Michael L. Van Patten, Sergeant, Oregon State Penitentiary
Chairman, Training Committee
American Correctional Officer
           
Michael Lee Van Patten was born in San Fernando, California on August 01, 1963.  He is a certified Journeyman Correctional Officer through the Bureau of Labor and currently holds Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Correctional Officer certifications through the Oregon Department of Police Standards, Safety, and Training (DPSST). 

Mike is currently employed as a Correctional Sergeant for Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) a maximum security correctional facility located in Salem, Oregon. 

He started his career in Law Enforcement at the age of 17, as a Police, Cadet for the city of Salem, Oregon.  In 1985, Sergeant Van Patten started his 21 plus year Corrections career as a Correctional Officer, promoted to the rank of Correctional Corporal, and is currently a Correctional Sergeant. In his current position, Mike is working as the OSP Special Functions and Training Sergeant, Assistant Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, and a Security Threat Group (STG) Team member.  In this position, he is in charge of developing and revising Individual institution post orders and training curriculums, teaching them to senior staff through In-Service training. Mike is also responsible for training newly hired Officers and Non-Correctional Officers through new employee orientation (NEO) training that includes a wide range of correctional topics from the Use of Force to Inmate Supervision (Con Games).

Currently, Sergeant Van Patten is a Force Skills Instructor for the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC). He trains staff in the Use of Force, Defensive Tactics, Basic Security Practices, Emergency Preparedness, and Inmate Supervision (Inmate Manipulative Behavior and Deception or the Con Games).  Mike is also the President of the Oregon Correctional Officer Association (OCOA), a fraternal Correctional Officer association in Oregon.  

He is an Adjunct Instructor for the Criminal Justice Department of Chemeketa Community College, instructing classes on Searches and Contraband, Escorts and Restraints, and Security Threat Groups.  Until 2001, Sergeant Van Patten served for 9 years as the Executive Vice President for the Association of Oregon Corrections Employees (AOCE), an independent labor association representing about 750 correctional employees at OSP and 3 other facilities in Oregon. ACO is proud to have Sergeant Michael Van Patten on our team.