Police merger hearing held

In the future when Sisters residents summon the law, a Deschutes County Sheriff's deputy may respond to the call, rather than a Sisters police officer.

On September 25, Sheriff Greg Brown, a long-time Sisters-area resident, outlined key elements of a proposed contract between the city and county, while saying that he preferred to think of the proposal as a "partnership."

Brown said, "The immediate question that comes to people's mind is: Will there be a loss of local control with a merger? The answer is: No. The proposed contract spells out certain things that each party promises to do, and either side can cancel the contract."

Sisters currently has $249,000 budgeted for its police department this fiscal year. Under the merger, Sisters would spend about $206,200 for the first year and a half, followed by about a 4 percent increase per year through 2002.

The contract would result in annual savings of approximately $43,000 to the city.

Under the proposal, all four Sisters police officers would become county deputies, and Rich Shawver, the current Sisters police chief, would become the station sergeant in Sisters. In response to a question by Ted Eady, Brown explained that the officers' seniority would be transferred with them, so in the event of county budget cuts the new deputies would face a lay-off only if they were the most junior of deputies.

Under the contract, Sisters could see an expansion of law enforcement services. Presently, Sisters has four officers, with one at the police academy. Additionally, the sheriff's department has two officers on the road to respond to calls from areas in the unincorporated areas outside the narrow Sisters city limits. An additional officer is in training.

According to Sheriff Brown, if the two departments are merged, "There will be seven budgeted positions this year assigned to the Sisters station." Brown said the contract guarantees 24-hour coverage in the greater Sisters area, bounded by Fryrear Road/Dry Canyon to the west county line.

Brown said that the officers would enjoy more advantages as county deputies, including a higher salary and benefits, the ability to transfer and better training.

"An inherent problem with small stations," said Brown, "is that officers never reach an optimum training level," because the city has fewer substitutes if an officer leaves for to receive training.

Gary Frazee, who lives in the unincorporated area just outside Sisters, noted that there were many "horror stories" about slow response time by county deputies to non-emergency calls, and asked what the merger would do to improve services in the area outside Sisters.

Brown responded that assigning seven deputies to Sisters would create a bigger station, and consequently the entire area would receive better coverage.

If the merger contract is approved, state law would require Sisters to incur a one-time cost of buying back sick leave and vacation time the Sisters officers have accrued, amounting to about $38,000. In order not to tap the Sisters coffers to fund the buy-back, the Sisters police would transfer ownership of its property to the county. In return, the county would furnish everything from patrol cars and radios to uniforms and office equipment.

The proposed contract is for a period of four years. At any time during the contract, either the city or Deschutes County can opt to cancel the contract, giving 90 days notice. But according to Brown, this would mean "Sisters would have to form a new police department and find new police officers."

Former police officers likely would elect to remain employed as county deputies, enjoying the greater advantages which county employment offers. Thus, it might be quite difficult for Sisters to reestablish control over its police services.

But Brown believes the merger creates a "win-win" situation that would provide Sisters with improved services and ultimately give the county more efficient law enforcement. He said, "We now have one of the best police departments Sisters has ever had, but I think we can do better."

Indian Ford resident Colin Adams agreed, saying, "Historically, Sisters has always had resident sheriffs living in town, and this merger would expand upon that and provide for a more standardized system of law enforcement." Cliff Clemens agreed, saying, "It's a good cooperative idea."

Sisters Police Chief Rich Shawver acknowledges that the unincorporated areas just outside the city would receive better coverage, but could not confirm Brown's claim that Sisters would enjoy a higher level of law enforcement services until he studied the details of the contract and Brown's deputy scheduling proposals.