distinct red shorts. DOC issues red shorts that lack a DOC or inmate logo. The person in question also seemed to be hiding his face, and 30-year-old Matthew Joseph Medlin, who had escaped CRCI earlier in the day by climbing through a razor wire fence, has distinct facial tattoos.

"I was just paying attention and being aware of my surroundings," says Schulz. "These are details that likely only a DOC employee would notice."

Schulz's called in the sighting back to the institution, and his quick thinking and call were instrumental in the apprehension of Medlin — serving time for sex abuse, assault and burglary — without incident.

Schulz is a native Oregonian and has been with the Department of Corrections (DOC) for 10 years. While he has the seniority to bid for an earlier shift, he chooses to remain on the night shift so that he can spend more time with his three children.

"I work first shift so that I can spend the most time possible with my children," he says. "This way, I am at work while they are sleeping, and they are at school while I am sleeping."

When Schulz isn't working in the institution he enjoys spending free time with his family and in his volunteer activities, where he likes to give back to his community. From 2004-2013 he ran a non-profit soccer club in North Portland. He started out as a coach and then eventually ended up being the president of the club. For the past two years he has been working the fall sports season as a high school soccer coach, assisting the varsity team and heading the JV team. Schulz has also worked with an at-risk youth wrestling program in North Portland.