Assessing public safety in Sisters

At last week's DeschutesSafe public meeting in Sisters, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel shared the initial results of the online survey recently conducted in an effort to assess what citizens see as the biggest threats to public safety in the county. The presentation was full of interesting information, but only two Sisters residents attended.

The Sisters meeting was one of six being held throughout the county during the month of November. There is one more meeting scheduled for Wednesday, November 30, 6 p.m., at the downtown Bend library, 601 N.W. Wall St., which is open to any citizen.

The purpose of these public meetings is to share with the community the work that the DeschutesSafe team is doing, to provide a forum for the community to share their thoughts on safety and crime prevention, as well as share the survey results. The meetings are part of the 18-month-long DeschutesSafe initiative that Hummel launched in June 2015 to analyze, evaluate, and supplement current crime-prevention programs in the county.

Deschutes County has joined communities across the country that are developing and implementing data-driven processes and evidence-based strategies that reduce crime and save money. The county already has numerous innovative crime-prevention programs such as the jail's G.E.D. program, specialty courts, and the crisis-intervention team. As good as the county is at creating programs, Hummel thinks the county can be better at coordinating efforts and using data to evaluate and fine-tune their efforts.

DA Hummel said that implementing the DeschutesSafe initiative "reflects our goal to address community challenges before they escalate. This type of effort shows Deschutes County's commitment to engaging in best practices to reduce crime."

The DeschutesSafe Community Advisory Group that is working with Hummel and his staff, as well as community experts and stakeholders, is made up of 30 individuals, representative of the population that lives and works in Deschutes County and includes, among others, law enforcement, community justice, youth, drug/alcohol/mental-health professionals, education experts, poverty professionals, the business community, neighborhood associations, and government officials.

The advisory committee began their work looking at larger issues impacting the crime rate and public safety, such as reducing illiteracy and increasing the high school graduation rate, but narrowed their focus after realizing those goals were more appropriately addressed on the state and federal level. They decided to focus on the local pool of offenders in an effort to lower the recidivism rate.

With that goal in mind, they reviewed statistics from 2009-2015 regarding types of crimes committed and how many were committed by repeat offenders. The three most frequent crimes involve driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), theft, and drugs. Hummel pointed out that the theft and drug crimes are most committed by "frequent flyers," and drugs involve the highest recidivism rate at 46 percent of offenders, which is not surprising given the nature of addiction.

A survey of the jail population indicated that the vast majority are repeat offenders - 85 percent of the men and 88 percent of the women.

Over a three-year period of 2013-2015, the highest number of arrests (1,180) was for methamphetamines, with marijuana (952, which will go down now that recreational marijuana use is legal), heroin (331), and cocaine (23 arrests). Prescription drug arrests are rapidly increasing every year.

Of the other crimes involving theft, assault, and DUII, significant numbers also involved drugs, such as 34 percent of theft crimes also involved drugs. The public surveys recently completed in the County also reflect the belief of residents that the biggest threat to public safety in Deschutes County is drugs, at 37.4 percent of all responses.

That finding also held up when analyzing the statistics by city. All cities, except Sisters, ranked drugs as the biggest threat. Sisters respondents ranked alcohol at 56 percent, with illegal drugs and child abuse both a close 51 percent, traffic safety 46 percent, and domestic violence 37 percent (respondents could mark more than one answer).

When asked if illegal drugs are impacting public safety, 64.2 percent of all respondents indicated they are a major impact in the county.

The survey also queried regarding the preferred strategy for addressing crimes related to street drugs, either prosecuting or sending to diversion or drug court. For those involved in drug dealing and distribution, 77.4 percent of respondents think offenders should be prosecuted. For people involved with possession of smaller amounts, 64.4 percent of respondents preferred diversion/drug court options.

As a result of all the data collected, successful programs in other communities, and what they are hearing in the public meetings, Hummel and the advisory committee are considering instituting "right-sized intervention" which would involve a new three-tier process for handling drug-related crimes.

At this point in time, all drug offenders are treated the same with charging, prosecution, conviction, jail/probation, and drug treatment. Other options will be studied, fitting the appropriate intervention to the individual offender, in an attempt to get people the appropriate help they need and to reduce the recidivism rate.

The design phase for the new program will take place in early 2017 with the unveiling of the program in mid-2017.