The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Sisters’ new deputies aren’t on the job yet — but the community is already seeing a greater law enforcement presence.

The new law enforcement contract between the City and the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) went into effect July 1, 2020. When fully in force, the contract calls for a permanent supervising lieutenant and three full-time deputies. The DCSO is currently training new replacement deputies to fill the current positions to be vacated by the three more-experienced officers who are being assigned to Sisters.

Lt. William Bailey is in Sisters as the interim supervisor in the Sisters substation and two deputies have been temporarily assigned to Sisters. According to Lt. Bailey, the City is not paying the new contract rate until all of the Sisters positions are permanently filled.

“Interviews for the three Sisters deputies have been completed and we expect to announce them in the near future,” said Bailey.

A permanent selection for the lieutenant position, now being filled by Bailey, is expected to take place before the end of the year.

Since June 1, there have been interim dedicated City deputies in town. Their current schedule allows for the City to have a dedicated deputy in town seven days a week, unless one of them is on vacation. There is also a deputy assigned to the larger Sisters Country. So, in addition to Bailey, at most times there are two to three deputies in the Sisters area working together to serve western Deschutes County.

When queried as to whether officer recruitment is more difficult given the current protests against police departments, Bailey said, “More recently we have seen less applicants for a hiring process than in the past, but it may take some more time to understand how what is going on across the county will impact recruitment and filling vacant positions in the future.”