Leadership in law enforcement

This year’s election cycle sees Captain William Bailey and Sergeant Kent Vander Kamp vying for the only elected law enforcement leadership position in Deschutes County. I know both candidates and have privately expressed to both my respect and admiration for their service to our community at large and their stepping up to the plate to run for office.

As a leader at any level in an organization one’s first concern must be your ethical bearing. The word Ethics comes from the Greek word Ethos, meaning “self.” This is the Self as seen by others. For police officers this is your performing, or professional Self. Ethics, or professional performance, is a simple concept. You must be what it is you represent, on or off the job.

All too often those among us who have been elected to wear the gold distinction of rank and authority behave in ways that diminish their professional credibility, either behind closed doors or on the street. Police administrators who backstab their employees, or who routinely engage in the personal and professional destruction of a colleague are known by all officers, employees, and sooner or later by voters.

A candidate’s electoral reputation is the sum of what his or her peers and those in the community remember you as having said or done while under the authority of your agency.

If you are a promising leader in the future, you must begin building your professional resume and reputation by being careful and consistent about what you say and do. The past is never quite forgotten and our foibles are never quite forgiven. Even so, our bosses, our peers, and the public do extend great rewards to those who recognize their shortcomings, and actively seek to correct their faults.

During the 2016 and 2020 campaigns for Sheriff, both challengers to the sitting Sheriff were found and proven to have embellished their professional credentials and accomplishments. Both are no longer in law enforcement for their own reasons. Both of their campaigns boasted of their individual integrity, honesty, and leadership training and accomplishments while lambasting the same of their opponent. In 2024, this form of campaign strategy has outworn itself, and is unwanted by a large number of voters.

Hopeful candidates for the office of Sheriff might make a note here: If your campaign chooses to tell us you are in the same league as someone running a private corporation — you are wrong. If you want to be in business then hang up your badge and gun and invest in a hamburger franchise. Police work is service work! Service work is people work. If you cannot serve your people as a supervisor or chief or Sheriff you are slowly killing your department or agency, and therefore your community.

Kent Vander Kamp and William Bailey are the first two candidates in many years to enjoy the freedom to run for this important office sans any meaningful backing from a sitting Sheriff. Yes, Sheriff Nelson endorses Bill Bailey. But Nelson likewise declared himself a political lame duck many months ago. By doing so he opened the door to the current candidates to run their own race based on their own merits and vision for the future.

Integrity, honesty, leadership…these are all a given in law enforcement. Both the military and Oregon’s Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) teach these critical ethical and moral skill sets. Anyone can do a search of DPSST’s current officer training records and discover these career-building milestones for themselves.

What are voters truly concerned about?

I offer we want to hear specific thought processes about local, state, and federal law enforcement issues that may affect us in Deschutes County. If a candidate is unsure about what these might be then it behooves both to provide a communications platform where our questions, concerns, observations, and experiences can be sent to you. And then respond in the public forum, on the record, and in a timely manner. Understand you will be held accountable for your campaign behavior at the ballot box.

And please do not repeat the campaign strategies of past candidates who put finger-pointing, misinformation, and misdirection above introspection.

We have had enough of that and expect more from our candidates in 2024.