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.