News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
When it comes to law enforcement priorities and policies, there is not a lot that separates the two candidates for Deschutes County Sheriff. But Captain William Bailey and Sergeant Kent Vander Kamp are sharply divided over culture and morale within the agency.
The candidates participated in a League of Women Voters-sponsored forum in Bend on Monday, September 23, where they fielded questions submitted earlier by the public on issues ranging from homelessness to guns to the constitutional role of sheriffs. The two men, both currently serving with DCSO, offered similar answers, showing little daylight between their views. But when it came to the internal culture within DCSO, the differences were stark.
Sergeant Vander Kamp, who had just won the endorsement of the Deschutes Sheriff’s Employees Association, described an agency where employees feel they are not heard and that their voices are actively stifled.
“We need to get back to remembering how to build teams and form teams,” he said. “We stopped talking as an agency internally a while ago. This isn’t something that happened when I decided to run for sheriff. People are afraid of letting their voices be heard, ask questions, learn how to do things, and challenge. And I think the number-one thing I learned in business is when you silence the people you work with, you’ve now stifled the growth of an agency or of an organization.”
Bailey sees things differently, arguing that divisiveness has grown up because of the election.
“A year ago — over a year ago — when I announced my candidacy, morale and culture was not an issue. Things were on a very good track at the sheriff’s office, morale was as good as it had ever been in the 24 years that I’ve been there,” he said.
He said that “every agency has these issues,” and that “there’s more to the story with a lot of these things.” If there were widespread morale problems, he argued, no one, including Vander Kamp, brought them forward.
“He kept that for himself so he could use it for a political platform,” Bailey said.
He did acknowledge that DCSO command staff could do better with explaining how and why some decisions are made.
Bailey said that Vander Kamp’s entrance into the race “completely changed the dynamics within the facility,” creating divisiveness that had not been there before. He said that it has become a pressing issue that will require work to get “everyone back on the same track, and everyone back on the same page.”
Vander Kamp strongly disputed that characterization, stating that, “I don’t think 31 lawsuits from current employees over seven years that’s cost us tens of millions of dollars is a great place to work prior to me showing up. I showed up because of that problem. So to say that everything was rosy before I got there is ludicrous and it’s completely disingenuous to all the people sitting in this room.”
On the major issues identified by the public in their submitted questions, the two candidates had broad agreement. Both expressed a commitment to working with partner agencies to address homelessness issues that have reached a crisis point in some parts of the county (see Bailey op-ed, page 2). Both are glad to see Oregon walk-back the decriminalization of hard drugs under Measure 11, while also supporting efforts to divert people with drug problems into treatment.
Both men expressed strong support for Second Amendment rights for law abiding citizens, while recognizing that so-called “red flag” laws that allow the confiscation of guns from an identified potential threat are an important tool for law enforcement to avert tragedy.
Neither candidate supports the belief that a “Constitutional Sheriff” has the power to trump state or federal law.
Regarding the perceived “militarization” of police, Bailey concurred that such a trend is not desirable — but at the same time, law enforcement needs to have effective tools to keep personnel and citizens safe.
“There’s policies and rules around them,” he said, referring to equipment like armored vehicles, and they are deployed on a limited basis when a situation calls for it.
“Not every problem is a nail, and not every solution is a hammer,” he said.
Vander Kamp noted that drones are a valuable tool that can save investigators and deputies hundreds of man hours and provide protection for deputies and K-9 units. He thinks it is incumbent upon law enforcement to better explain the use of advanced or quasi-military tools and technology to the public, who may be alarmed at appearances.
“It helps prevent a lot of that mistrust,” he said.
Asked what they would wish for in a hypothetical situation in which they could enact a desired reform in the criminal justice system, Bailey said that he would like to see more resources made available across the spectrum: for victims’ assistance, for staffing in all areas, and for public defenders to enable cases to move to trial in a timely fashion.
Vander Kamp said he would like to see the enactment or restoration of alternative courts, including reviving veterans courts, and the creation of a true medical detox facility.
Vander Kamp is a 20-year veteran of DCSO. He currently leads field operations for the interagency Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team (CODE). He has substantial private sector business experience, and he said that and education have prepared him to run a large agency as sheriff.
Bailey has worked for 24 years for DCSO after service in the U.S. Coast Guard. He has broad experience in all aspects of DCSO operations, from the jail to parole, and he believes that experience leaves him well-prepared to take the reins as sheriff.
Bailey was endorsed by retiring Sheriff Shane Nelson, while Vander Kamp was endorsed by the employees association.
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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