News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A proposal to put the Deschutes County Sheriff's Department in charge of police services for the City of Sisters appears to be on track toward approval.
The Sisters City Council met with Sheriff Greg Brown in a workshop on Tuesday, November 25, to work out the details of a contract. The council is expected to approve the merger of police services at their December 11 meeting.
The proposed merger would station six deputies and a supervisor in Sisters; the officers would provide 24-hour coverage to the area bounded by the Sisters School District. In advocating the contract, Sheriff Greg Brown has said that the arrangement should save the city about $43,000 in the first year.
All of the current Sisters police officers would continue with the county.
Under the proposal, the City of Sisters would pay for three positions, which would be filled by current Sisters officers. A fourth Sisters officer would fill a currently vacant deputy's position. County residents would not pay to add deputies for the city.
Brown pledged to maintain the types of services the Sisters Police Department has provided inside the city limits. Those services include school zone speed enforcement; neighborhood patrols; city park patrols; night-time business security checks and patrols for Sisters' special events.
Sisters Police Chief Rich Shawver, who is marked to become the sheriff's patrol sergeant for the Sisters area, noted that Brown "was receptive" to concerns about the future of the city's Juvenile Empowerment Team diversion program.
The program, led by Kirsten Werner, is funded by grants. Werner is not currently a county employee, although the program's funds are administered through the county juvenile department.
"I've talked to the sheriff about (Werner) becoming a full-time county employee in charge of the JET program," Shawver said. "It's such a wonderful program, such a successful program, that we can't afford to lose it."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
Reader Comments(0)