Sheriff's team takes on quality of life issues

Speeding traffic in neighborhoods, distracted driving, drug use and sales, vandalism and graffiti - all of these issues can degrade the quality of life in a community.

The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) has created the Community Action Target Team, or CATT, as a proactive approach to focusing on quality of life issues in Deschutes County, including Sisters.

The Sisters Bike Patrol is part of the CATT effort, according to DCSO spokesman Sgt. William Bailey. He also noted that extra traffic enforcement patrol was out in Sisters last weekend as part of the CATT program.

The CATT will be utilized on an ongoing basis to focus on locations needing additional enforcement regarding distracted driving, illegal drug possession and sales, theft, trespass and criminal mischief. The team will utilize a number of patrol and investigative platforms, including marked and unmarked patrol vehicles, in addition to foot and bicycle patrols.

The goal, Bailey said, is to "interrupt and disrupt these kinds of behaviors that are causing these quality of life issues."

CATT will address spots in Sisters where illegal drug sales and possession activities are known to occur.

"Those entail a combination of patrol and street detectives, as well as a drug patrol canine," Sgt. Bailey reported.

Speeding and distracted driving will be addressed, too, Bailey said, and there will be extra DUII patrols during the Sisters Rhythm and Blues Festival, August 4-5. The patrols should motivate people to keep their speed in check and stay off the cell phone.

"We always encourage everyone to just follow the traffic laws," Sgt. Bailey said. "They're there for a reason - to keep everyone safe."

The CATT is a funded item in the sheriff's office budget, and the intent is to make it a regular part of DCSO services, Bailey said.

"We're tracking it to see how successful it is," Sgt. Bailey said.

The first CATT patrol on Friday, July 13 got the program off to a strong start. DCSO utilized two marked patrol vehicles and four unmarked vehicles with the focus of the patrol being the illegal possession and sales of drugs in local communities.