Sisters sergeant vacancy won't be filled

The vacant sergeant position in Sisters is not going to be filled. Deschutes County Sheriff Les Stiles made that declaration twice last week, once before the Sisters City Council on Thursday, April 12.

"There is no intent to fill that position with another sergeant, period," Stiles told the council. "We had a lot more sergeants than we needed and we had a lot more than we could afford, county wide."

Stiles addressed the council at the request of Sisters Mayor Steve Wilson, who had heard about the decision not to replace the retired Sergeant Rich Shawver through media reports on a public meeting in Bend.

Wilson asked Stiles if the decision was budget- related.

"Frankly, it's a non-budget related decision... I don't see a sergeant being posted in Sisters," Stiles replied.

The sheriff is redesigning his command structure and patrol, planning to go to 12- hour shifts, with sergeants supervising staffing county-wide. Sergeant Mike Johnston will supervise the Redmond/Terrebonne districts as well as Sisters.

The sheriff's office does face budgetary problems, however.

"Revenues are $1 million below projections," Stiles said at the Bend public meeting.

Stiles is facing cuts even if the sheriff's levy passes in May.

Last week, Stiles said his office would have to trim one sergeant, four deputies and one detective. That one sergeant, he said, will be the Sisters position.

After the Thursday city council meeting, however, Stiles noted that the budget picture is evolving from day to day and it won't be clear how the office will cope with its shortfall until the document is finalized next month.

The lost funds, Stiles has said, were a combination of expected revenues that just did not materialize. Further, early retirement benefits of staff members who recently left the Sheriff's Office resulted in an unplanned payout of an additional $750,000.

In an attempt to cope with the growing shortfall, the Sheriff's Office has cut back on overtime, travel and other expenditures.

Stiles said a recent homicide case involving suspects apprehended at the Canadian border necessitated the outlay of an unexpected $200,000 that more than swallowed up the economy measures.

Stiles said he really should have asked for a slight increase in the levy request, but he chose to honor his campaign promise not to raise taxes.

He reiterated his support for the community policing program but said that designated officers may not always be possible.

Regarding deputies in the schools, he said, "I'm very, very committed to the school resources program."

The staffing level at the Sisters substation has shrunk in recent months. Sisters has been an officer short since Shawver's retirement.

The office assistant in Sisters is also resigning, and, with a hiring freeze in effect, the future of that billet is also uncertain.

Prior to Shawver's retirement, the Sisters sub-station had a complement of seven officers, plus the school resource deputy and a law enforcement technician. The number of full-duty officers is presently reduced to six.

At the southern end of the county, however, things are looking quite a bit rosier.

During last year's sheriff's campaign, Stiles made a pledge to the residents of La Pine that he would double the officer strength in that area.

So while the Sisters staff shrinks, the La Pine contingent is growing.

Stiles said he has made La Pine a priority and has already increased the La Pine staff from six to nine, and he promises to bring the level to 12 by the first of next year.

But Stiles believes changes in command structure and patrol staffing will actually enhance the area's coverage.

The sheriff also has great expectations for his proposal to move deputies into a four-day, 12-hour shift schedule.

The change from 10-hour shifts -- pending approval by the union -- would go into effect on May 16, if the levy passes. According to Stiles, the new schedule would add 4,500 patrol hours per year and 4,500 jail officer hours, without any increase in staffing.

As an example of more balanced and broader coverage, it was stated that six deputies are now on duty at 2 a.m. under the present schedule; and that number would jump to 11 under the proposed change.

Patrol Captain Tim Edwards told the city council that Sisters would have more deputies available during graveyard shifts than are on hand under the current shift structure.

Instead of one deputy with a back-up in Redmond, there would be a Sisters deputy, a Redmond deputy, and a "floater" working the area between and available in either sector.

"In the past there's been real divisions between areas. I've tried real hard to erase those lines," Edwards said.

Failure of the levy, however, would produce quite a different picture. Because of the existing shortfall -- which would carry over to the new fiscal year -- Stiles said that a levy failure would produce a budget cut equivalent to 70-75 percent.

Remembering that his predecessor was accused of "threats and blackmail," when trying to explain the impact of a levy failure, Stiles told those attending the Bend meeting, "It's no threat; it's not extortion. It's simple mathematical fact. Patrol services will be cut."

While response times would suffer, he said, "We will respond; but it will be me, my command staff and a bunch of elderly sergeants."

He also expressed concern that, if officers are laid off, they will have to seek jobs elsewhere. If that happens, he said, their expertise and the huge investment in their training will be permanently lost.

In the event of jail staff reductions, he acknowledged that some sort of matrix system would have to be employed to decide which prisoners would stay and who would be released.

That situation would result in what he termed a "catch and release" program for many offenders.