News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters' crime rate held steady or declined in all categories last year, according to Sisters community policing deputy Todd Williver.
Williver facilitated a sheriff's town hall meeting at Sisters Firehall on Thursday, January 20. The meeting was attended by Deschutes County Commissioners Dennis Luke and Tom DeWolf as well as Oregon Rep. Ben Westlund, R-Dist. 55, law enforcement officials and members of the public.
Williver, who was serious- ly injured in an on-duty collsion with a cow in early November, received a warm welcome from the audience. The deputy said the support he has received from the community has been "overwhelming" and reflects a positive relationship between the sheriff's office and the community.
"That's part of what we try to foster with our community policing," he said.
Sisters' crime rate has held steady, but Deschutes County has seen an 11 percent increase in reports taken and a 10.5 percent increase in incident dispatch, according to Sheriff Greg Brown.
The increase is likely due in part to increasing willingness to get involved on the part of citizenry, Brown said. The increase may also simply reflect growth in the county.
According to commissioner DeWolf, sheriff's office statistics "correlate almost exactly with what's happened in our community development department."
The department has seen an approximately 11 percent increase in development activity, despite the fact that the City of Bend annexed the area inside its Urban Growth Boundary.
"The growth in this county is just phenomenal," DeWolf said. "Every agency, both city and county, is really pressed by the growth in the number of people coming here."
There is considerable growth pressure in the corrections area of the sheriff's office. According to Brown, there are 1,025 felons on parole or probation in the county, up from 795 in 1998.
There has been an 11 percent increase in jail bookings to 6,000 in 1999, an average of 17 bookings per day. There are 240 inmates in jail or in other corrections programs.
Brown noted that the passage of Ballot Measure 74, requiring that convicts serve full jail terms, will put even more strain on the jail system, because the measure makes it very difficult to employ alternative corrections techniques such as electronic monitoring and work release.
"We don't have enough jail beds," Brown said.
A $30,000 grant has helped the sheriff's office crack down on drunk driving, leading to an 82 percent increase in DUII arrests.
Brown noted that Deschutes County ranks 11th in the state in alcohol-related accidents and fatalities -- and the county ranks fifth if the statistics are rated per capita. That is in part due to the vast number of tourists who visit the county, Brown noted. The county averages 20,000 tourists per day; the U.S. Forest Service estimates 6.5 million visitor days in the area.
The large number of visitors, many of them outdoor enthusiasts, also keep the sheriff's search and rescue unit very busy. Brown noted that, in the past, most search and rescue calls involved lost hunters or hikers. Now, the unit performs many rock climbing and mountaineering rescues.
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.
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